Okay, I’ve got two novellas here that are both later installments in ongoing series, and I don’t have a whole ton to say about either of them, so let’s do a quick combo post.
JY Yang’s Ascent to Godhood is the fourth, and apparently final, novella in their Tensorate series. It’s basically the backstory for the Protector, told as a (not entirely sober) oral history. The format works well, and it’s a quick enjoyable read. Really, all I wanted from it is more—more of this story in particular, and more Tensorate stories in general. But “there’s not enough of this thing” is maybe the best complaint to have, so.
If you’ve been reading the Tensorate stories, you’ll certainly want to read this one; if you haven’t, I recommend them.
Ben Aaronovitch’s The October Man is definitely not the last of the Rivers of London series, and in fact it’s not set in London at all. The novella features a new German protagonist, who’s not Peter Grant.
… except that he kinda is. He’s a newly-apprenticed cop studying under a mysterious and old-fashioned wizard who’s been around long enough to be legendary, and he’s dealing with messy murders as an officer in a special unit that liaises with regular cops and river spirits. His first-person narration is even snarkily dry in the exact same way Peter Grant’s is.
This doesn’t speak well to Aaronovitch’s wide-ranging versatility as a writer, but honestly at this point a Peter Grant book, except not mired in convoluted backstory, is pretty much exactly what I want out of this series, so I’ll take it. And the sudden introduction of a set of German characters has me intrigued as to where the next novel is going to go. This is an easy recommendation for Aaronovitch junkies
Comments