Review: The City & The City by China Miéville

Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad finds deadly conspiracies beneath a seemingly routine murder. From the decaying Beszel, he joins detective Qussim Dhatt in rich vibrant Ul Qoma, and both are enmeshed in a sordid underworld. Rabid nationalists are intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists dream of dissolving the two into one.

Reading Format: Kindle eBook
Year Read: 2014
Star Rating: 5 stars

I have thoroughly enjoyed all the Miéville books I have read so far and I had started to feel a withdrawal from his writing but wanted to read one of his shorter books so thought I’d give The City and The City a go. It seems that every Miéville book has a different writing style while at the same time still being recognisable as being by him. This book is a crime mystery, more speculative fiction than science fiction I would say but still elements of the unusual. This book is more political which I really got in to.

At the beginning, I wasn't sure exactly what was going on with the two cities: Ul Qoma and Beszel. I was very intrigued and I had to keep reading and things then started to fall in to place. It’s hard for me to give a rundown on this book without giving too much away but basically a woman is found dead in the back of a van and a Detective from Beszel's Extreme Crime Squad is sent to investigate it but he quickly finds himself wrapped up in red tape and politics as it’s not a straightforward murder.

This story is complex! It needs your undivided attention at all times but it’s worth it! Such a creative idea for a setting and the way it was written, the two cities almost became characters all of their own. The last quarter of the book was tense and I couldn't put the book down.

I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could have read it consistently but part way through the book I had to take part in a reading challenge so I put it aside to read another two books then came back to this one. Still a 5 star read though!

The City & The City: View on Amazon || View on Goodreads

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Tuesday Into & Teaser: Storm Front

First Paragraph - First Chapter - Tuesday Intro is hosted by Bibliophile By the Sea. So for this book meme, I just have to post the first paragraph of the first chapter of either a book I am currently reading or about to start.

I'm going to be focusing on my current read Storm Front by Jim Butcher, which is the first book in The Dresden Files series.

"I heard the mailman approach my office door, half an hour earlier than usual. He didn't sound right. His footsteps fell more heavily, jauntily, and he whistled. A new guy. He whistled his way to my office door, then fell silent for a moment. Then he laughed.

Then he knocked.

I winced. My mail comes through the mail slot unless it's registered. I get a really limited selection of registered mail, and it's never good news. I got up out of my office chair and opened the door."

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading. So for this book meme, I have to randomly turn to a page (or two) and choose a sentence to post here to tease you all with. I'm combining the two book memes and using the same book for both.

My teasers:

"Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face." ~ pg8

"No wonder she had recovered from her terror enough to come back up the stairs and fire my gun at the demon." ~ pg 169

Storm Front: View on Amazon || View on Goodreads

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

Review: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

My name is Peter Grant. Until January I was just another probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service, and to everyone else as the Filth. My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - We do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from a man who was dead, but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. And that, as they say, is where the story begins.

Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated. I'm dealing with nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden - and that's just routine. There's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious, vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying. Which, I don't mind telling you, would involve a hell of a lot of paperwork.

Reading Format: Kindle eBook
Year Read: 2013
Star Rating: 5 stars

Interestingly, this book is called Midnight Riot in the US and has a very different front cover. I often wonder why Publishers do this. I know it's to attract to a different audience but still. So what I'm getting from this book title/cover change is that us Brits like any mention of London and where we are from and Americans like a good riot?!?

Title aside, I really enjoyed this quirky and unusual book. I quite like crime fiction and very much enjoy anything supernatural/paranormal so I was really excited to read this book as it combines the two.

Peter Grant, a police constable in the London Metropolitan Police, sees a ghost while policing a crime scene. Life as he knows it changes from this point on as he realises that there is more to reality including gods and goddesses of the river, ghosts and ghouls, vampires, and even magic. Because of his ghostly encounter, he is placed in a special police division which deals with supernatural stuff, along with the last magician, Detective Nightingale. The two of them, along with the "normal" police, investigate a string of murders across the city which are carried out by unsuspecting people who have been subjected to a destructive magical spell.

The book is really fun and fast paced and the characters are all really likeable, in particular, the lead character Peter Grant. I also really liked the house servant, Molly and her interactions with the other characters.

I'm really looking forward to reading the other books in the series. I do have the second one loaded on my kindle already, I just need to get to it!

Rivers of London View on Amazon || View on Goodreads