From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Midnight Riot (Rivers of London #1)

Ben Aaronovitch

Start date: May 1, 2016

Finish date: May 31, 2016

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 2 topics — 4,118 comments total

Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
By Josh · 3043 posts · 623 views

last updated Feb 21, 2024 10:37PM

February 2025: The Lemon Drop Kid
By Karen · 15 posts · 20 views

last updated Jun 14, 2025 04:47PM

showing 4 of 4 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 28, 2011 Ami rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy-with-male-protagonist

My friend told me that if I liked Jim Butcher, I should liked this one. On one hand, as a male protagonist, Peter Grant is pretty likeable. I like the idea of having a wizard apprentice as a male protagonist, rather than a full-time wizard (like Dresden). It gives Peter a chance to develop his talent as he criss-crosses the world of magic for the first time, including understanding how the god and goddeses of Rivers of London work. I also like how Peter keeps trying to "insert" some scientific r ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Aug 07, 2015 Jax rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: not-mm, print-books, 2-star, fantasy, dnf

Not sure why this didn't click for me. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, the writing's okay. Dunno...just kinda dull. I shouldn't have to give myself reading assignments of x number of pages to get through a book. In fact I quit with only 30 pages to go. I had skimmed the previous 30 and I just couldn't do it anymore. I didn't care enough about anyone or anything happening. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2011 Lori S. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-urban, fantasy, mysteries, 2011_challenge, authors-british

4-1/2 stars
I've been a long time fan of Ben Aaronovich, since he wrote one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes and its subsequent novelization (Remembrance of the Daleks), so I was really looking forward to reading this book.

I'm glad I did. I like the main character Peter Grant, who is more the British equivalent of Harry Dresden than a grown up Harry Potter (despite what one of the reviews says), snarky, intelligent, cunning and funny. He becomes an apprentice wizard to Thomas Nightengale almost 4-1/2 stars
I've been a long time fan of Ben Aaronovich, since he wrote one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes and its subsequent novelization (Remembrance of the Daleks), so I was really looking forward to reading this book.

I'm glad I did. I like the main character Peter Grant, who is more the British equivalent of Harry Dresden than a grown up Harry Potter (despite what one of the reviews says), snarky, intelligent, cunning and funny. He becomes an apprentice wizard to Thomas Nightengale almost by accident and magic tends to ruin cell phone batteries and silicon chips. Peter comes up with an interesting hypothesis about this over the course of the book.

Aaronovich makes fun of everything from the reasons why people from Yorkshire come to live in London to Harry Potter. His reference to Black Adder's Baldric and his "cunning plans" had me laughing out loud. He knows how to mix in the history of the landscape into his story-telling without over whelming the plot; I caught whiffs of Susan Cooper at times. She is a master at this sort of thing.

We get to meet two different aspects of the great river Thames - Mother Thames, who rules the tidal parts of the river and Father Thames, who is at the source (non-tidal) of the river. (view spoiler)

Being an American, I didn't really completely understand the Punchinella/Punch & Judy references; though Aaronovich does a good job of explaining what is happening in the story, I felt sure I was missing some of the references. Not surprising, really, since I have never seen a Punch & Judy play. This doesn't detract from the story, however, as it makes me want to correct this deficiency in my education.

I'm looking forward to reading Moon Over Soho now!

[edit 6/25/13] I just found out that The Rivers of London will soon be turned into a TV series: Exclusive: Rivers Of London coming to television . Don't know how well it'll film, but I'm curious. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 18, 2014 Kate rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fun-mayhem, fabu-worldbuilding

I got this as an audiobook from the local library and had no idea what at treat I'd picked up. Listening to it was like getting an unexpected present. The story is lot of fun, with cleverness and champion world building, but I'm staying on for the character. (So much for saving money with a library book--I'm off to buy the rest of the series because the library stopped at one, the fools.)

Everyone keeps comparing Grant to Dresden but I like Aaronvitch's humor more, the world more, and the writing ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Minh rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery

For some reason my version of this is tagged as Rivers of London, it's a lovely introduction to the Peter Grant world which is a nice switch up to things when we're thrown head first into the protagonist world. There's a special type of thrill that I enjoy actually living in the city and reading about it at the same time. ...more

Like · see review

Mar 08, 2014 Wendy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series, paranormal, alternative-realities, fantasy, recommend, mystery

I think this is a book some people will love, will confuse others who aren't persistent, and others will genuinely dislike. I loved it; so many seemingly random and odd events occur, I wondered how it could ever come together. I thought it did so brilliantly, strangely enough partially with a tale from my childhood, constructed and performed by my parents for a college course. I liked the characters, particularly after Peter starts his new job. I giggle whenever I open the refrigerator and see t ...more

Like · see review

Jul 20, 2012 Colette rated it really liked it

Fun, well written start to this series, I look forward to reading the next book.

Like · see review

Aug 08, 2022 ReviewerLarissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: series, mainstream-urban-fantasy

Listened to the audiobook. It was a good story, bit slow at time with a lot of unneeded details, but fun. Liked the plot and the characters. Looking forward to more.

Like · see review