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So, I have just finished my second read of AOW, and I really enjoyed it. If you're looking for "end of the world, more drama than the previous book, lots of multi-book-spanning-plot-threads extravaganza!" you will be disappointed. If you want "a good casefic with interesting worldbuilding details and lots of great character moments," you'll be delighted. I always love seeing a wider world beyond the formal bounds of English Newtonian practice, and we get that in spades in this one!
Spoilers ahoy!
The case is interesting; figuring out all the pieces happens at a good pace, and there weren't any moments where either I got lost or felt they were pulling a deus ex machina to get the information, nor any places where I felt they should have figured something out sooner. I still am not sure exactly what the rings were for or what the ritual was the Manchester Seven did with them that got Francisca targeting them, but on the other hand both of those questions are the sorts of things that I wouldn't necessarily expect Peter & Co. to be able to answer. I bet the only one who knew what those rings really were meant for were the family that made them ... and even they might not have remembered it after so much time. Though I wonder if there are any Davies in the current Sons (and Daughters!) of Wayland. My personal theory is that Magister Whats-his-Face had somehow got some sort of a tracking spell on Alfonzo and his family, and Alfonzo transferred it to the rings somehow, so that Francesca was locked onto them, and then used that to lure her in where they could trap her in the lamp.
I was really worried that Peter was going to go along with the plan to kill Francesca, and that would have been terribly sad, because it's not like him at all and it would have felt like (to me) something had broken in him after the Faceless Man's death. I was so glad Mamusu insisted, and that he figured out some other way to handle the situation.
Other people have talked about being really worried about Peter going into the allokosmos, and I wasn't. He's done that or something like it in most of the books, starting with the very first one! And yeah, it's dangerous, but by this point he knows how to handle himself. Nobody's drinking his blood or likely to eat him, his body isn't suffocating or falling to his death while he's in there, he's not a faery's prisoner, on the scale of "weird alternate worlds Peter has been in either physically or mentally," this one is just another day at the office. The question was, once he was in there could he handle the situation ... and it turned out he could. And he didn't need fancy spellwork or power, he just needed to talk and be himself: kind, smart, good with people. And he was. And it all turned out fine. It was everything I love about Peter, and why he is and will always be one of my favorite characters.
Talking to people and building relationships really is his superpower, and the book showed this. All of the people and groups who have been isolated for so long have started to come together, and it really because of him. I can't wait to see how all these relationships will continue on and develop.
I loved about this was the worldbuilding and the character bits. The foxes in and out of Bev and Peter's home! Both Father and Mama Thames being gaga over Bev's pregnancy! The twins and Peter and Bev and the birth! Caroline and her girlfriend! The chimeras having a good home where nobody's going to bother them! All the history bits, both general Folly history and the Sephardi history and how they intersected! So awesome.
I really liked learning more about the Sons of Wayland, and that's the clearest case yet of Nightingale being an oblivious idiot for seventy years. This isn't just "people in another country" or "people my organization never knew about" or even "a former member of our order training up rogue practitioners." After all, if anyone should have noticed Wheatcroft's activity, surely Postmartin would be the first line, being as he was at the university too. And it's not like Wheatcroft dropped off the face of the map; he was right there where he was supposed to be, just doing stuff on the side. But the Sons of Wayland were people that Nightingale knew, people that he trained with, and they apparently just dropped off the map and disappeared and he didn't even look for them.
Speaking of the Sons of Weyland, I had sort of got the feeling that they were more "working-class English magic blacksmiths" and so learning that they also had at least one wealthy Jewish family in the mix was interesting. And I wonder--there was, apparently, always friction between them and the Folly, such that they would readily believe that members of the Folly would collude with Germans to bomb their headquarters on exactly no evidence. And that would be enough to make them not just suspicious, but climb into a hole in the ground and pull it in after themselves. And when Peter finds them, the current grand master of the order is shacked up with a member of the Society of the Rose. So ... were they always in contact with the Society? Was it only the Folly that wasn't? Or was it just that they hooked back up with the Society after cutting ties with the Folly?
As for Nightingale riding off into the sunset, I think that this opens up a huge scope for secondary works, both novellas and comic books. Nightingale traveling the world and having adventures, with strict orders from Peter to make contact with local magical groups, learn what he can, and build relationships for the Folly! Nightingale reopening Casterbrook and working with the Sons of Wayland and the Society of the Rose and the Demimonde and all to train up a new generation of Newtonian practitioners who aren't cops and aren't exclusionary bastards.
In conclusion, the book was a lot of fun and well worth reading twice in three weeks.
Spoilers ahoy!
The case is interesting; figuring out all the pieces happens at a good pace, and there weren't any moments where either I got lost or felt they were pulling a deus ex machina to get the information, nor any places where I felt they should have figured something out sooner. I still am not sure exactly what the rings were for or what the ritual was the Manchester Seven did with them that got Francisca targeting them, but on the other hand both of those questions are the sorts of things that I wouldn't necessarily expect Peter & Co. to be able to answer. I bet the only one who knew what those rings really were meant for were the family that made them ... and even they might not have remembered it after so much time. Though I wonder if there are any Davies in the current Sons (and Daughters!) of Wayland. My personal theory is that Magister Whats-his-Face had somehow got some sort of a tracking spell on Alfonzo and his family, and Alfonzo transferred it to the rings somehow, so that Francesca was locked onto them, and then used that to lure her in where they could trap her in the lamp.
I was really worried that Peter was going to go along with the plan to kill Francesca, and that would have been terribly sad, because it's not like him at all and it would have felt like (to me) something had broken in him after the Faceless Man's death. I was so glad Mamusu insisted, and that he figured out some other way to handle the situation.
Other people have talked about being really worried about Peter going into the allokosmos, and I wasn't. He's done that or something like it in most of the books, starting with the very first one! And yeah, it's dangerous, but by this point he knows how to handle himself. Nobody's drinking his blood or likely to eat him, his body isn't suffocating or falling to his death while he's in there, he's not a faery's prisoner, on the scale of "weird alternate worlds Peter has been in either physically or mentally," this one is just another day at the office. The question was, once he was in there could he handle the situation ... and it turned out he could. And he didn't need fancy spellwork or power, he just needed to talk and be himself: kind, smart, good with people. And he was. And it all turned out fine. It was everything I love about Peter, and why he is and will always be one of my favorite characters.
Talking to people and building relationships really is his superpower, and the book showed this. All of the people and groups who have been isolated for so long have started to come together, and it really because of him. I can't wait to see how all these relationships will continue on and develop.
I loved about this was the worldbuilding and the character bits. The foxes in and out of Bev and Peter's home! Both Father and Mama Thames being gaga over Bev's pregnancy! The twins and Peter and Bev and the birth! Caroline and her girlfriend! The chimeras having a good home where nobody's going to bother them! All the history bits, both general Folly history and the Sephardi history and how they intersected! So awesome.
I really liked learning more about the Sons of Wayland, and that's the clearest case yet of Nightingale being an oblivious idiot for seventy years. This isn't just "people in another country" or "people my organization never knew about" or even "a former member of our order training up rogue practitioners." After all, if anyone should have noticed Wheatcroft's activity, surely Postmartin would be the first line, being as he was at the university too. And it's not like Wheatcroft dropped off the face of the map; he was right there where he was supposed to be, just doing stuff on the side. But the Sons of Wayland were people that Nightingale knew, people that he trained with, and they apparently just dropped off the map and disappeared and he didn't even look for them.
Speaking of the Sons of Weyland, I had sort of got the feeling that they were more "working-class English magic blacksmiths" and so learning that they also had at least one wealthy Jewish family in the mix was interesting. And I wonder--there was, apparently, always friction between them and the Folly, such that they would readily believe that members of the Folly would collude with Germans to bomb their headquarters on exactly no evidence. And that would be enough to make them not just suspicious, but climb into a hole in the ground and pull it in after themselves. And when Peter finds them, the current grand master of the order is shacked up with a member of the Society of the Rose. So ... were they always in contact with the Society? Was it only the Folly that wasn't? Or was it just that they hooked back up with the Society after cutting ties with the Folly?
As for Nightingale riding off into the sunset, I think that this opens up a huge scope for secondary works, both novellas and comic books. Nightingale traveling the world and having adventures, with strict orders from Peter to make contact with local magical groups, learn what he can, and build relationships for the Folly! Nightingale reopening Casterbrook and working with the Sons of Wayland and the Society of the Rose and the Demimonde and all to train up a new generation of Newtonian practitioners who aren't cops and aren't exclusionary bastards.
In conclusion, the book was a lot of fun and well worth reading twice in three weeks.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 10:31 am (UTC)From:For this most recent book, I agree with your review, especially that all of the nonhuman people we've met are remembered in this book.
I was a bit worried about how the Sephardi Jews and Marranos would be represented, but it was well done, even including the family name Perez. I kinda wanted the antique dealer from the beginning to be related.
I am slightly worried that this *could* be a "happily ever after" ending and that Aaronovich has decided not to write more.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 01:08 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 05:46 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 05:47 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 12:47 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 08:46 pm (UTC)From:Still cackling over Peter and his regular online visits with the American woman whose name I've forgotten (and was she FBI or CIA?; I just like the idea of a lettered American agency trying to keep up with what everything means as information trickles their way.
Let Nightingale rest, I say! Although Abigail will probably insist that he do some of her proper training at some point.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 09:20 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2022-05-03 04:51 pm (UTC)From:I agree with everything you've said in your review. Nightingale is an Edwardian gentleman and as such continues to be affected by that upbringing and training. Though, at least he doesn't seem to have so many of the prejudices, but he is definitely still blinkered by his upbringing. I also very much like the way Aaronovitch worked in how Nightingale was affected by his service during WWII and hinted at his PTSD, though he seems to have it very much under control.
Did you know that the Rivers of London book series has been optioned for a TV series and that Aaronovitch is slated as a producer and writer? I haven't seen anything more recent than 2019 news wise, but Rivers of London is listed as being in pre-production on IMDB. Hopefully, the scriptwriting for the upcoming series will not hinder Mr. Aaronovitch's writing of future books in the series. I agree with you, I would dearly love to see more books in the series as well as some novellas about Nightingale out in the wide world networking for the Folly while Peter becomes Falcon One.
It kind of surprised me how much I've come to love this series, it has moved up to just below Tolkien's works in my favorites list. :) I love all of the 'good guy' characters and even some of the antagonist characters. I hope we see more of Francisca at some point, I would like to hear her story and see how things go with her and Heather. I really love that the author is so well rounded and diverse with the makeup of his cast of characters rather than making everyone a cookie cutter CIS gendered white person (and I say that as one of those).
no subject
Date: 2022-05-03 05:51 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2022-05-27 05:18 pm (UTC)From:I really enjoyed it! I love how Peter draws in people, especially others who can recognize his pop culture references. (Though I am ashamed to admit that my husband, glancing at the title and not having read the series, said "Oh, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, hm?" I completely forgot that Monty Python bit started with "Amongst Our Weapons".)
Glad to see that Bev had her babies safely, in a loving and inclusive atmosphere (oh to be a fly on the wall when Mama Thames and Mamusu first met, or their conversations since!), and there was none of that cliche' nonsense about Peter almost missing it. I wonder if we're going to get a Lesley POV work outside of the comics, because Aaronovitch keeps bringing her back from the brink of completely irredeemable.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-27 05:54 pm (UTC)From: