Rivers of London

You might start reading 'Rivers of London' with the expectation that it is a standard police procedural novel, but you'd be wrong. It makes it clear in the first chapter that things are not quite what they seem.

Rivers of London is a fantasy police procedural novel set in London. The main character is a young Police officer, Peter Grant. At the opening of the story he is finishing his probationary period in the Metropolitan Police. Whilst guarding a particularly gruesome murder scene, he is approached by a suspicious figure who turns out to be a ghost. Following procedure he listens to what the ghost has to say and jots it down in his notebook. From here he draws the attention of the enigmatic Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the head and only member of a clandestine department of the Metropolitan Police, only known as 'The Folly'.

To put it bluntly 'The Folly' is a department of the police that deals with magic. It operates in secret and works with those in the population that use magic. The Folly itself is considered by many to be a relic of a bygone age as it was spawned sometime between the 17th and 19th Centurys, out of the movements that created organisations akin to the Royal Society. The Folly's purpose was magic and was formed after the codification of magical principals by no other but Sir Isaac Newton.

However due to a disaster during world war two, the Folly declined leaving Nightingale the only officially practising wizard in England. It is here Peter Grant enters the story. He becomes the first apprentice wizard in many years. But as the murder case seems to become more and more sinister, it becomes obvious that these murders are not the work of any man, but the work of a malevolent spirit.

Will Peter Grant ever solve the case, defeat the spirit, complete the paperwork, placate the Gods of the River Thames and teach Nightingale about the Internet? Well four out of five isn't bad.

Rivers of London is an engaging read by author Ben Aaronovitch. It is frequently humorous by exploiting clashes between different characters. Some of the clashes occur because one knows more than another or one is a modern cop and the other is a relic of a bygone era. But a small warning, many of the crime scenes are described in somewhat gruesome detail. Do not read if you have a sensitive stomach. My favourite aspect of this book is the magic system. Unlike so many magic systems in fantasy tales, this system has a scientific element. In the books it was codified by Sir Isaac Newton, who developed it by using scientific methodology to explore the uses and create basic spells, known as forma. More complex spells are achieved by mixing forma with others that modify the effects.

Rivers of London was released to public acclaim in 2011 and has so far spawned 4 sequels and a comic book series. It is available in both book and audiobook formats. The audiobook, narrated by Kobna Holdbrook Smith has won an award and is an extremely pleasurable listen.




Ben Aaronovitch's Blog
Rivers of London Amazon.com: Rivers of London book
Rivers of London Audible.com: Rivers of London audiobook

Gollancz, 2011, Rivers of London Book Cover, image, House of Blog, viewed 3 November 2015, < http://houseofblog.co.uk/2014/01/14/world-book-night-2014/rivers-of-london-ben-aaronovitch/ >.
Reynold, W 2014, The chase through Bloomsbury, image, Temporarily Significant (blog), viewed 3 November 2015, < https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPd7csVYBCQQ8jTiZ4Z7R7BoJjSx3wHnjHeYbQvk7JOb2d1ehxl0OjIhfqZp5iuqv6KfOWggrx6wWfX-V2t7pwsKyJNEot8fOqtPdPhMQNtc9sZAvDTNF47YSwJhBIWpoBUhj_0RFBgxI5/s1600/The+Chase+Through+Bloomsbury+02.jpg >.

Blackout & All Clear

This post is about two books, Blackout and All Clear. These two books are written by the noted science fiction author Connie Willis. To explain these books requires some context to the story. These books are novels about time travel and World War Two.

It is the year 2060 and in the University city of Oxford, historians at the various colleges use the 'Net' to travel backwards in time to observe historical events first hand. Presiding over the historians of the Balliol College, is Mr James Dunworthy, a Fellow of history. The 'Net' allows the historians to be dropped in the past and then at pre-determined times retrieved from their drop site. However the historians are governed by several important factors, the first of which is the paradoxes. A historian cannot exist in a time that they have already visited as this would be a paradox that would inevitably lead to the historians death as the time space continuum attempts to correct the discrepancy. The other limiting factor is the process known as slippage. While a historian can be dropped anywhere in the world and at any time, slippage can occur. Slippage is basically the shifting of a historians time and space coordinates to prevent history changing actions, or at least that is what the theorists believe it to be. Slippage like this often makes historians assignments impossible as they find themselves unable to visit times and places needed for their research.

It is the year 2060 and the historians of Balliol College are at near revolt as for apparently no reason Mr Dunworthy has rescheduled and/or cancelled virtually every historians drops to the past. The 'Net' and costume technicians are overbooked and behind schedule and the historians are livid. It is here that our main characters are revealed. Polly Churchill, a historian researching the effects of bombing raids on people, Merope Ward, (also known as Eileen O'Rielly) a historian researching the effects of evacuation on children during World War Two and finally Michael Davies (also known as Mike Davies), another historian, who is researching heroes in history and working to observe the Dunkirk Evacuation of the British Forces during 1940. Each of the characters after their drops are rescheduled find themselves unable to, in the time that they have left, prepare totally for their assignments.

Not totally prepared, each is sent back in time to their research periods in 1940. Polly to the London Blitz, Eileen to a Warwickshire manor house and Mike to Dover. But suddenly things begin to go wrong. Polly arrives several days late to the Blitz. Mike arrives in a remote coastal town a few days late and too far from Dover and Eileen returns to her assignment only to find the evacuated children at the manor have contracted measles and are now quarantined. But as each of the historians returns to their drops to be retrieved back to 2060 Oxford, they find their drops inaccessible or presumably broken. They are trapped in World War Two. Will they be rescued? Will they survive the attacks on Great Britain? Will they ever return home? Have they changed history?

But this story is not all doom and gloom. It tells the fantastic tale of the Home Front. A world of ration booklets, air raid sirens, shelter canteens, lending libraries, Shakespearian actors, WRNS (WRENS), mathematicians, code breakers, fire watchers, reporters, nurses, shop girls and evacuees. Connie Willis blends extraordinary levels of research of World War Two into a two volume novel, that explores the tales of the civilians at the Home Front.

The most potent element of the entire story is St Paul's Cathedral, London. St Paul's Cathedral was the most visible and important symbol of the Londoners' defiance against the Nazi aggressors. It stood high over the city and was kept safe by a group of volunteers who protected it from burning all through the war. During the terrible raids of the Second Great Fire of London on December 31st 1940, St Paul's was saved from a massive fire-storm that burnt all of the surrounding buildings. In the smoke it stood as a beacon of hope as the buildings surrounding it burnt. To the historians, St Paul's continued existence granted them hope that they would still be able to return home.

Blackout and All Clear I believe is one of the most astounding stories released in the last decade. It is well detailed, amusing, cleverly written and full of wonderful characters. Sir Godfrey Kingsman, Lady Denevill, Commander Harold, Mrs Rickett and the infamous Alf and Binnie Hodbin.
Connie Willis has also written two other books using the time travelling Oxford Historians. They are Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog.
Both Blackout and All Clear are available in both book and audiobook formats.

Blackout Amazon.com: Blackout Book
All Clear Amazon.com: All Clear Book
Blackout Audible.com: Blackout Audiobook
All Clear Audible.com: All Clear Audiobook

Mason, H 1940, St Paul's Firestorm, image, World War II Today, viewed 3 November 2015, < http://ww2today.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/St-Pauls-in-London-Blitz.jpg >.
Spectra, 2010, Blackout & All Clear Book Covers, image, io9, viewed 3 November 2015, < http://io9.com/5804377/2011-nebula-winners-announced >.
Unknown, 1939-1940, Evacuees, image, +1Aled.borzii, viewed 3 November 2015, < http://www.du.kent-history.co.uk/1/Pictures/evacuees.gif >.
              

A Short History of Nearly Everything

'A Short History of Nearly Everything' is a non-fiction book published in 2003 by Bill Bryson. Bill Bryson is an American writer famous for humorous non-fiction books, most notably travel books. These books generally relate their subject matter by looking at historical perspective and relating ironic or humorous accidents, personal histories and actions.
Bill Bryson originally conceived this book as a rebuttal of the traditional scientific text book and wrote it to inspire a passion for understanding the whos, whys, hows and whens of science.  

'A Short History of Nearly Everything' is best described as a rough guide to science and explores the sciences of chemistry, palaeontology, astronomy, particle physics, evolutionary theory and geology among many others. It is one of Bill Bryson's most critically acclaimed books and has won several literary awards.

The key charm of this book is that all of the scientific explanations are given context and made simple through the use of historical tales and humour.  For example, when detailing the history of palaeontology, Bryson relates a story of a palaeontologist who after miscounting the number of fingers and toes on a fossil, blocked access to the fossil for other researchers for forty-eight years out of embarrassment. It did not help that this fossil was one of the most important finds of recent history.

'A Short History of Nearly Everything' is peppered with these intriguing tales which lend amusement to the text and make nearly every scientific discovery and concept interesting. It should be noted however, that due to changes in scientific knowledge in the past twelve years, a small proportion of the information provided by this book is now out of date. But even with this 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' remains one of the most engaging non-fiction books ever and is well worth a read.

It is available in both book and audiobook formats.

Bill Bryson's Website: Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything Amazon.com: A Short History of Nearly Everything Book
A Short History of Nearly Everything Audible.com: A Short History of Nearly Everything Audiobook

Doubleday Publishers, 2003, A Short History of Nearly Everthing book cover, image, The Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, viewed 2 November 2015, < http://www.thesamueljohnsonprize.co.uk/sites/samueljohnson/files/Short%20History
%20of%20Nearly%20Everything%20by%20Bill%20Bryson.jpg >.
    

Little Dorrit

Going back to the 19th century is one of my favourite books. 'Little Dorrit' by Charles Dickens, is a novel of self sacrifice, love and devotion. Like all of Dickens' works it was written to address social concerns of the day and bring them forward to the attention of the people as a whole. In the case of 'Little Dorrit', Dickens' explored and satirised the shortcomings of society and the government, leading to the creation of bureaucratic monster known as the Circumlocution Office.

The story revolves around the titular character, a young lady known affectionately by the name 'Little Dorrit'. Amy Dorrit (Little Dorrit) during the first part of the novel lives with her father in the infamous debtors prison 'The Marshalsea'. Her father, 'William Dorrit' had been imprisoned many years previously for debt that was now forgotten and only recorded in the Circumlocution Office.

Even with the shortcomings of her life and the destitute nature of her family, Little Dorrit still strives to make each of their lives better. Against all odds she organises and pushes her sister to support herself through learning to dance, her brother to find employment and herself to learn needlework, so that she can support her father.

But like all Dickens, the story is not just about the titular character. As the novel progresses, a web of interrelated characters form around Little Dorrit and influence the world she lives in.

One set of characters include the House of Clennam. The House of Clennam is a venerable trading business run by the elderly and chair bound Mrs Clennam, who has controlled the London interests of the business for many years as her husband and son look to the interests in Asia. With her, live servants Jeremiah and Affery Flintwinch who attend to all of her needs. But Mrs Clennam has secrets which begin to arise after the unexpected return of her son Arthur. Arthur is under a commission to present his mother with his recently deceased fathers' pocket watch, which inside contains a note with the mysterious letters DNF (Do not forget). In a chance meeting Arthur Clennam meets and befriends Little Dorrit while she is working as a needlewoman for Mrs Clennam. Arthur, intrigued by this young lady, works to determine the circumstances of her family and assist them if he can.

However these are not the only characters. Dickens provides a spectacular cast of intriguing and special characters from the tender Mr & Mrs Meagles, to Flora, Arthur Clennam's old love. From the imbecilic Edmund Sparkler to the formidable Mr & Mrs Merdles.
However sinister forces lurk inside this story. The perverse Ms Wade and the diabolical Rigaud threaten to ruin lives as they carry out their plots and schemes.

Little Dorrit is a spectacular literary work that pulls together numerous themes and in which Charles Dickens' binds his own experiences of debtors' prison. The story has the messages of hope, love, self sacrifice and devotion.
Little Dorrit was released in serialised form between the years 1855 & 1857 and was comprised of 20 instalments over that time. It is one of Dickens' most famous works.
Additionally in 2008 the BBC released an adaptation of Little Dorrit, starring Claire Foy and Matthew Macfayden. Below is a trailer.

It is available in both eBook and audiobook formats.

Little Dorrit Amazon.com: Little Dorrit Book
Little Dorrit Audible.com: Little Dorrit Audiobook

Brown, H K 1857, Little Dorrit Book Cover, image, Wikimedia Commons, viewed 1 November 2015, < https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Dorrit_-_Titlepage.jpg >.
"Little Dorrit" avatar (engraving) 1856, image, Wikimedia Commons, viewed 1 November 2015, < https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Dorrit_avatar_1856.jpg