The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London, #6) in The Folly Irregulars

Jan 14, 2017 carol. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: supernatural-mystery, my-library, favorites, my-library-hardcover, urban-fantasy, bring-to-the-desert-island, audio

You know how parents say certain kids love hearing that one book over and over? This is that book for me.

I know, I know: I'm always waxing enthusiastic over Kobna's reading of this series, but the audio version of a story set in London, filled with a wide variety of characters, brings a whole new level of appreciation to the story. Kobna's work on the London stage since 2003 would seem to be ideal preparation for the range of accents, voices and emotions used in the Peter Grant series. One offi You know how parents say certain kids love hearing that one book over and over? This is that book for me.

I know, I know: I'm always waxing enthusiastic over Kobna's reading of this series, but the audio version of a story set in London, filled with a wide variety of characters, brings a whole new level of appreciation to the story. Kobna's work on the London stage since 2003 would seem to be ideal preparation for the range of accents, voices and emotions used in the Peter Grant series. One official site lists a dizzying array of accent skills, along with fluency in English, Fanti and Ghanaian, (site: https://www.spotlight.com/interactive...) all put to good use on the occasions Peter's mum makes an appearance.

In this particular book, much of it takes place in the world of the 'posh' elite, giving us a chance to appreciate a range of upper-class/highly educated accents. Somehow, Kobna is able to give us the sassy tones of Bev, the clipped tone of Lady Ty controlling her temper, Nightingales' measured and articulate speech along with the working-class, foul-mouthed drawl of Inspector Seawoll and the swarmy, entendre-laden tones of Reynard the Fox and make me believe each character. That, to me, is flipping ah-maz-ing. For comparison, one of the first audiobooks I listened to was a female reader for Stephanie Plum book, and her voicing of the males in the books felt so false, so awkward, that I was thrown out of the story every time they spoke. Not so here. The only misstep to me is the brief appearance of American Kim Reynolds, and I'd say he's improved that since Whispers Underground. Other Americans fair better. I'd also like to remember that one dangerous moment for Peter (oh, shush; there's many in every book) where Kobna drops his voice nearly to a whisper to read, sending chills up my spine. Just perfect.

To my delight, there's an interview at the end between Aaronovitch, Holdbrook-Smith and one of the marketers from Gollancz that answers many wonderings. For instance, it seems Ben can't avoid Kobna's voice either, and sometimes when he writes he thinks of how the words will sound when read, particularly because Peter is prone to long chunks of distracted thought 'missing a full stop.' And, somewhat reassuringly, other listeners would agree with me that the only voice not done wonderfully is the American. Kobna's mock-outrage at the charge is endearing.

In the interview, Ben mentions that he doesn't have a 'meta' plot all worked out for the series, that his philosophy is 'take care of the story and the meta will work itself out.' I think that explains a great deal about the immediate and meta plotting of the books, which might prove unsatisfying for those who look for an explicitly "progressing" arc rather than episodes in the adventures of life (Note: I too wish my own meta-life would make more progress, but my approach to my own life must be something like Ben's writing). At any rate, my take-away is that Kobna and the series are reassuringly linked. Thank the urban-fantasy audio gods. Or the river ones.

May 2019: Ben made a mistake (because Peter would never make this one) and had Peter say, "the smell of carbon monoxide." Whoops. Like iocaine powder, carbon monoxide is odorless. ...more

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Feb 15, 2018 Lyn rated it really liked it

Now we are in the springtime of our discontent, when I must wait until JUNE!! for the next installment in this freakin’ great series!

Ben Aaronovitch has created one of the best urban / contemporary fantasy series of recent date, or HELL for that matter EVER, with his Peter Grant series. Grant is the protagonist, a police constable in the Metropolitan police force of London who, a few books back, saw a ghost and then was approached by a dapper Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale who intr Now we are in the springtime of our discontent, when I must wait until JUNE!! for the next installment in this freakin’ great series!

Ben Aaronovitch has created one of the best urban / contemporary fantasy series of recent date, or HELL for that matter EVER, with his Peter Grant series. Grant is the protagonist, a police constable in the Metropolitan police force of London who, a few books back, saw a ghost and then was approached by a dapper Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale who introduced him to a very small section of the Met whose job it was to investigate and sort out crimes of the ... eh, um … magical sort.

Grant soon learned that using the “M” word was generally frowned upon, that the existence of this branch of the service was known to the higher ups, mostly accepted, though grudgingly and with not a small tough of standoffishness and HEY PRESTO! Nightingale settled Peter in as his next apprentice – wizard.

Or practitioner as they say in the Folly, the name of the HQ of this mysterious department.

And so we come to Aaronovitch’s brilliant sixth book in the series (though there are a few short stories and some graphic novels – of which I am ravenously reading). Published in 2016 we are now in the desperate wait for the next in the series, 2018’s(!) Lies Sleeping.

Up to now we’ve seen plenty of the “M” word as Peter learns to make spells and to get better at his new craft. All the while he is also maintaining and getting better at being a proper copper in the old London sense. We’ve learned of magical creatures, Fae, underworld characters of vague origin and, of course, the Rivers.

Unlike some other urban fantasies with your garden variety vampires and werewolves, Aaronovitch has only given us hints of such folks, or when he does it’s in a new style, with new rules, and only subtly hinted at. And unlike resurrecting the old Celtic and Norse (and Greek, Egyptian, Slavic, etc. etc.) pantheons, our writer describes Genius loci – or gods of the rivers. These are incarnations of the rivers themselves with godlike powers. We meet Father Thames, up near the source, and Mother Thames in the city and then all the tributaries as lesser gods and goddesses.

And there is a recurring mysterious villain called the Faceless Man, whose nefarious machinations keep creeping up to endanger Peter and lure Nightingale into a magical duel.

And it’s FUN, FUN, FUN!

The Hanging Tree finds Peter and the Met allies of the Folly investigating a possible overdose that involved one of the daughters of Tyburn, the most powerful of Mother Thames children. This search leads to more clues about the Faceless Man and more magic tomfooleries than you can shake a whomping willow at.

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Jul 02, 2018 Lata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, x2018-read, favourites, bipoc-actor

What to say about a book I loved, in a series I love? Aaronovitch's mixture of police procedural, humour, fantasy, history, some social commentary and snark makes me grin and keep waiting anxiously for more Peter Grant. There are so many things I loved in this instalment, so here goes:
-Peter's ability to get distracted by architecture and all sorts of other things, all the time. His ramblings are one of the reasons I keep showing up for this series.
-Though not critical to one's enjoyment of the ...more

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Apr 25, 2017 Lata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, bipoc-actor, x2017-read

Review later.....

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Mar 23, 2017 ❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, witches-wizards-fiction, favorites, fantasy-urban-fantasy

This whole series is amazing! Usually, by the sixth book, I've lost interest or the books have become boring and predictable, not so with the Peter Grant series. I want more please! ...more

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Dec 28, 2016 Powerschnute rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2018

Fertig und endlich kann ich jetzt ganz entspannt den nächsten Band lesen

This is - in my humble opinion - the best Peter Grant yet. It's as if everything is coming together just to pose more questions and keep me wondering. I can't get over Leslie's development. Good girl gone bad literally. I like it and I hate it. I want her to redeem herself. I want her to be working under cover without Peter's knowledge, like in the far, far future she'll catch the faceless man and go surprise, I've been wor ...more

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Jul 31, 2018 Suzy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-faves, crime-mystery, favorite-series, london, listened-to, fantasy

Have I told you how much I love this series? Well, yes, I have told you and the love-showering on Peter Grant, Thomas Nightingale and The Rivers just keeps rolling on. In this one, we're back in London after a foray into the country in Foxglove Summer. And we are right in the thick of things in upper crust London when a teenager is killed in one of the swankiest of the swanky new modern apartment buildings, One Hyde Park. Peter and Nightingale are on the case, their partners from the "regular" p ...more

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Mar 16, 2017 Paul Sparks rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Is there a word that's a blend of love and frustration? Because that's how I feel about this book. ...more

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Mar 22, 2018 Afton rated it really liked it

Not the best of the series. It was convoluted in the beginning and there were so many characters, it was difficult to keep up. It sorted itself out in the second half and it got much better from there. I listened to the audiobook and Kobna knocks it out of the park, as usual. The only other downside was the loss of the jazz tune between chapters. It gives the audiobook a bit of a noir feel that was missing this time. I hope they bring it back soon.

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Apr 03, 2017 Danielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017

This was definitely more satisfactory (for example, the ending, maybe more well-structured?) than the last one, but actually I enjoyed the last one more for some reason.

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