Friday, August 7, 2015

In short: Rivers of London and wisdom of life from Peter Grant

Some might know the name Ben Aaronvitch from Dr.Who. I myself am familiar with the author for his excellent Rivers of London (in US known as Peter Grant) series. In this series, we met young cop and wizard in training Peter Grant.













The UK covers reminds me of the BBC series called EastEnders.
The show aired in Norway during the 80's when I was a kid.


If there's something strange in your London neighborhood. Who you gonna call?
Peter Grant of course!


Rivers of London is a well-written, funny and smart urban fantasy series for adults. The books contains references to music and literature, I like finding hidden treasures. I just discovered the other day why Kansas is a reference used a countless number of times (thanks to my American friends). I have not read or watched The Wizard of Oz yet so that reference has been flying over my head for years, I guess I should consider being embarrassed because of this, but hey, I am just thankful for adding some useful knowledge to this brain of mine.

I am rather sad that I have not written about any of the four books that I have read. I guess I am trying to make up for it with this post. I have devoured all four books in audio book format, purchased on Audible. The reader of these books is the magnificent Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, he adds an extra dimension to the novels with his talent.

Without further ado, here are a handful of quotes full of wisdom for you from Peter Grant :

...good-Samaritanism in London is considered an extreme sport - like base-jumping or crocodile-wrestling.

Keep breathing,’ I said. ‘It’s a habit you don’t want to break.

Despite what you think you know, most people don't want to fight, especially when evenly matched. … That's why you see those pissed young men doing the dance of "don't hold me back" while desperately hoping someone likes them enough to hold them back.

From Rivers of London(Peter Grant/Rivers of London #1) by Ben Aaronovitch.

Every male in the world thinks he's an excellent driver. Every copper who's ever had to pick an eyeball out of a puddle knows that most of them are kidding themselves.

We were aiming for a cross between Kafka and Orwell, which just goes to show how dangerous it can be when your police officers are better read than you are.


I decided to invent some rules just so I could add a new rule to the rules: Never diss somebody’s mum, never play chess with the Kurdish mafia, and never lie down with a woman who’s more magical than you are.
Moon Over Soho(Peter Grant #2) by Ben Aaronovitch.

Like young men from the dawn of time, I decided to choose the risk of death over certain humiliation.

It was a good plan, and like all plans since the dawn of time, this would fail to survive contact with real life.

Fra Whispers Under Ground (Peter Grant #3) by Ben Aaronovitch.

“That which does not kill us,” I said, “has to get up extra early in the morning if it wants to get us next time.”

A lifetime of disappointment had made him cynical, but you don’t stay an activist without a core of stubborn belief that things can get better – it’s a bit like being a Spurs supporter really.

From Broken Homes (Peter Grant #4) by Ben Aaronovitch

Have you read any of the books in this series or are you tempted to do so in the future?


Happy Friday, make the best of it =)

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing! I hadn't heard of this series before, but it sounds pretty awesome. I'll have to look into them now. :)

    -Lauren
    www.letsgetbeyondtolerance.blogspot.com

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    1. It is, some might feel that the first book is a bit of a slow starter, but the books just keeps getting better. I have enjoyed all so far. Have you any knowledge of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher? Peter Grant is like Harry Dresdens British younger brother.

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