Lies Sleeping

Lies Sleeping (2018) Ben Aaronovitch

This is the seventh Rivers of London novel. And it’s set in 2014, because the story moved slower than real publishing time.

You can read this if you haven’t read the novella or comics, but if you haven’t read the previous books? Forget it.

The story opens with the following epigraph.

The best revenge is not to become like your enemy.

First things first, a WHOLE bunch of threads get tied up in this story.

Second, Guleed has become a regular member of the Folly, which pleases me to no end, since I adore her.

(discussing a martial arts form Guleed just used)“Did it work?”

“I think so.”

“Can you teach me?”

She laughed. “Michael specifically said I wasn’t allowed to. No matter what you said.”

“Why not?”

“Because Nightingale called him up and told him to refuse if you asked.”

“Did he say why?”

“Because you should master at least one tradition before you move on to the next,” said Nightingale, coming up the corridor.

That exchange pretty well sums up Peter. He always wants to learn something new, which is, I think, why I love him so much.

Contrary to what people think, I haven’t actually memorized the location of every historically significant building in London.

The other thing I especially like about this story is how it revels in the bureaucracy.

Leaving aside dumb luck, criminals are mainly caught by systems, not individuals.

A database that I was happy to assure the Data Protection Agency was impervious to unauthorized access on account of it being confined to old-fashioned index cards in a rather nice polished walnut filing cabinet in the upstairs magical library.

They still made me fill in my own body weight in forms.

“We seem to be sitting around waiting for the next fucking disaster,” he said, which went into the official log as— DCI Seawoll felt that our operational posture was too reactive.

The other thing I especially enjoy about this series are the running jokes–such as those around Dr Waleed.

As far as me and Postmartin could tell from the existing records, this was true. Which meant that she was supposed to have died in 1802. Which meant that it was possible that in some way she’d caught practical immortality from her husband. Something that Lady Ty didn’t think was possible.

Doctors Vaughan and Walid wanted a tissue sample.

I also want to note something important about this series. It is chock full of characters who are not white males. But there isn’t a big deal made about it, it just so happens that the characters reflect the world at large, and that makes the story all the more interesting.

As I noted at the start, a LOT happens in this book, and it’s possible the story could end here, and I think I’d be okay with that. Sure, I’d like to spend more time with Peter and Bev and Nightingale. And I’ve love to find out more of Nightingale’s past. But I’d also be okay if the series ended here.

Publisher: DAW
Rating: 8.5/10

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