Review of "Midnight Riot"/"Rivers of London" by Ben Aaronovitch Item 16 - Finish 30 25 books

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The title for "Rivers of London" was changed to the rather bland sounding "Midnight Riot" for the American release for reasons I don't know. The cover art was also changed from that keen looking piece of textual cartography (more of which can be seen at the artist's website, I strongly encourage you to check it out) to this action hero looking thing:

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This cover, while perfectly serviceable, is decidedly generic. Even more so when you look at the original of that cover and realize the publisher has completely obscured the race of the novel's protagonist:

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This of course created a controversy at the time of the publication which I won't rehash here (not just because I'm two years too late for it). Suffice to say that I prefer the original title and cover as they give a much truer sense of what the book is about.

Which is actually more than I can say about the pull quote they used on the UK cover. It's always a dangerous thing to use another property when reviewing any creative endeavor, you tend to do a disservice to both the thing you are describing and the examples you use; I remember a co-worker once describing "Lost" as "Gilligan's Island" meets "Twin Peaks." I haven't read "Harry Potter" nor have I seen any of the movies, but I think that comparing this particular book to that franchise misrepresents both. Peter, is an unsure, hesitating and at times frustrating (yet still likable) protagonist; much different from the near messianic figure that I understand Harry to be (I really should probably see at least one of the movies before I start throwing these accusations around, but I think this is still a fairly accurate analysis). I know publishers beg writers for quotes like "What would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz," so I really mean no offense to Diana Gabaldon, I just feel it doesn't do just service to the premise that Aaronovitch runs with in this book.

Another area where this book really gives it's all is in it's internal deconstruction of magic. The basis of magic as national defense as started by Isaac Newton is a truly fun idea. I especially love the idea of Peter as a science nerd to follow in that same tradition. It's a modern take on magic that I don't think I've seen before, where it and science not only can but must live side by side.

I should mention that I realized as I started writing this entry that I have been reading far too much "urban fantasy." Not that there is a quota for how much a person should read, but it does seem to be weighing pretty heavily on the scales as far as these reviews go. On the other hand, had I not read this book I would probably never have read the sentence "urban fantasy police procedural," which still doesn't replace "Like Prince's 'Little Red Corvette', 'Pink Cadillac' follows in the tradition of Wilson Pickett R&B classic 'Mustang Sally' in using automobile travel as a metaphor for sexual activity, particularly as sung by Springsteen as the lyric: 'I love you for your pink Cadillac' was originally a veiled pudendal reference" as my favorite sentence from Wikipedia, but it does rank. Regardless, I think I will probably read the sequel (although I may not do it for this blog). Aaronovitch did a great job making me care about the characters and their world that I do want to know what happens next.