I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! One of my favourite presents was a surprise from my uncle – BOOKS!! He’s a huge bibliophile and probably reads more than I do, which is saying something! Our tastes are usually quite different but I really enjoyed the last book he gave me, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino, so I’m definitely willing to give these ones a try. They’re not what I would have chosen for myself but I actually think that’s a good thing. I’m always open to expanding my reading horizons and being given books as gifts is a great way of doing that.
These are the books my uncle gave me. They are both the first in a series, so it’s good to know that I can read more if I like them.
Mythago Wood (Mythago Wood #1) by Robert Holdstock: Deep within the wildwood lies a place of myth and mystery, from which few return, and of those few, none remain unchanged. Stephen Huxley has already lost his father to the mysteries of Ryhope Wood. On his return from the Second World War, he finds his brother, Christopher, is also in thrall to the mysterious wildwood, wherein lies a realm where mythic archetypes grow flesh and blood, where love and beauty haunt your dreams, and in promises of freedom lies the sanctuary of insanity …
Rivers of London (Peter Grant #1) 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.
Have any of you read either of these? Let me know in the comments!
Drifting Pages 