Folks, I am sad. I have run out of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London books, and the next one isn’t due until November.

In fact, I ran out of the novels a few months back. This review is of a linked novella.

I do quite like the modern trend for publishing linked novellas or even series of novellas. Although I prefer full-length novels, there’s something to be said for a well-constructed, contained, and focused story, particularly if it bridges the wait for a new novel.

To briefly recap the Rivers of London series, which now has six novels and this novella (as well as some graphic novels that I haven’t read; more on that later): Peter Grant is a police constable in London who, having stumbled upon a supernatural murder, becomes part of a very small department of the Metropolitan Police which deals with all manner of supernatural occurrence. So far, so not out of the normal for urban fantasy. This department, the Folly, was once a large society of wizards, but has now been reduced down to a single remaining member, Nightingale, until Peter Grant comes along.

Throughout the series, Peter deals with supernatural creatures, gods and goddesses of the rivers, dark wizards, and so on, as well as carrying out his police work.

Where the Rivers of London series really steps up and what makes it, in my opinion, the best urban fantasy series out there, is in the way it lovingly and with detail incorporates its locations (mainly London). In fact, it’s arguable that London is the best and most important character in the stories. I’m not sure I’ve ever read another urban fantasy with such a rich sense of place. But the descriptions never become tedious, because they are all done with a slightly snarky humour. The books are witty, sharp, involving, and reflect the diversity of London society and culture.

It also doesn’t hurt that Peter is a geek, with a good line in science fiction and fantasy references, as well as an interest in architecture. (For example, in the last novel, The Hanging Tree, a building is described as looking “like two Star Destroyers have backed into each other during manoeuvres”.)

So, onto this particular novella, The Furthest Station. The good news is that, despite its much shorter length (maybe 1/3 – 1/4 of a full novel), Aaronovitch has kept the style and rich observations that make the other books so readable. We start the story with Peter investigating reports of a ghost harassing people on the underground. At this point in the series, we have a good cast of supporting characters to populate the stories. In The Furthest Station, Peter is joined by his teenage cousin Abigail and Jaget Kumar of the British Transport Police, both of whom have featured in earlier novels. Other series regulars, Nightingale (Peter’s boss) and Peter’s girlfriend Beverly Brook (minor river goddess), make brief appearances but aren’t significant players.

Because it is much shorter, the story is by necessity much more direct than the novels, although Aaronovitch does take time to take us on a few diversions. I don’t want to go too much into the plot, because it would give away too much of plot of the novella, but suffice to say that it proceeds neatly to a good conclusion.

If I do have a criticism it is that occasionally the story could have done with a little more explanation of how and why it got to certain places. I am not sure if that’s just down to length or because Aaronovitch is referencing and leading off events that occurred in the associated graphic novels, which, as I said, I haven’t read. He did this a little in The Hanging Tree, too. Others may have a different point of view, but I’m not a massive fan of requiring readers to have read loosely related other series to understand what is going on, and I feel requiring a knowledge of the graphic novels is a step too far.

Still, I enjoyed this novella immensely, and I just worked on the assumption that the stuff with the foxes, for instance, tied into another storyline.

I do have one more complaint, though, and this may be one that puts off more potential readers. It’s not a criticism of the author or the story, but of the publisher. The Furthest Station, as I said, is a novella and it’s not much more than a hundred pages. However, the publisher has chosen to price it at exactly the same price as the full length novels. Now, I know that many of the costs to the publisher are the same no matter what length a book is, but it’s very hard to justify such a high cost for such a short work.

I borrowed the copy I read from the library. If the cost drops in the future, I will probably buy myself a copy, but not at this price.

4 stars. A good read.