The Furthest Station
(Peter Grant #7)
by Ben Aaronovitch
fantasy, subadult
copyright 2017
read in July 2020
rated 7/10: well worth reading
Another in the series of magic, police procedural and London (and surrounds). Thoroughly enjoyable :-)
The first thing I notice is, this is a thin book. Novella rather than novel. Just as enjoyable but read in less time. With a tighter focus on plot rather than the wide world of magic... Not to say that there is just one plot; there is more about a developing central character, plus a side plot to introduce a new character.
Previous books in the series had tended to increasing levels of violence and horror, this book is much milder. Aimed at subadults, perhaps. Especially with the developing teenage character -- and Peter Grant himself getting (presumably) older.
The police work is described with, as it says on the back cover, "laconic humour with a dash of cynicism". The magic fits nicely into modern life. The characters are likeable. The London setting is fascinating... and the occasional footnotes suggest that the series is also popular in America.
All good, well worth reading.
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01sep22:
I read it again. Enough time has passed that I could not remember much. Though I suspect that t his time the ending made more sense... slower reading :-)
Something else has changed. I did not enjoy it as much. I would now rate it as six out of ten.
Not because the plot seems a bit less coherent, a touch deus ex machina. Though it does... now I take the time to think about it.
The problem is, the author is less sympathetic to his characters.
There's a scene where Nightingale is polishing his shoes. My impression is, ha ha the funny old man is being so old fashioned. Yet the hero is a police officer. Does he never polish his own shoes? The scene is used to make the older man different -- in a bad way.
A simple word of positive acceptance would fix the problem. But no. Just different, with a feeling that this is not good. Even... silly.
There's a general loss of sympathy for the characters.
Not as pleasant a reading experience.
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"Please do not feed the fears" … graffiti on a toilet wall
===Dying for you to read my blog, at https: // notdotdeaddotyet .blogspot. com. au/ :-)
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