The October Man

Rivers of London, Book 6.2

By: Ben Aaronovitch

Narrated by: Sam Peter Jackson

If you thought magic was confined to one country - think again.

Trier: famous for wine, Romans, and being Germany's oldest city.

When a man is found dead with his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth. But fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Tobias Winter, an investigator for the Abteilung KDA, the branch of the German Federal Criminal Police which handles the supernatural. His aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger, and paperwork.

Together with frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he quickly links the first victim to a group of ordinary middle-aged men whose novel approach to their mid-life crisis may have reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century.

As the rot spreads, literally, and the suspect list extends to people born before Frederick the Great, Tobias and Vanessa will need to find allies in some unexpected places.

And to solve the case they'll have to unearth the secret magical history of a city that goes back two thousand years. Presuming that history doesn't kill them first.

©2019 Ben Aaronovitch (P)2019 Tantor

Refreshing and in many places, better.

I recommend this book to fans of urban fantasy wanting less angst and of course to fans of the Rivers of London series.

This is honestly my favorite book by Aaronovitch in quite some time. The reason for this is quite honestly because it’s something new within the world and not weighed down by all the characters, angst, relationships, plotlines, and lore of the mainline series. Instead, what you have is a solidly good, standalone book that hearkens back to early days of the Rivers of London series.

We are presented with a German investigator (Tobias Winter) that got conscripted into the world of magic sometime before this book and a temporary partner from the local precinct (Vanessa Sommer). He couldn’t care less about the magic or weird bollocks, it’s just something that is, and also happens to usually be a pain in the ass, while she loves everything about the prospect of magic, from Harry Potter to Tolkien. And you get exactly what you would hope for from a setup like that. Except, because Aaronovitch know how to subvert the common tropes, both people are quite competent at their jobs – mundane and magical – and aren’t unnecessarily overpowered, or overpowered at all. Plus the Fae with their geasa, rules, and holier than thou attitudes are thankfully downplayed this time around. I say thankfully because truthfully that aspect has gotten more than a little tiresome in the mainline series.

So I really do recommend this to any fans of the universe, but also to anyone wanting to dip their toes in. Peter Grant is only mentioned as “that guy over in London” and nothing more. So it is spoiler free in that regard. Furthermore, it is fully standalone, though I do hope for more books following Tobias Winter.

too short but good to be intro a new apprentice

clever plot, great narrator. invigorating to be in Germany -- new rivers! but too short! Develop the stories a little more in depth please, not all these novellas for the price of a novel. Maybe combine them into sets. Fun tho.

Rivers outside of London

Loved this intro to magical law enforcement outside of the UK. A simple but engaging narrative, hopefully the set for for a new full series.

Narrator is not great with women's voices at all and I had some difficulty telling who was speaking at times was not enough to seriously impact the story.

Same, only different.

I thought it was a fresh take on the Rivers of London series. I’d like to see a story with Tobias and Peter working together. That would be fun.

Missing the humor

Overall, the story was well written and much darker. It seems like a different author. No dry wit as with Peter Grant and the fabulous Kobna Holdbrook Smith. I will continue to the next book when its available but hoping more for a continuation of the Peter Grant series.

Excellent novella

Ben Aaronovitch is one of my favorite authors. Excellent writing. This novella was well worth the credit. If you are a fan of the Rivers of London series, do yourself a favor and listen.

Nice story

The mystery was very interesting, but constantly hearing German phrases and locations that I couldn't understand, got old eventually.

Very enjoyable.

Murder, magic, mystery and genius loci in Trier. Another excellent adventure expanding the Rivers of London universe. Tobias Winter is dispatched to investigate the unusual circumstances of a corpse and while he's not as flamboyant as Peter Grant, he's no slouch either. It was nice to see how it's done in Germany. I also loved hearing Tobias' opinion on how 'The English' handle things and also references to The Nightingale, his apprentices and what's been occurring in London.

I've not heard Sam Peter Jackson narrate before, but he does an excellent job capturing the variety of characters in the story. I especially liked how he narrated Tobias, communicating his open minded flexibility hidden within his circumspect conservative delivery.

Overall it kept my attention throughout and I hope there'll be more.

Exactly What You Hoped For...

Did you wonder if this new spin-off, taking place in a new country, with a new protagonist and a different narrator...could possibly match the deep delights of the original? It does.

The only thing I have against Ben Aaronovitch is overflowing creativity. He is good at many different kinds of projects. Therefore, he doesn't offer a new Rivers of London book as often as I wish. I am always a little thirsty for More, Please- waiting for the next River to flow. Yet when they do, they have always been freshly invigorating. And this new story line has lived up to my most hopeful Aaronovitch expectations. So did new narrator, Sam Peter Jackson, who magically manages to capture exactly the right tone of droll. Enjoy!

Another sweet tributary in the rivers series

I usually gag on fantasy novels. But Ben Aaronovitch rivers series is an exception. The magic in these books is an interesting and colorful plot element which he combines with well drawn characters, a dry sense of humor and a wonderful incorporation of ancient legends and history. In this novel he has moved away from London to an ancient town on the Mosel river that has been a hot spot of political and religious events since the beginning of time. The plot is lively, the sense of place is excellent, and my only wish was the story had been a little bit longer. I am hungry for the next book in the series.