Broken Homes
Aug. 30th, 2013 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenI have precisely three things on my mind at the moment: wedding planning (wedding panic, no, I am calm I am so calm, three weeks to go calm); imminent unemployment (so, so, extremely fucking imminent – Thursday, which means I am spending all my time right now preparing for an arbitration hearing I don’t get to go to); and Welcome To Night Vale. Those unfortunate enough to follow me on other platforms are aware which one of these three I’m actually talking about incessantly. (Sorry I’m not sorry.)
But here’s a fourth thing. The latest in the Rivers of London series has come out, Broken Homes, and after reading it basically for three weeks – Nine Worlds, Night Vale and aforementioned wedding planning and agh imminent unemployment have got in the way – I finally finished it last night. Owww. I wasn’t particularly trying to stay unspoiled for it but oh my, I’m glad I did because I did not expect that to happen at all. Lesley! Lovely Lesley! I love all the characters but I have such a soft spot for tough, practical, wonderful Lesley. I am really really hoping now that it’s a feint or a blind or some such thing, because Aaronovitch has impressed me so far and I don’t want him to do this thing with Lesley’s disability. I just don’t want it. And also – I do like Peter’s generally detached, kind of flip narrative voice, but it seemed out of place, after that. The man just fell off a tower block and then had his best friend betray him, he’s gotta feel something at some point, right?
Generally speaking, I like the books very much in some aspects – the characters, and the worldbuilding, and the – wait for it – sense of place. (Shim bought me the first book purely on the strength of the title: definitely something I would like.) And I’ve written before about how utterly cool-water refreshing it is to have a non-white narrative voice, and while I don’t have Peter Grant’s ethnic background nor his savoir-faire, I recognise the things he does, and says, when he’s trying to get along being the one who looks different in a white-bread world. (I was actually surprised to find out Ben Aaronovitch is white.) My favourite character, very very marginally, is Nightingale – mainly because the books have been so tantalisingly vague about his backstory. I love the snippy affection between him, Peter and Lesley; it’s so charming and unsentimental and practical, I love it. It’s almost found-family, even though Peter and Lesley do have loving families – what I love is that eventually, Peter, Lesley, Nightingale, Molly and Toby actually live in the Folly as a deeply eccentric but functional household. (I kind of want to see the fic where the 2010 census comes through their door.) eta: I forgot! I love this adorable fancast.
I do agree, however, with whichever one of you who said recently the books are weirdly paced, especially the latest – I know Aaronovitch is building up to his big Faceless Man confrontation, but I kind of wish he would do it, do a whole book about it, and then write more about other things? I almost wonder if he’s going to stray into filler, doing what he’s doing. I like the characters, not the plots, I guess – especially as I always have enormous trouble remembering who everyone is and how they all link together.
Anyway, a few recs, because it’s a teeny fandom and a surprising number of my friends write in it:
Ghosts of Ettersberg (3101 words) by kindkit
He calls it Ettersberg, as a man of his father's generation might have said the Somme.It's a thoughtful, loving story about Nightingale's past, and to be honest, I will be very surprised if Nightingale's canonical backstory isn't very like this.
Pest Control (5433 words) by Philomytha
A case fic set in the period Nightingale was on medical leave, and it's a lovely character piece.
Though I Sang in My Chains Like the Sea (10732 words) by lightgetsin
It was amazing the difference between an empty house and a house containing two medium-sized apprentices and a small dog.forthwritten recommended this to me originally; it's a complex and fascinating story about a lot of complex and fascinating things. I am still not sure what I think of the plot-reveal in this story. I don't think that's necessarily bad; it is complex, that's the point. Certainly this is the only story I've ever read where raspberry coffee drinks break your heart.
First Impressions (54961 words) by manic_intent
I read this today and am still kind of amazed that there is this whole, novel-length story in this teeny-tiny fandom; it's not quite an unqualified rec, because it really needs a Britpick. It also has an interestingly off-piste characterisation for Nightingale and Peter, and quite a lot of its own worldbuilding, so I read it a little bit as an original novel with familiar elements. But it's superbly crafted.
What I like about all these stories, and the original books, is that they're the rare example of cheerful fantasy, where the real world doesn't stop just because magic - I mean, Peter visits his mum and the Met wonder where the budget is coming from for all this destroyed equipment and Lesley does not believe in the consent model of policing and Nightingale has really not got the hang of texting. It's all lovely. The only thing I have ever written for this fandom is 400 words of bakery AU (gosh, and I was afraid of being typecast) but I'd like to write something more, I think.
But here’s a fourth thing. The latest in the Rivers of London series has come out, Broken Homes, and after reading it basically for three weeks – Nine Worlds, Night Vale and aforementioned wedding planning and agh imminent unemployment have got in the way – I finally finished it last night. Owww. I wasn’t particularly trying to stay unspoiled for it but oh my, I’m glad I did because I did not expect that to happen at all. Lesley! Lovely Lesley! I love all the characters but I have such a soft spot for tough, practical, wonderful Lesley. I am really really hoping now that it’s a feint or a blind or some such thing, because Aaronovitch has impressed me so far and I don’t want him to do this thing with Lesley’s disability. I just don’t want it. And also – I do like Peter’s generally detached, kind of flip narrative voice, but it seemed out of place, after that. The man just fell off a tower block and then had his best friend betray him, he’s gotta feel something at some point, right?
Generally speaking, I like the books very much in some aspects – the characters, and the worldbuilding, and the – wait for it – sense of place. (Shim bought me the first book purely on the strength of the title: definitely something I would like.) And I’ve written before about how utterly cool-water refreshing it is to have a non-white narrative voice, and while I don’t have Peter Grant’s ethnic background nor his savoir-faire, I recognise the things he does, and says, when he’s trying to get along being the one who looks different in a white-bread world. (I was actually surprised to find out Ben Aaronovitch is white.) My favourite character, very very marginally, is Nightingale – mainly because the books have been so tantalisingly vague about his backstory. I love the snippy affection between him, Peter and Lesley; it’s so charming and unsentimental and practical, I love it. It’s almost found-family, even though Peter and Lesley do have loving families – what I love is that eventually, Peter, Lesley, Nightingale, Molly and Toby actually live in the Folly as a deeply eccentric but functional household. (I kind of want to see the fic where the 2010 census comes through their door.) eta: I forgot! I love this adorable fancast.
I do agree, however, with whichever one of you who said recently the books are weirdly paced, especially the latest – I know Aaronovitch is building up to his big Faceless Man confrontation, but I kind of wish he would do it, do a whole book about it, and then write more about other things? I almost wonder if he’s going to stray into filler, doing what he’s doing. I like the characters, not the plots, I guess – especially as I always have enormous trouble remembering who everyone is and how they all link together.
Anyway, a few recs, because it’s a teeny fandom and a surprising number of my friends write in it:
Ghosts of Ettersberg (3101 words) by kindkit
He calls it Ettersberg, as a man of his father's generation might have said the Somme.It's a thoughtful, loving story about Nightingale's past, and to be honest, I will be very surprised if Nightingale's canonical backstory isn't very like this.
Pest Control (5433 words) by Philomytha
A case fic set in the period Nightingale was on medical leave, and it's a lovely character piece.
Though I Sang in My Chains Like the Sea (10732 words) by lightgetsin
It was amazing the difference between an empty house and a house containing two medium-sized apprentices and a small dog.
forthwritten recommended this to me originally; it's a complex and fascinating story about a lot of complex and fascinating things. I am still not sure what I think of the plot-reveal in this story. I don't think that's necessarily bad; it is complex, that's the point. Certainly this is the only story I've ever read where raspberry coffee drinks break your heart.First Impressions (54961 words) by manic_intent
I read this today and am still kind of amazed that there is this whole, novel-length story in this teeny-tiny fandom; it's not quite an unqualified rec, because it really needs a Britpick. It also has an interestingly off-piste characterisation for Nightingale and Peter, and quite a lot of its own worldbuilding, so I read it a little bit as an original novel with familiar elements. But it's superbly crafted.
What I like about all these stories, and the original books, is that they're the rare example of cheerful fantasy, where the real world doesn't stop just because magic - I mean, Peter visits his mum and the Met wonder where the budget is coming from for all this destroyed equipment and Lesley does not believe in the consent model of policing and Nightingale has really not got the hang of texting. It's all lovely. The only thing I have ever written for this fandom is 400 words of bakery AU (gosh, and I was afraid of being typecast) but I'd like to write something more, I think.
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no subject
on 2013-08-30 07:38 pm (UTC)My main problem writing for it is not knowing London that well. Pest Control is set where I grew up, and I have this idea for a Lewis crossover set in Oxford, but I don't think I could get Peter as far as Devon...
And yeah. I'm withholding judgement on Lesley. Aaronovitch has form for doing interesting stuff with her character, and I'm hoping he comes up with another good twist.
I agree about the weird pacing. I don't think he's great at plot and pacing on a whole-novel level - his books are full of great scenes, but they don't fit together all that well. It's like he got stuck somewhere in between writing a rambling story of Peter's education, and a tight thriller.
Incidentally, if you like audiobooks, the ones for these are AMAZING. The reader does all the character voices to perfection, all the accents, everything.
no subject
on 2013-08-30 08:05 pm (UTC)(I would not call this story "The Unbearable Whiteness of Being"! um.)
Here's hoping re: Lesley! I just.... Lesley. Lesley. You're very right about that, though - I totally did not expect her to carry on being a central character after the first book, and I was just so pleasantly surprised by it all.
no subject
on 2013-08-30 08:18 pm (UTC)And oh, that sounds like a most excellent story, with or without the title. I do wonder how Nightingale finally came to settle on Peter, and how he got to the point of opening up his life again.
no subject
on 2013-08-31 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
on 2013-09-01 05:55 pm (UTC)ETA SPOILERS IN THIS COMMENT!
on 2013-08-31 07:19 am (UTC)I am hoping with all the things I possess crossed that Lesley is double-crossing somehow because I don't want to lose her. I think that Peter is a slightly unreliable narrator when it comes to his feelings. He's writing all of these from the most detached place he can manage, so it's more personal than a police report, but that's how he's dealing with it. I listen to the books, so I read it through Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's interpretation (he's so good!), and to me it feels like the worse Peter is faced with the more detached his narration gets. He puts down the stark facts, detailed and accurate as possible, but he removes himself, if that makes any sense.
As for Lesley and her disability. Okay, I do not wish for her to have gone to the dark side for real and it's hard to believe that she would willingly work with a man who is a mass murderer, but. It's not that she just lost her face. She almost died. She almost died, she lost her face, her voice, she was in pain, her skin needed constant attention, she was facing operation after operation just to be able to function. She lost the job that she loved and excelled at before she had barely begun. She lost her entire future. She had to see the reactions of people every day, no matter that Zach wanted her whatever, no matter how both her families loved her. And then magic turned out to be real and that community draws her in and accepts her. She is, no doubt, deeply psychologically scarred as well as living with pain and discomfort on a daily basis. Why wouldn't she take a chance to change all that? It's okay to wish your disability away as long as you're not making sweeping statements about how everyone with a disability should behave and how society should act. (Obviously it is not okay to join forces with the Faceless Man to this end, but I'm willing to wait and see how this plays out.)
Did we talk to you about the whole public spaces thing? Because we talked about it so much it's hard to remember who got caught in the crossfire! The thing where I wanted there to be buildings that produced the same emotional response and aura of safety and calm as cathedrals etc, but without the religious aspect? A quiet, contemplative space that was a celebration of community? Anyway, then I started listening to Broken Homes and there was Bruno Taut and his stadtkrone, which turns out to be significantly similar to what I'd been talking about. I'd never heard of him before. How's that for coincidence?
no subject
on 2013-08-31 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2013-09-01 01:36 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2013-08-30 09:07 pm (UTC)Good luck with wedding stuff.
no subject
on 2013-08-30 11:34 pm (UTC)(thank you! <3)
no subject
on 2013-08-30 10:00 pm (UTC)And good luck with the wedding. Here's the thing: my personal theory is that everyone should be compelled to go through the wedding planning process and not allowed to just elope. If I suffered, so should you. And then, once you've been through all that, you and your spouse are happy to just settle down in contented peace and quiet for at least six months. Because you can't bear any turmoil again for a bit.
Seriously: much joy, and a long and happy life together, dear.
no subject
on 2013-09-01 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2013-08-30 11:44 pm (UTC)The latest "Rivers of London" book isn't out yet in the US, frustratingly (also, the first one was given the TERRIBLE title of Midnight Riot here, which gives absolutely no sense of what the book is about). Anyway, like you, I tend to forget the plots of the books, but love the characters and just getting to settle into Peter's narration. Thanks for the fic recs!
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on 2013-09-01 05:49 pm (UTC)(Speaking of WtNV, today's episode is stand-out fabulous! I'm very happy.)
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