I’d like to point out that a) none of this was my fault and b) ultimately the impact on overall North Sea oil production was pretty minimal. I’m a dad now, so I don’t go looking for trouble the way I used to. [loc. 54]
Latest in the Rivers of London series, purchased on whim when I couldn't decide what to read. I've enjoyed the series as a whole, but I'm finding recent works less engaging. This short novel (300 pages in print) feels like two novellas braided together, and could have done with a third.
Peter and Beverly and their twins are 'on holiday' in Aberdeen: naturally (?) they are accompanied by Dr Walid (who's in search of a possible cryptid), Nightingale and his apprentice Abigail (who needs to find out what magic is like outside London), Peter's parents, and his dad's jazz band Lord Grant's Irregulars, and the Irregulars' new manager Zach Palmer. Yes, this is a 'team on holiday' novel, drawing everyone out of their usual urban environment: I was reminded of Elly Griffiths' Dark Angel. And it turns out that part of why I enjoy the Rivers of London books is the 'London' bit. (See also: Foxglove Summer, set outside London...)
The narrative is shared between Peter and Abigail (the latter in colloquial teen-speak): Abigail's side of the story was more interesting for me because there were foxes and mermaids, and I was also happy to see her falling for someone. There's very little Nightingale, which is a shame: the magical entities were rather less foregrounded than usual, but there was more corporate skulduggery. And there were tantalising hints of other stories (Paris! Wales! A society of British sorceresses on Lesbos!) which I have missed: possibly they are in the graphic novels. I'm also intrigued by one character's mention of Trump: "... he will make America great again. Although maybe not in quite the way he imagines." [loc.3560].
Stone and Sky wasn't bad, but it felt slight and I was disappointed. Maybe for the next one I'll wait for the price drop...
NB: This is the second novel I've read recently with a denouement on a North Sea oil platform (the other being Oracle.
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