Peter Grant (now a Detective Constable) and the rest of the magic-wielding team at the Folly are on the trail of Martin Chorley, the Faceless Man, with help from various, better known, parts of the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police. Lesley May and Mr Punch also feature, as do Beverley Brook and her Rivers of London family, and we meet another of the London River Goddesses – Lulu, aka Walbrook, serving pints in a Shoreditch pub.
Lots of action takes place in the City, from its Roman beginnings to 21st century financial centre, and the new Bloomberg building and the now-displaced Whitechapel Bell Foundry both play key roles.
More adventures in magical London (and beyond) for Mage Alex Verus, made even more complicated by the occasional appearance of Not-Anne, a djinn and the ever present political machinations of the Light Council.
This novel has been on my watch list for a while, so I made the most of spotting the beautifully produced hard back in Barbican Library. The Night Circus is always out on loan, even though it was published 7 years ago.
A mysterious circus that opens only at night, offering customers exotic experiences featuring acrobats and contortionists, ice sculptures and performing animals, magicians and merry-go-rounds.
So far, so relatively normal.
However the origins and operation of the Night Circus are far from normal, and that’s what made this a speedy read at Walton on the Naze.
Tricky to categorise too – sort of fantastic (rather than fantasy) historical fiction.
The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince – Robin Hobb
A novella recounting the origins of the Farseer witted line, and the swift change from the witted being regarded as contributing good to Six Duchies society to being outcasts to be pursued and exterminated.
The last of the Liveship Traders trilogy. I found it slower going than most other Robin Hobb novels, and had to persevere through the politics.
The return of the Lords of the Land, Sea and Air and other transformations were more satisfying – Malta’s from shallow, self-centred teen into smart negotiator and survivor, Selden’s from a shadowy presence into Tintaglia’s articulate courtier, Etta’s from whore to Queen, Wintrow from would-be priest of Sa into ship’s captain, Paragon from Mad Ship to whole ship (with a familiar face), and more – Alethia and Brashen, Ronica and Keffria, Kennit and Reyn, Traders and Rulers, they all change.
Ship of Destiny sets things up nicely for the Rain Wild Chronicles, which I’m now tempted to reread.
