Review: False Value by Ben Aaronovitch

Aaronovitch sets things up so we won't know, at the start, if Peter is still a cop. All this does is create massive confusion for about the first five chapters. It doesn't work, and it weakens the entire book.

Which is a shame, because there is definitely some interesting stuff here (including people playing, of all things, the Battlestar Galactica board game, one of the best gams you can't buy).

Aaronovitch takes on tech bros with a thinly veiled Musk, an AGI that isn't, and a lot of mockery of startup culture...enough that I have to assume he had a brush with it at some point. The pop culture references come thick and fast and I suppose RPGs do make a decent undercover interrogation technique...

Oh, watch out for the food descriptions in this one; don't read while hungry. Especially if you are fond of Chinese or food that comes with a side of pain.

(Personally, I like both).

Not one of the stronger volumes in the series, but after the initial bobble it does settle into a decent rhythm.

Review: Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch

This is the last of these that I have right now, and is far better than False Value. Peter has a time limit on his current case...Beverly expects him to be on paternal leave right after the twins are born.

(In a massive river ceremony, of course).

The overall arc continues, but this book involves an "avenging angel..." a woman magically altered by...

Let's just say I didn't expect this one.

These books have an atheist bent to them. Magic's real. Minor deities are real. God big G? No evidence. And this book leans into that, but also into ideas of cooperation.

And hints that Nightingale is going to retire and leave Peter in charge. Okay, outright admission. Poor Peter. I don't think he wants to be in charge.

What is Lesley May up to...I might not find out, at least not for a while. I enjoyed these books, but not quite enough to seek them out. Still, if urban fantasy police procedurals are your jam, this is indeed one of the best examples of the type.

I received copies of these books for award consideration purposes.