Score: 5/5 Bookmarks

I have been eagerly awaiting False Value by Ben Aaronovitch to come out, because I am 100% hooked on the Peter Grant / Rivers of London series! This is the eighth book in the series, which is an urban fantasy set mostly in London, starring Peter Grant a young copper who gets recruited into the MET’s ‘magical arm’. They investigate all otherworldly activity such as magic, fairies, ghosts and the like.

In this installment of the series Peter has been suspended (for what happened in the last book), and while he’s on a forced sabbatical he actually ends up being recruited for an undercover assignment to investigate the goings on at The Serious Cybernetics Company. I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s a great read and full of the British humor I had been missing since the last book.

I will admit that during the first few chapters I found it a little confusing and had to really work to figure out what was actually going on, but once I settled into the book I couldn’t put it down. While Beverly (Peter’s main squeeze) showed up a few times throughout the book I did feel it was missing the usual banter and fun between her and Peter. And there was a little less of The Nightingale (Peter’s boss) in this one too. But other than those minor complaints I absolutely loved it. In fact, I highly recommend the whole series.

This is the first Rivers of London book that I haven’t listened to as an audiobook, and I certainly missed Kobna Hodbrook-Smith’s narration. In my mind his voice IS Peter Grant, and while I was hearing it in my head as I read, it wasn’t as good as the real thing. So if you are just starting out with this series I would definitely suggest the audiobooks! Click the button below to grab it on audio, or click here for a physical copy.

Synopsis:

Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner's brand new London start up—the Serious Cybernetics Company.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street's famous 'silicon roundabout', Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant's favorite son.

Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological—and just as dangerous.