This year, Ben Aaronovitch‘s RIVERS OF LONDON is the Cityreads London title! Throughout April 2015, Ben will be taking part in events, and libraries across the city will be holding readings and festivities of their own. You can find all the information about Ben’s and other events taking place around London on the Cityreads website, but to make things a bit easier for you, we’re going to post a list of events each Friday for the following week.
RIVERS OF LONDON is the first novel in the bestselling Peter Grant urban fantasy series, which is published in the UK by Gollancz. Here’s the synopsis…
My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to – and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.
Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden . . . and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying.
The series also includes MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. More books are planned for the series. (As ever, watch this space for more news!) The series has been published widely in translation.
The event officially kicks off in Covent Garden (see below), but there have already been a couple of events, and Ben’s Library Tour begins on Wednesday 1st.
Starting on Friday 3rd, the Westminster Reference Library begins holding a special “training” session for those who think they have what it takes to join Peter Grant in the Met’s top secret secret paranormal unit! This is a ticketed event, taking place every weekend, the price of which includes a special edition of the novel.
Below you can see Ben’s full Library Tour schedule for April…
UPDATE: If you can’t make any of the events in London, but still want to take part in the discussion, be sure to join the Goodreads Group dedicated to the RIVERS OF LONDON Cityread.