It pains me so much to give the latest adventures of Peter Grant a mere 3 stars... But alas, I must.(I still adore this series, I promise. It would take a lot to shake that, and this didn't cause a dent in my love for the characters, the settings, the general overall joy of being in this version of London. False Value just... wasn't amazing. It took me a solid week to read, in the middle of a complete pandemic lockdown. My thesis was briefly on hold, or at least allowed a pause; there was nowher...

This 8th volume has a kick-ass glow-in-the-dark cover (see pictures in the comments) and neither Lesley nor any further Faceless Man. *lol* To make up for it, we get ... a lot more.Peter is living with the more and more pregnant Bev and working at Serious Cybernetics Company, an IT company. Yep, you read that correctly. Almost gave me a heart attack. But never fear, as becomes apparent almost immediately, it's an undercover job for the Folly (which is currently under some serious reconstruction!...

One for sci-fi fans. This book widens the Rivers universe, moving on from the Faceless Man storyline. This gives the series a new lease of life but loses its focus. It’s not got that vivid London vibe.Once you get into it, the historical tech world is fascinating but the story is pretty confusing for the first few chapters. There’s such a huge cast of characters that they started to blur. It’s a transitional tale where almost everyone who has ever appeared seemed to pop up or be referenced, in a...

Delivered as advertised.Oh yes; you heard right. The founder of Goodreads’ Folly Irregulars and long-time fan of the Peter Grant novels, has found one of the books to be over-rated and boring. I daresay even badly written. Hopefully, a second listen-through can redeem it, but there is no way that should be a thing for an Aaronovitch book.Narrative is from Peter, but this feels like an older, even more serious Peter. There’s a few humorous observations along the way, and some waxing emotional ov...

As a series wends on, satisfying the readerly demand of "each one different from all the others" grows almost as hard to satisfy as "each one better than all the others." Aaronovitch refreshes the well here by sending London police detective Peter Grant undercover at a high tech corp with questionable dealings of a possibly supernatural nature. Hijinks ensue, relayed in first-person narrator Peter's shrewd snark.As ever, start the series at the beginning with Rivers of London, inexplicably retit...

“What have we got to lose?’ I said.Nightingale looked up and gave me a strange, sad smile.‘Oh, everything, Peter,’ he said. ‘But then, such is life.” By book 8 in any series, you’re either a fan or are wasting your time. I’m a fan. Enough of a fan to finally 5-star the previous installment, Lies Sleeping, which was the first 5-star for me in this series. And sadly, so far the only one. The previous book wrapped up a long-running Faceless Man arc of this series; this one is setting up a new a

Another brilliant episode in this great series. And as usual I must compliment the narrator on his excellent work. He really makes these books come alive.A long running story arc came to an end in the previous book so this one started afresh. Peter is soon to become the father of twins, who may or may not be magic beings, and we see a softer side of his character occasionally. Of course he is still cynical and prone to making smart comments which make the book entertaining.Peter is working under...

The next book in one of my favorite series with a cover done in my favorite color scheme.* * * * *Release date now FEBRUARY of 2020...*side-eyeing every single comic book Ben Aaronovitch worked on this year instead on this book** * * * * Really good. So good that I'm no longer side-eyeing all those other things Ben Aaronovitch worked on last year instead of this book. He can work on whatever he wants from now on and I won't make snide comments as long as he keeps on producing this level of quali...

The weird shift in timings at the beginning really threw me off. Maybe because I was listening to the audiobook. I love the world of Peter Grant but the plot really didn’t do it for me unfortunately.

I’m a big fan of the Canadian progressive rock band Rush. I’ve got all of their studio albums, 19, and know all the songs and a lot of detail about the band. If you asked me what my favorite top three Rush albums are, I would reply: Moving Pictures, 2112, and Signals. If you asked me what my least favorite was I would first state that I like them all, they are all excellent and I enjoy listening to them all. But, for the sake of the question I would have to say Rush, their 1974 eponymous first a...

Re-read 9/9/21:I think I may have enjoyed this better the second time around. No spoilers, but I am reminded quite heavily of a Seanan McGuire October Daye novel. Those who know, know. That being said, I got even more into all the nerdy references this time and it was good. Very good.Original Review:On sheer enjoyment level, I'm always very enthusiastic about Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series, and this one is no exception. I dug in and dug it well, indeed.From the very start, we get knee-deep...

3.5* rounded down. I love this series, but this book felt much weaker compared to the rest of it. Main investigation is interesting, unfortunately there is too much sidetracking and rather mundane stuff: dinners, family picnics, looking after pregnant girlfriend, mildly amusing conversations with random new people Peter meets. Secondary cast is getting too huge too. I hope the next one will have more focus.

For the first time I finished a book in the series, and went eh. I thought the series had been getting stronger right up til the point that the Faceless Man gets shot last book, and was wondering where the series would go. At the end of this book, you kind of have an idea, but also there's a lot more "law and order" going on, when at this point it would be the intelligence organizations stepping in. My long anticipation was disappointed. Partly because Ben is now referencing so much from other s...

Wow. This was so tedious. Nothing happens in this book it seems. Maybe Aaronovitch having Peter deal with "The Faceless Man" in the last book meant we would get filler, but geez this is boring. And I still don't buy Peter or Beverly as a couple and the whole pregnancy thing was not interesting to read about. I think the hints of wizards and whatnot in America could have been interesting, but nope. This whole book read like Aaronovitch was treading water."False Values" follows Peter as he goes un...

I really enjoyed this. I liked the beginning chapters which meant the reader had to work harder to work out what was going on. I liked the fact that so many of the characters we’ve already met played their part too. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the technological side, but I pretty much did.

3.5 stars.Good, but I hope that in future stories Aaronovitch will write more about the Folly and that we'll see more of Nightingale, Molly, Leslie and some of the other characters we've come to know and love. The author has built a wonderful, magical world with almost endless possibilities for adventures. I look forward to reading them.

Obviously, I wouldn't be reading book 8 of this series if I didn't seriously enjoy Peter Grant and his magickal London. I even spent my own moolah to buy a copy to permanently accession into my personal library.I understand Peter moving in with Beverley, he bloody better if she's expecting his twin children. But I do miss the Folly, Toby, Molly, and more downtime with Nightingale. Aaronovitch has developed so many characters that I'm fond of that he can't possibly shoehorn them all into every bo...