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If I like Rivers of London

59 replies

PlayOnWurtz · 12/08/2017 16:44

What else should I read? I like fantasy set in real places which I realise is a bit of a niche!

OP posts:
MouseTheDog · 12/08/2017 16:55

That's one of my favourite series. Off the top of my head I also like the Alex Verus books by Benedict Jacka, the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, and Kate Locke's Immortal Empire series.

Saucery · 12/08/2017 16:57

Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler. I want to work in the Peculiar Crimes Unit so much!

Nickynackynoodle · 12/08/2017 17:05

Neil Gaiman has some good fantasy type books. I enjoy the audiobooks particularly

TheSolitaryBoojum · 12/08/2017 17:28

The Dresden files by Jim Butcher

PlayOnWurtz · 12/08/2017 18:09

Thank you! I've read all of Neil Gaiman's books and graphic novels already Blush I'll definitely look for the rest though

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spacefrog35 · 12/08/2017 18:14

The skyscraper series by Tom Pollock, nursery crimes series by Jasper Fforde & the man from undead series by Darren Humphries Smile

CMOTDibbler · 12/08/2017 18:18

A bit darker than Rivers, but I've enjoyed the Shadow Police by Paul Cornell, The Last Changeling by FR Maher, and The Wolves of London by Mark Morris.

WinterIsComingKnitFaster · 12/08/2017 18:22

The Laundry Files by Charles Stross (the Civil Service vs Cthulhu)

Catanddogmake6 · 12/08/2017 18:28

If you like Rivers of London, I think you will like the Chronicles of St.Marys by Jodi Taylor. Also worth looking at Invisible Library series by Genieve Cogman. I also like the Dresden files by Jim Butcher as previous poster suggested. Often wonder if they partly inspired Rivers of London series. I do wish Ben Aaronovitch would write faster - just as long as they were as good 😁

PlayOnWurtz · 12/08/2017 19:03

The new one is due in September isn't it? He's been doing graphic novels which may be why the last book was a bit meh and why he takes so long to get them out.

OP posts:
WinterIsComingKnitFaster · 12/08/2017 19:16

It's only a novella though Sad

QueenRefusenik · 12/08/2017 19:18

Kate Griffin's Midnight Mayor series - great stuff! (Also all her other stuff under various pseudonyms, especially Clare North!)

bsmirched · 12/08/2017 19:27

Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series is fabulous, set in a parallel version of historic Italy.

Donostia · 12/08/2017 19:40

jonathan norrell and mr strange

RueDeWakening · 12/08/2017 19:45

A Discovery of Witches series - fantasy set in real places Smile

Choirofangles · 12/08/2017 19:52

I'm coming on to second the Laundry Files. They're billed as horror rather than urban fantasy or whatever Rivers is described as, but the feel is very similar.

7Days · 12/08/2017 19:54

Laundry files. Good name for a horror series all right. 😉

mistlethrush · 12/08/2017 19:57

Robert Rankin 'The Brentford Trilogy' is great.

MouseTheDog · 12/08/2017 20:52

Just had a look at my bookshelf and must add Daniel O'Malley's awesome Rook and Stiletto. Also Chris F. Holm's Collector series. Second Invisible Library and Skyscraper Throne mentioned above.

BuffyFan · 12/08/2017 21:23

Genevieve Cogman's Library series are brilliant I think. Anything by Jasper Fforde. He takes reality and then bends bits of it to create brilliant fantasy worlds.

BuffyFan · 12/08/2017 21:25

And yes I second Jodi Taylor's books. They're easy reading but brilliant fun

YouBeautifulSunflower · 12/08/2017 21:28

Malcolm Pryce's Aberystwyth books are fun. Watching closely as I've just ripped through all of the rivers of london books this summer.

UnaOfStormhold · 12/08/2017 22:03

Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles are great. You might also like the InCryptid series (Seanan mcguire). Both very funny and sometimes dark urban fantasy.

RiverTam · 12/08/2017 22:05

Ooh, lots of good suggestions, as I love that series too!

cdtaylornats · 12/08/2017 22:21

I would second all of the above plus
Simon R. Green's Nightside Series

The series itself takes place in a fictional inner city area of London known as the Nightside. The Nightside experiences perpetual night ("it's always 3am"). The Nightside itself is contained within London, yet is significantly larger than London itself. Though access to the Nightside is hidden, it does experience a steady stream of tourists from the "normal world".

The series' protagonist John Taylor describes the Nightside as "a place where dreams come true and nightmares come alive. Where one can buy anything, often at the price of your soul... or someone else's. Where the music never stops and the fun never ends". Numerous seemingly impossible services or goods are available such as albums from alternative time-lines (e.g. a live Mama Cass concert from 2003), a business where customers pay to be possessed for a brief period of time "just for the kick of it," and a drug called Revert which causes users to temporarily devolve into a biological ancestor (e.g. a Neanderthal).

A recurring feature in the Nightside is the appearance of "timeslips", locations where the Nightside collides with another part of space and/or time, and sometimes with a completely separate, alternate timeline as well. A number of characters identified within the series are "refugees" displaced by timeslips. The appearance of timeslips is generally, though not always, unpredictable and unplanned.

The Nightside is overseen by The Authorities, a committee whose members are largely unknown which makes rules, policy, and decisions concerning what is allowed to happen within the realm. The Authorities' decisions are enforced by their Agent (or "The Man"), who among other equipment and abilities is given The Voice, a way of issuing vocal commands which no human can refuse. At the beginning of the first book this position is held by Walker.