I chanced upon the Rivers of London series while browsing the stacks; the cover art attracted my attention (fascinating map!) as did, of course, memories of London. This series accompanied me through my break up, and indeed the snarky writing was one of those rare things that made me laugh during those dark days. I think these books deserve way more attention than it is currently receiving, so I’m sharing my favourite quotes here. Enjoy!
(Genre: Urban Fantasy, Police Procedural)
From Book Four: Broken Homes
A commentary on the state of surveillance:
“The problem with the so-called bloody surveillance state is that it’s hard work trying to track someone’s movements using CCTV – especially if they’re on foot. Part of the problem is that the cameras all belong to different people for different reasons. Westminster Council has a network for traffic violations, the Oxford Street Trading Association has a huge network aimed at shoplifters and pickpockets, individual shops have their own systems, as do pubs, clubs and buses. When you walk around London it is important to remember that Big Brother may be watching you, or he could be having a piss, or reading the paper or helping redirect traffic around a car accident or maybe he’s just forgotten to turn the bloody thing on.”
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Elephant and Castle: most people know it as the location of the Imperial War Museum, or, more likely, the Ministry of Sound, but I knew it first as the address of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. If Mettab is unfamiliar to you, perhaps the names of the late preacher Charles Spurgeon, or the incumbent Peter Masters, would ring a bell. Prolific Christian writers they are – stocked up my Christian bookshelf with a number of their books upon visiting the Mettab in-house book store.
(I realise it is rather incongruous to speak of Christian writing in light of fangirling over a book on magic so i shall stop here.)
My salient memory of Elephant and Castle is not the church though, but the seemingly endless tunnels one trudges through in order to get to your destination. Odd, but better this than waiting for the lights to turn in your favour.
cutting the map 