Rivers of London

Great fun, great speaker

It took me ten minutes to get used to Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, but then I absolutely loved him! One special compliment: He does not make the female characters sound like simpering imbeciles.
The story is fun, though for sure there are some logical gaps. However, due to the great way the characters are developed, you do not actually mind that at all.
I have already bought the two sequels, and can recommend them as well.

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Amüsant, spannend, liebenswert und fantasievoll!

Der erste Teil dieser Serie macht uns bekannt mit Peter Grant, einem ehrgeizigen jungen Polizisten, dessen Karriere ganz plötzlich eine ausgesprochen überraschende Wendung nimmt. Sein ganzes Leben gerät durcheinander, wie ihm plötzlich an einem Tatort ein Geist erscheint. Den natürlich nur er sehen kann, seine Kollegin ist da eher skeptisch, doch schon bald trifft Grant auf Unterstützung und muss erkennen, dass ein Geist noch das Harmloseste ist, mit dem er sich in Zukunft beschäftigen wird. Er beginnt eine Lehre als Magier, seine neue Mitbewohnerin ist ein Vampir, und sogar sein kleiner Hund scheint über eine übernatürliche Spürnase zu verfügen.

Die Lage spitzt sich zu, als die übernatürlich gesteuerten Morde rapide zunehmen, und letztendlich gipfelt das Ganze in einem unglaublichen Finale, in dem nicht nur Punch und Judy ihren guten Ruf verlieren (das sind die englischen Pendents zum österreichischen Kasperl und Pezi), sondern feine Damen und Herren in einer wilden Raserei auf einander losgehen und einen halben Stadteil verwüsten.

Amüsant, spannend und liebenswert würde ich sagen - auf Teil 2 freue ich mich schon. Das Hörbuch wird von Kobna Holdbrook-Smith wirklich sehr gut gelesen und weist ein Tempo auf, für das man auf jeden Fall gut Englisch verstehen sollte. Alles in allem ein wirklich vergnügliches Erlebnis, das ich auch Printfans nur empfehlen kann, das Buch gibt es auf Deutsch (Print und HB) als "Die Flüsse von London".

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Urban Fantasy abseits ausgetretener Pfade

Wer Urban Fantasy abseits ausgetretener Pfade sucht ist hier richti, zu Recht ohne butt-kicking chick mit tramp stamp auf dem Cover.

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Brilliant

Welchen drei Worte würden für Sie Rivers of London treffend charakterisieren?

Witzig, anders, London

Welcher Moment von Rivers of London ist Ihnen besonders im Gedächtnis geblieben?

Die Theaterszene, der Besuch bei Father Thames, und noch so viele andere.

Hat Ihnen Kobna Holdbrook-Smith an der Geschichte etwas vermittelt, was Sie vielleicht beim Selberlesen gar nicht bemerkt hätten?

Die Akkzente, ich hätte es beim Selberlesen nicht so hingekriegt, von Mama Thames über Father Thames, es war köstlich.

Hätten Sie das Hörbuch am liebsten in einem Rutsch durchgehört?

Ja, ich benutze Audible im Auto während der Hin- und Rückfahrt zur Arbeit, es gab Momente, an denen ich gar nicht erst aussteigen mochte.

Was wäre für andere Hörer sonst noch hilfreich zu wissen, um das Hörbuch richtig einschätzen zu können?

Wer Krimis und Magies mag, könnte hier ein kleines Juwel gefunden haben.

3 von 3 Hörern fanden diese Rezension hilfreich

Good reader - Weird mix of genres

It took me a while to get used to the reader who often seemed breathless. But I suppose his fast reading was inspired by the seemingly fast paced story.

Not sure I liked the fantasy/crime fiction mix, though.

3 von 3 Hörern fanden diese Rezension hilfreich

An odd story and some odd storytelling

First off, solid performance by the narrator, especially due to clearly distinguishable character impressions. He sometimes falls into a somewhat monotonous tone, but that feels quite in-character for protagonist PC Grant.

The story itself, however...
The author often paints beautiful and vivid pictures of the characters and environment, but then makes sudden jumps to another location or time frame. Surely he could have spared a few lines for an interlude?
As for the content: we get to witness PC Grant discovering things about London that he would never have considered possible, so I'll cut the author some slack on sudden appearances and convenient discoveries.
But somewhere after the fifth occurrence of "Oh, by the way, Peter, there's also <plot device>. I just didn't have time to tell you earlier.", it just has me rolling my eyes.

Overall, I unfortunately have to recommend you find another fantasy/murder-mystery crossover series for an enjoyable passtime.

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Crime and Wizardry in the streets of London

This is not a Harry Potter for adults, nor is it Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden in London, it is different somehow, even if the ingredients are the same as in many other urban fantasies. There is not really anything new in Ben Aaronovitch “Rivers of London”, but the story has a different touch and feel. He tells it with a twinkle in his eye and there is a touch of British humor. On top of that, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith does an incredible job in reading it, from a Nigerian lilt to the shrieking of a Victorian ghost, he has the right voice to breathe life into the characters.

The main gist of the story is quickly told. Peter Grant is just a probationary constable of the London Metropolitan Police Service and not very good at it, at best you could say, he gets by. His colleague Leslie May seems to be much better at it and he admires her, not just for that. She is adorable, smart and sexy, but somehow he does not manage to get beyond the good friends level with her. His life takes a completely new turn, when one night, while keeping watch on a crime scene, a ghost talks to him, to him, who always thought of himself as a realistic, down-to-earth guy. To make things worse, a little bit later, he gets the attention of a Mr. Nightingale, a real wizard and inspector of the police force.

It does not come as a surprise that Peter becomes an apprentice of Mr. Nightingale to get trained in the art of magic. He moves in with Mr. Nightingale, into his bizarre home, where the only other resident is Molly, a female vampire. There is barely enough time to get introduced to the basics of magic, because a bad spirit of the past is loose in the streets of London and killing people at random. But that is not all, he has to mediate a conflict between the god and goddess of the Thames and on top of that, Beverly, the incredibly sexy daughter of the goddess of the Thames, seems to fancy him very much.

It is a fast moving, action packed story, really entertaining and humorous at times, but basically harmless. There is some blood and gore and a hint of sex now and then, but nothing offensive. It is fun to listen to and I wonder, whether the sequel keeps up with the expectations created by this book.

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A tourist's guide to London this is not!!!

Plot was quirky and unexpectedly different.
Narrator was brilliant.
Not the London you would read about in any tourist guide!

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Magic Works!

Magic works – and so does this book. When a potential witness to a senseless crime approaches police constable Peter Grant he has no idea that he is dealing with a ghost. Nor that this will become his main line of work…

The book is pure joy: an urban fantasy with magic and crime and full of English humour. The story accelerates and takes twists and turns so that you cannot stop listening. I definitely need the print edition as well!

The narrator, Koba Holdbrook-Smith, gives a superb performance with all the social, ethical and regional accents of the various protagonists, from Nigerian-flavoured Mother Thames to the CSI from Yorkshire and all in between. It is somewhat hard to follow the London / UK slang if one is not used to it, but it is pure pleasure to experience the richness of the language that way. Thank you.

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Awesome book but challenging for not native speakers

That book comes with a complex story with loads of details. I found the plot fascinating and am eager to hear more of that series despite the fact that I didn't get all of it. The author writes in a fine tuned English manner that sometimes is hard to understand for a not native speaker.

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