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RIVERS OF LONDON: NIGHT WITCH #2 Out Tomorrow!

Posted on Tuesday, April 12th, 2016

The second issue in Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s RIVERS OF LONDON: NIGHT WITCH comic series is out tomorrow! Published by Titan Comics, here’s the synopsis…

Following a disastrous attempt to ‘recruit’ the witch, Vavara, a Russian oligarch turns his sights on Peter Grant and Thomas Nightingale – two of London’s finest policemen and its only wizards – to help recover his daughter – apparently kidnapped by dark elemental forces. But for Peter and Nightingale, a dark betrayal from the past is about rear its ugly head…

Ben’s Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6). The next book in the series is THE HANGING TREE, due out this summer. The series has also been published widely in translation (see Ben’s author page, or contact us for details).

FINGERHUT-SOMMER is a Readers’ Choice Winner in Germany!

Posted on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016

Ben Aaronovitch‘s fifth Peter Grant novel, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, has been selected as BücherTreff readers’ choice best fantasy novel of 2015! Published in Germany as FINGERHUT-SOMMER by DTV, here’s the synopsis…

Schwarzer Humor trifft auf schwarze Magie

Obwohl sich Police Constable Peter Grant schon unwohl fühlt, wenn er Londons Skyline auch nur ein paar Kilometer weit hinter sich lässt, wird er jetzt in die tiefste Provinz geschickt: in einen kleinen Ort in Herefordshire – wo sich Fuchs, Hase und der Dorfpolizist Gute Nacht sagen. Aber es werden zwei Kinder vermisst, und ihr Verschwinden erfolgte womöglich unter magischen Umständen. Also muss Peter notgedrungen sein angestammtes Biotop verlassen. Mit der Flusstochter Beverley Brook begibt er sich mutig nach Westen, hinein ins ländliche England…

DTV have also published the first four books in the series.

FOXGLOVE SUMMER is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by DAW Books, and in France by J’ai Lu. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm…

The six book in the series, THE HANGING TREE, is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz (July) and in the US by DAW Books (August).

RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK Out Now in US

Posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

The collected paperback of Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK is out now in the US! It had already been available digitally, but it hits shelves today in dead-tree format. Published by Titan Comics, here’s the synopsis…

Peter Grant looks look your average London police officer, but he is actually a part-time wizard in a very elite branch of the Metropolitan Police. It’s his job to investigate those crimes that regular cops don’t like to talk about because they often involve vampires or strange things in Underground tunnels.

Peter’s latest case features a self-driving killer automobile, a Serbian refugee, the Most Haunted Car in England, a handsome drug dealer with a nice paisley scarf and a seemingly harmless wooden bench with a dark past!

The comic series is set between books four and five in Ben’s Peter Grant urban fantasy series — BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER, both of which are published by Gollancz in the UK and DAW Books in the US. Here is the series to-date, including the upcoming THE HANGING TREE:

Covers & Details: RIVERS OF LONDON – NIGHT WITCH

Posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015

After the tremendous success of RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK, next year Titan Comics will be publishing Ben Aaronovitch‘s and Andrew Cartmel‘s second RIVERS OF LONDON comic mini-series, NIGHT WITCH! The covers (above) were first unveiled on io9. Here’s a mini-synopsis for the new series…

A police vehicle on a routine prison transfer in north London is stormed by Russian hoodlums seeking to free a very particular prisoner. Their target is a witch. A dangerously powerful witch who doesn’t want to be free. Things rapidly turn ugly for the hoods and it’s soon a job for full-time police constable and part-time wizard, Peter Grant.

NIGHT WITCH is set between FOXGLOVE SUMMER and the upcoming THE HANGING TREE, which is due to be published in July 2016. The first issue of the new comic series will go on sale on March 16th, 2016. There are plans for a signing at London’s Forbidden Planet on release day — details to come.

The Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Del Rey and DAW Books, and has been published widely in translation. See Ben’s page for details.

Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO now available in Czech

Posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2015

MOON OVER SOHO, the second novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s best-selling and critically-acclaimed Peter Grant series, is now available in Czech! Published by Kosmas as MĚSÍC NAD SOHO, here’s the synopsis…

Jmenuji se Peter Grant. Ještě nedávno jsem byl obyčejný četnický zelenáč v řadách londýnské Metropolitní policie. Jedné noci jsem se ale při vyšetřování vraždy zapletl s duchem, a všiml si mě tak vrchní inspektor Nightingale, poslední čaroděj Anglie. A tak teď stojím jako člen dvoučlenné speciální policejní jednotky v márnici nad tělem zavražděného jazzmana a snažím se získat z jeho mrtvého těla záznam melodie, důležitou stopu ve vyšetřování jeho vraždy. To fakt umím. A nejen to. A tak vím, že v Soho řádí vrah, který má nadpřirozené schopnosti a jedině naše jednotka je schopna ho zastavit.

The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

The novel has also been published in German, French, Japanese, Russian and more. Details can be found on Ben’s author page, and the all of the covers (to date) are below…

Ben Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO Now in Korean!

Posted on Friday, November 27th, 2015

Ben Aaronovitch‘s second Peter Grant novel, MOON OVER SOHO, is now available in Korean! Published by Hyundae Munhak as 소호의 달, here’s the Korean synopsis…

내 이름은 피터 그랜트. 런던 수도경찰국 엑스파일 부서 폴리 소속. 영국 최후의 공인 마법사인 나이팅게일 경감의 하나뿐인 부하 겸 도제다. 고로 런던 광역시 내의 모든 초자연적 사건이 내 차지고, 최고의 유흥가 소호도 예외는 아니다. 소호 클럽에서 재즈 음악가들이 공연 직후 별 이유 없이 사망하는 일이 잇따라 일어난다. 현장에 남은 마법적 단서는 재즈곡 <바디 앤드 소울>의 선율. 재즈 트럼펫 연주자인 아버지의 도움을 받아가며 이전의 의문사들까지 추적하느라 눈코 뜰 새가 없다. 살인수사반에서는 음경을 물어뜯겨 사망한 남자들 사건에도 수사 협조를 요구해온다. 조사가 진행될수록 뱀파이어, 질에 이빨이 달린 여인, 키메라에 흑마법사의 존재까지 드러나는데… 나, 사건 해결은커녕 이 틈바구니에서 살아남을 수는 있을지…

And the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

MOON OVER SOHO is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Del Rey, and has been widely published in translation in other territories. (Check Ben’s author page for details.) Hyundae Munhak have also published RIVERS OF LONDON in Korean, as 런던의 강들.

Ben Aaronovitch Interviewed by Amazon about RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK

Posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2015

Last week, Ben Aaronovitch was interviewed for Amazon’s Kindle Blog about his new comic series, RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK. Co-authored by Andrew Cartmel, the comics are set between books four and five of Ben’s Peter Grant urban fantasy series. Here are a couple of snippets from the interview…

Amazon: Have the comics enabled you to explore anything that the books didn’t allow, and is there anything that you’d like to explore in future series?

BEN: The books are written in a very strict first-person narrative style and the comics are much looser – you can follow other characters, do quick one panel flashbacks, memories and other omniscient narrator stuff – which opens up a wide array of possibilities of expanding the world beyond the books.

There are also jokes and action sequences that wouldn’t work within the prose style of the books. Surprise splash pages, rapid chronological intercutting and ironic caption/image counterpoints are tools that aren’t available to me in the books allowing me to expand the story in new ways…

Amazon: Both the comics and the books include rich detail about local history, myths, and legends. What do you enjoy most about the research process?

BEN: The best thing about research is that it’s not actually work in any way or form. Actually that’s not the best thing; the best thing is finding out stuff that you never knew – like the existence of a coffee shop on the Thames in the 18th Century that was called ‘The Folly’. Things like that just drop into your lap and seamlessly integrate into your story as if you’d planned them from the start – it makes you look good.

The first four issues of the comic, published by Titan Comics, are out now. Issue 5 is out next month. The series is illustrated by Lee Sullivan and coloured by Luis Guerrero. Here’s the synopsis…

Peter Grant is one of only two members of a very special branch of London’s Metropolitan Police. He is, in fact, pretty much a wizard and it’s his job to investigate those shadowy crimes that involve urban vampires, weird folk in the underground and, in this case, why cars are suddenly taking on lives of their own and killing innocent folk

The Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz; in the US by Del Rey and DAW Books; in Germany by DTV; in France by J’ai Lu; and in multiple other territories and languages.

Ben Aaronovitch’s FOXGLOVE SUMMER now available in German audio!

Posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2015

The fifth book in Ben Aaronovitch‘s best-selling Peter Grant series, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, has been released as an audiobook in German. Published by GoyaLit as FINGERHUT-SOMMER, here’s the synopsis…

Peter Grant, Detective Constable und Zauberlehrling, fühlt sich normalerweise schon unwohl, wenn er London auch nur ein paar Kilometer weit hinter sich lässt. Doch nun wird er in die tiefste Provinz geschickt: in einen kleinen Ort in Herefordshire, wo sich Fuchs, Hase und der Dorfpolizist gute Nacht sagen. Es werden zwei Kinder vermisst und ihr Verschwinden erfolgte möglicherweise unter magischen Umständen. Zum Glück unterstützt ihn die hübsche Flussgöttin Beverley Brook bei seinen Ermittlungen.

The audiobook is narrated by Dietmar Wunder, who also provides dubbing duties for Daniel Craig’s James Bond.

DTV publishes the series in print in Germany.

The Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey (#1-3) and DAW Books (#4 onwards). Here’s the English-language synopsis…

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm…

RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK #4 Out Now

Posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2015

The fourth issue of Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel‘s comic series RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK is out now. Published by Titan Comics, it is a story set between the fourth and fifth books in the novel series — BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. Here’s the synopsis…

What’s the link between a circle of wizards killed in the Second World War, a homicidal car and an ancient ducking stool used to torture young girls? London cops Peter Grant and his boss, Inspector Nightingale, are in a race to find out before more people die!

The series is illustrated by Lee Sullivan, and coloured by Luis Guerrero.

In related news, readers of The Londonist have voted Ben’s Peter Grant series as the Best London Novels — the ‘runaway winner’ in the poll, in fact: ‘… the author is particularly good at setting key scenes in real London locations. Throw in a family of water nymphs representing the lost rivers of London, and you have the perfect fiction for London geeks…‘ We wholeheartedly agree!

The series is published in the UK by Gollancz. The next novel in the series, THE HANGING TREE, is due to be published mid-2016.

RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK #3 Out Tomorrow

Posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

The third issue in Ben Aaronovitch‘s RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK comic series is out tomorrow. Based on his best-selling and critically-acclaimed Peter Grant urban fantasy series, the comics are published by Titan Comics (in print an digital). Here’s the synopsis for #3…

The members – all two of them – of London’s most secret police force are on the trail of a self-driving killer car. But it takes something weird to catch something weird and soon they are behind the wheel of – The Most Haunted Car in England!

The series is co-authored by Andrew Cartmel; art by Lee Sullivan; colours by Luis Guerrero.

RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK is set between books four and five — BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. The series is published in the UK by Gollancz; in the US by Del Rey and DAW Books; and has been published widely in translation. (More details can be found on his author page, and by contacting us.) The next novel in the series will be THE HANGING TREE.

RIVERS OF LONDON Now Available in Czech!

Posted on Monday, August 31st, 2015

RIVERS OF LONDON, the best-selling first novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant urban fantasy series, has been published by Kosmas in Czech. Published as ŘEKY LONDÝNA, here is the synopsis…

Jmenuji se Peter Grant. Ještě nedávno jsem byl obyčejný četnický zelenáč v řadách londýnské Metropolitní policie. Jedné noci jsem se ale při vyšetřování jisté vraždy pokusil získat svědeckou výpověď od muže, který byl sice mrtvý, ale jinak znepokojivě výřečný, což mi zajistilo pozornost vrchního inspektora Nightingalea, posledního čaroděje Anglie. A právě tehdy začal můj příběh.

Nyní jsem policejní detektiv a čarodějův učeň, první učedník za padesát let, a můj svět už není zdaleka tak jednoduchý, jak býval.

The cover design is by Ktaiwanita, who has posted a selection of variants online. Here’s the full-cover wrap…

RIVERS OF LONDON (and the rest of the series) is published in the UK by Gollancz and Del Rey in the US (as MIDNIGHT RIOT). The novel has been published widely in translation, too — see Ben’s author page for details. Here’s the English-language 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 Peter Grant series includes: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES, FOXGLOVE SUMMER and THE HANGING TREE. There is also a comic series published by Titan Comics, RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK, which takes place between books four and five.

Ben Aaronovitch’s FINGERHUT-SOMMER Out Now in Germany!

Posted on Monday, August 24th, 2015

The fifth volume in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant series, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, is now available in Germany. Published as FINGERHUT-SOMMER by DTV, here’s the synopsis…

Obwohl sich Police Constable Peter Grant schon unwohl fühlt, wenn er Londons Skyline auch nur ein paar Kilometer weit hinter sich lässt, wird er jetzt in die tiefste Provinz geschickt: in einen kleinen Ort in Herefordshire – wo sich Fuchs, Hase und der Dorfpolizist Gute Nacht sagen. Aber es werden zwei Kinder vermisst, und ihr Verschwinden erfolgte womöglich unter magischen Umständen. Also muss Peter notgedrungen sein angestammtes Biotop verlassen. Mit der Flusstochter Beverley Brook begibt er sich mutig nach Westen, hinein ins ländliche England…

FOXGLOVE SUMMER is published in the UK by Gollancz, and will be published in the US by DAW Books on January 6th, 2016. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm…

The next novel in the series, THE HANGING TREE, is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz on November 19th, 2015.

DTV has also published the first four novels in the Peter Grant series. Here are the covers…

Cover: THE HANGING TREE by Ben Aaronovitch

Posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

A moment ago, Gollancz unveiled the cover for Ben Aaronovitch‘s sixth Peter Grant novel, THE HANGING TREE! Gollancz are due to publish the novel in the UK on November 19th, 2015. Here’s the synopsis…

The sixth outing for PC Peter Grant in this bestselling series sees him back in London and facing up to the terrifying legacy of London’s hangings.

Another gripping and hilarious adventure through the secret streets of London. A tour of what remains and an insight into what once was with a liberal sprinkling of folklore, myth and violent crime.

The Hanging Tree was the Tyburn gallows which stood where Marble Arch stands today. Oxford Street was the last trip of the condemned. Somethings don’t change. The place has a bloody and haunted legacy and now blood has returned to the empty Mayfair mansions of the world’s super-rich. And blood mixed with magic is a job for Peter Grant.

Peter Grant is back as are Nightingale et al at the Folly and the various river gods, ghosts and spirits who attach themselves to England’s last wizard and the Met’s reluctant investigator of all things supernatural.

Here’s the full cover wrap (click to enbiggen)…

Gollancz publish the rest of the Sunday Times bestselling series in the UK, too: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. The first three novels in the series are published in the US by Del Rey, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER are published in the US by DAW Books. In the US, RIVERS OF LONDON is published as MIDNIGHT RIOT.

RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK #1 Out This Week!

Posted on Monday, July 13th, 2015

The first issue in RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK is published this Wednesday by Titan Comics! Written by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, it expands on the characters and world Ben created in the best-selling Peter Grant series of urban fantasy novels. In addition to the main cover, there are two variant covers (all three above). Here’s the synopsis for issue one…

Peter Grant is one of only two members of a very special branch of London’s Metropolitan Police. He is, in fact, pretty much a wizard and it’s his job to investigate those shadowy crimes that involve urban vampires, weird folk in the underground and, in this case, why cars are suddenly taking on lives of their own and killing innocent folk

Art is provided by Lee Sullivan, colours by Luis Guerrero and lettering by Rona Simpson. The rest of the series will be published monthly. Here are the covers for issues two and three…

The Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and so far includes RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER. The next instalment, THE HANGING TREE, is due to be published later this year.

Ben Aaronovitch’s FOXGLOVE SUMMER Out Now in Paperback

Posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2015

Ben Aaronovitch‘s fifth Peter Grant novel, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, is out now in paperback! Published in the UK by Gollancz, here’s the synopsis…

The fifth of the Sunday Times Bestselling series sees PC Grant looking for missing children. And missing London.

In the fifth of his bestselling series Ben Aaronovitch takes Peter Grant out of whatever comfort zone he might have found and takes him out of London – to a small village in Herefordshire where the local police are reluctant to admit that there might be a supernatural element to the disappearance of some local children. But while you can take the London copper out of London you can’t take the London out of the copper.

Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what’s more all the shops are closed by 4pm …

The novel is published in the US by DAW Books, in France by J’ai Lu and, as we reported earlier in the week, in Germany by DTV.