I Read Books: The Hanging Tree

I have previously enthused about Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, about magic and policing in and around London. This is the sixth in the series and if it has a flaw then it is too crammed full of stuff. Too many returning problems, too many new players, too many cool magic action scenes (if such a thing is possible). This makes it a poor entry point for new readers.

Having said that, it’s cool to see all the balls being juggled, it’s nice to see them make progress on the Faceless Man case. The expansion of the universe and the steadily increasing difficulty in hiding the resurgence of magic is good. There’s a running joke in which every time something happens Peter Grant adds it to the list of things to consider in his stakeholder policy document.

A solid entry in the series that manages to make the point that the magic is strange and weird and diverse, but no more so than the real world.

Read This: For a fun magic adventure
Don’t Read This: Start with The Rivers of London