False Value: Book 8 in the #1 bestselling Rivers of London series (A Rivers of London novel)

Product Information

So far, Peter is working undercover security at a tech firm whose quirky founder has referenced Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in all his organizational roles and policies. And I guess another thing I love about this series – along with the stunning number of culture references Aaronovitch can pack into his books, there’s also the inside jokes and digs that you’ll only get if you’ve been with these characters from the start. The tech plot involves a type of magic developed by women, but where are Lady Helena and Caroline, the witches from The Hanging Tree?

Still, while we may be at the dawn of a new chapter in Peter Grant’s life here in False Value, there are still a few mysteries left over from the previous books. Some of the stuff about the history of the mary engine was hard to follow, and I still don’t entirely understand how the villain(s) was / were able to accomplish all that they did. I will be first to say I love Hitchhiker’s in many forms (excepting the movie, really), but even I found this overkill. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s brand new London start up—the Serious Cybernetics Company.I went back to read some of the earlier books in the series and was struck by how much I enjoyed them. Certainly, the novel still contains a lot of references and connections to past events so this might not be the best point to jump on board, and the following review may also discuss those things, so only proceed if you’re caught all up!

PLEASE NOTE: If you haven’t read Lies Sleeping, the previous novel in the Rivers of London series, and wish to avoid spoilers for that book, skip this review. Eating properly by Mum’s definition meant Beverley consuming her own weight in rice every day so I lied and said she was. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. I just reread everything except the graphic novels before I read this including novellas and it was a hot mess.There’s a good chance this review–and my mind–will change with a re-listen, because that’s the kind of thing that can happen with this series, but this has a good chance for standing with Foxglove Summer as book I’m least likely to ever re-read (beyond the initial Kobna, naturally).

Still, most of the humor that I associate with the series seems to come from the tech-mogul’s conceit of naming his corporation and referencing all the roles within from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. One of the things liked most about this eighth book in the Rivers of London series is the tender relationship between river goddess Beverley and Peter.The Peter / Beverley / pregnancy stuff was terrific, and there was a conversation between Guleed and Peter about their respective relationships that I liked a lot. On sheer enjoyment level, I'm always very enthusiastic about Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series, and this one is no exception. You may well dislike this and wish that Ben Aaronovitch just invented a better story that could be told straight.

With his girlfriend Beverley’s pregnancy and the death of Martin Chorley, once known as the Faceless Man, Peter is entering a new chapter of life. Book 8 in the Rivers of London series, from Sunday Times Number One bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch.I hadn't actually forgotten a whole novel's worth of adventures, for False Value is told in a series of discombobulating flashbacks, identified only by reference to the month at the start of each chapter. A falsy (sometimes written falsey) value is a value that is considered false when encountered in a Boolean context. Thank you to the publisher, Berkeley Publishing Group / DAW, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Chin is Chinese-American, Sahra Guleed is Muslim, and Victor, one of Peter’s co-workers at SCC, is trans.