Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection

Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection (2020) Ben Aaronovitch

This is a collection of Rivers of London short stories. About half the stories are are Peter stories, the others features other characters from the world, including Abigail and Dominic Croft (from Foxglove Summer).

PART ONE: THE PETER GRANT STORIES
The Home Crowd Advantage
The Domestic
The Cockpit
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny
King of The Rats
A Rare Book of Cunning Device
PART TWO: THE OTHERS’ STORIES
A Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Favourite Uncle
Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List
Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby
Moment One: London September 1966
Moment Two: Reynolds— Florence, Az. 2014
Moment Three: Tobias Winter— Meckenheim 2012

Each story has an introduction that tells you where it happens in the Rivers of London timeline.

A Rare Book of Cunning Device was an audible original, and I adore hearing Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s voice when I read it (his voice is forever Peter to me and I can listen to the books over and over).

To be clear, these stories are NOT for people new to the series. You won’t get any of the jokes and will be lost. Instead, these are little glimpses into the Rivers of London world for those who are already fans of the series.

The only exception to this might be A Dedicated Follower of Fashion, since it doesn’t have any of the usual characters, but I think you’d need to know the world to enjoy it, since much of it builds upon an understanding we already have of how the world works.

My favorite story is “Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby” because we get Dominic & Victor’s wedding as well as the result of, well, an incident that happened in Foxglove Summer.

As always, Peter’s snarkiness is one of my favorite things.

‘I’m interested in history,’ I said. ‘Why don’t you tell me what happened.’

‘Why would a young man like you be interested in history?’

‘So I can avoid repeating it.’

So, unlike other short story collections, this is NOT a place to start if you are unfamiliar with the books-=he isn’t that kind of short story writer–but it is a lot of fun.

Publisher : JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc
Rating: 7/10

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