Peter Grant (book series)
|
In timeline order[1] Rivers of London ("Midnight Riot" in the US) (2011) Moon Over Soho (2011) Whispers Under Ground (2012) Broken Homes (2013) Body Work (graphic novel) (2016) Foxglove Summer (2014) Night Witch (graphic novel) (2016) The Furthest Station (novella) (2017) The Hanging Tree (2016) Black Mould (graphic novel) (2017) | |
| Author |
Ben Aaronovitch (Novels and Graphic Novels) Andrew Cartmel (Graphic Novels) |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Urban Fantasy |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
| Published | 2011-2017 |
| Media type | |
The Peter Grant series (alternatively, the Rivers of London series or the PC Grant series)[2] is a series of urban fantasy novels by English author Ben Aaronovitch, and comics/graphic novels by Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, illustrated by Lee Sullivan.
Plot overview
Novels and novellas
Rivers of London
(American Title: Midnight Riot)
The novel centres around the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the Metropolitan Police; who, following an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into the small branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural.
Peter Grant, having become the first English apprentice wizard in over seventy years, must immediately deal with two different but ultimately inter-related cases. In one he must find what is possessing ordinary people and turning them into vicious killers, and in the second he must broker a peace between the two warring gods of the River Thames and their respective families.[3]
Moon over Soho
Following the events of Rivers of London Police Constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant is called in to help investigate the brutal murder of a journalist in the downstairs toilet of the Groucho Club in London's Soho district. At the same time Peter is disturbed by a number of deaths of amateur and semi-professional jazz musicians that occurred shortly after they performed. Despite the apparently natural causes of death each body exhibits a magical signature which leads Peter to believe that the deaths are far from natural.[4]
Whispers Under Ground
The son of a US senator is stabbed to death, and magic involvement is suspected. An FBI agent is involved with DC Grant's case. Meanwhile, in the tunnels of London's Underground, the sewers, something is happening.
Broken Homes
Another killer is on the loose, and the prime suspect could be an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man. A town planner goes under a tube train, and a grimoire has been stolen. And when Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, he has to investigate whether there is a connection.
Foxglove Summer
Leaving London, Peter goes to a small village in Herefordshire, where there appears to be a supernatural element to the disappearance of two local girls. Having to cope with local cops, as well as local gods, Peter finds the mystery deepens.
The Hanging Tree
Back in London, Peter faces the legacy of London's hangings. Investigating suspicious murders in the world of the super-rich, Peter is in a different world to the one he is used to investigating.
A Rare Book of Cunning Device
A free Audible short story narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith who reads the audio versions of the full-length novels in the series. Peter is summoned to the British Library to capture a poltergeist who is making mischief in the basement.
The Furthest Station (novella)
In this novella, published in September 2017, Peter needs to deal with commuting ghosts, forgetful commuters, and deciphering a ghost's urgent message.
Graphic novels
The Rivers of London graphic novel series tells a separate story arc in 5 individual comics that when finished are sold in a hardback and softback bound editions.
- Body Work - Starting with a car on a killing spree, with no driver, Peter investigates a Bosnian refugee and a seemingly-harmless wooden bench with the darkest of paths...[5]
- Hardback: ISBN 9781785853647, First edition March 2016
- Softback: ISBN 9781782761877, First edition March 2016
- Set between Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer[1]
- Originally released as 5 monthly issues.
- Night Witch - Russian Oligarch's daughter is kidnapped and he thinks kidnapping Nightwitch Varvara Sidorovna will help the situation.[6]
- Hardback: ISBN 9781785853647, First edition November 2016
- Softback: ISBN 9781785852930, First edition December 2016
- Set between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree[1]
- Originally released as 5 monthly issues.
- Black Mould- Sahra Guleed joins Grant is determining the source of Black Mould invading the suburbs while Nightingale takes on a haunted ice cream van.[7]
- Detective Stories - Peter is trying to make Detective which is a bit complicated when your exam proctor is 90% sure you are crazy or a practical joke!
- Hardback: First edition December 2017 TBC
- Softback: ISBN 9781785861710, First edition December 2017 TBC
- Set between The Hanging Tree and Cry Fox.
- Originally released as 4 monthly issues.
- Cry Fox - Reynard is up to his tricks again and this time it involves some old Russian friends.
- Softback: First edition June 2018
- Set between Detective Stories and Water Weed.
- Originally released as 4 monthly issues.
Future installments
Listed below are forthcoming titles, as confirmed on Ben Aaronvitch's blog.
Lies Sleeping
Lies Sleeping will be the 7th novel in the Peter Grant series.[9]
What Abigail Did That Summer
What Abigail Did That Summer is a forthcoming novella set between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree. In the series chronology it will be the first novella, taking place before The Furthest Station.
The October Man
Set directly after What Abigail Did That Summer,[9] and focuses on the as yet unintroduced character Tobias Winter who works for the Abteilung KDA, the German equivalent of the Folly.[10]
Untitled Kimberley Reynolds Novella
Following FBI Agent Kimberley Reynolds, who was introduced in Whispers Underground, and has subsequently become an ally of the Folly, this novella is set after Lies Sleeping.[9]
Graphic novels
In additional to the novels and novellas listed above, there are also 2 forthcoming graphic novels; Water Weed is set directly after Cry Fox, and The Fey and the Furious will take place after the events of Lies Sleeping.[9]
Other work
Aaronovitch has also announced several works within the same fictional universe, but set outside the chronology of the main series. These works include a short story entitled 'Cock of The Wall' focusing on Petrus Aelius Bekemetus,[9] who Aaronovitch describes as a "temple official/Londinium wideboy" - i.e. set in Roman London which Peter Grant briefly visited in the first book of the series.[11] Also planned is an untitled Novella focusing on Peter's mentor Thomas Nightingale, and a graphic novel entitled 'Action at a Distance'.[9]
Stories listed by internal chronology
In a blog entry[12], the author has provided a list of the stories, by internal chronology.
| Timeframe (if known) | Story title | Published |
|---|---|---|
| January to June 2012 | Rivers of London (novel) | 10 January 2011[13] |
| Before the 2012 Summer Olympics | The Home Crowd Advantage (short story) | 'London Edition' of Rivers of London and on his official website |
| September to October 2012 | Moon Over Soho (novel) | 21 April 2011[14] |
| December 2012 | Whispers Under Ground (novel) | 21 June 2012 |
| March-April 2013 | Broken Homes (novel) | 25 July 2013 |
| Not given | Body Work (graphic novel) | Parts 1-5 - 16 July 2015 through 20 November 2015, collected 29 March 2016 |
| August 2013 | Foxglove Summer (novel) | 13 November 2014 |
| What Abigail Did That Summer (novella) | forthcoming | |
| Night Witch (graphic novel) | Parts 1-3 - 16 March 2016 through 18 May 2016, collected 1 November 2016 | |
| Black Mould (graphic novel) | Parts 1-5 - 12 October 2016 through 8 March 2017, collected 25 July 2017 | |
| Late July 2013 | The Furthest Station (novella) | 28 September 2017 |
| Undisclosed month in 2014 | The Hanging Tree (novel) | 3 November 2016 in the UK,[15] 31 January 2017 in the US[16] |
| A Rare Book of Cunning Device (audio book) | Audible special edition | |
| Detective Stories (graphic novel) | Parts 1-4 7 June 2017 through 3 September 2017, collected 29 December 2017 | |
| Cry Fox (graphic novel) | 8 November 2017, collected 26 June 2018 | |
| Water Weed (graphic novel) | forthcoming | |
| Lies Sleeping (novel) | forthcoming | |
| The Fey and the Furious (graphic novel) | forthcoming |
On the page where the official order is given, the author writes: "One caveat - the short story The Home Crowd Advantage is obviously set in 2012 during the London Olympics but because it was written before the chronology of the series had firmed up it contains a number of anachronisms. I've learnt to be philosophical about this sort of thing." Many of the stories give vague dates, and some of those dates conflict with the official series order (compare Foxglove Summer and The Furthest Station).
Main characters
Note: the following section contains major spoilers for later books in the series.
- Police Constable Peter Grant; an officer in the Metropolitan Police and the first official apprentice wizard in sixty years.
- Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale; head of the Folly and the last officially sanctioned English Wizard.
- Lesley May; formerly Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police and de facto apprentice to Nightingale; now criminal associate of the Faceless Man and subject to an internal investigation
- Detective Sergeant Miriam Stephanopoulos; case officer of the Belgravia Murder Investigation Team and de facto Senior Investigating Officer.
- Sahra Guleed; Constable, often works with Peter when his cases are in London.
- Dr Abdul Haqq Walid; world-renowned gastroenterologist and cryptopathologist.
- Frank Caffrey; LFB (London Fire Brigade) Fire Investigator, ex-para and a key "associate" of the Folly.
- Professor Harold Postmartin D.Phil. FRS BMon "Postmartin the Pirate" Archivist and expert for the Folly.
- Molly; The Folly's domestic helper, of not entirely clarified species, but she has been referred to as fae-like in the PC Grant novel "Foxglove Summer".
- Abigail Kamara; an annoyingly persistent teen-aged girl who is the de facto founding member of the Folly's Youth Wing. Lives at the same estate as Peter's parents.
- Beverley Brook; "daughter" of Mama Thames and goddess of Beverley Brook, a small river in South London; in later books, Peter Grant's girlfriend.
- Cecilia Tyburn Thames; aka Lady Ty, "daughter" of Mama Thames and goddess of the River Tyburn.
- Oxley; god of the River Oxley one of the "sons" of Father Thames and his chief negotiator.
- Toby; Peter's dog, who can detect magic, indicated by barking
- Varvara Sidorovna Tamonina (aka. Varenka Dobroslova); Russian/Soviet witch (Night Witch), magical WWII veteran (365th Special Regiment of the Red Army), later living on her own in Britain with a magically extended lifetime
- Thomas Debden; car mechanic, showing an interest in Molly
References
- 1 2 3 4 Ben Aaronovitch; Andrew Cartmel (2017). Black Mould. Titan Comics. ISBN 9781785863851. - Rivers of London Reader's Guide
- ↑ "The PC Grant Series". Orion Books. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ↑ Bullock, Saxon (14 January 2011). "Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovitch – book review". SFX. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ↑ Ingham, Peter (24 June 2011). "Book Review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ↑ Ben Aaronovitch; Andrew Cartmel (2016). Body Work. Titan Comics. ISBN 9781785853647.
- ↑ Ben Aaronovitch; Andrew Cartmel (2016). Night Witch. Titan Comics. ISBN 9781785852930.
- ↑ Ben Aaronovitch; Andrew Cartmel (2017). Black Mould. Titan Comics. ISBN 9781785863851.
- ↑ 1964-, Aaronovitch, Ben,. The hanging tree. London, England. ISBN 9780575132573. OCLC 943233035.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Temporarily Significant - Book and Comic Chronology". Retrieved October 1, 2017.
- ↑ "Temporarily Significant - Moments Nr 3 auf Englisch". Retrieved October 1, 2017.
- ↑ "Ben Aaronovitch on Twitter". Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ↑ http://temporarilysignificant.blogspot.com/p/a-chronology-of-rivers-of-london-books.html
- ↑ "Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch - Lovereading UK". Love Reading. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ↑ "Lovereading". Lovereading. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ↑ http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2016/09/the-hanging-tree-announcement/
- ↑ http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/315855/the-hanging-tree-by-ben-aaronovitch/