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Dear Ben Aaronovitch,
thank you for the wonderful series that is “Rivers of London”.
Thank you for characters who aren’t just diverse for the sake of it but celebrate that diversity as a matter of fact. I am utterly in love with just about every character in your books (maybe a tad more with one Thomas Nightingale than with the others, but shh...).
Thank you for creating a main character whose mind works just like mine. Who is nerdy and likes knowing stuff without being too out of touch with reality. Who doesn’t have a tragic and dramatic back story and isn’t in need of therapy. Who is just normal. Someone I’d really like to be friends with.
I’ve been in love with London ever since I first visited the city but “Rivers of London” made me fall even more in love with it. And it made me discover a whole new side to the city. It made me see it as a magical place and one of endless possibilities. Somehow it made London more real for me. Oh and also thank you for making “real” and “magical” words that don’t necessarily exclude each other. Both inside and outside of a book cover.
Thank you for the concept of Newtonian magic and for scary unicorns and vampires who don’t sparkle but destroy computers. Thank you for creating a world where mystery lurks in every corner and references to Harry Potter and Doctor Who are patiently waiting for their turn. For a character who could easily have been a Mary Sue, but instead turned to the dark side just because she could (it can’t have been for the cookies, I don’t think you can beat Molly there).
I met you last year at YALC and you were so full of praise for Christine Blum, your German translator, that I went home with a new found appreciation for translators. Ever since, they are mentioned in the info box of my reviews. And I interviewed Christine Blum a few months later to find out more about a translators work and it was one of the most interesting interviews I ever conducted. So thank you for setting me on that path.
I’d like to tell you that “Rivers of London” changed my life but to be fair it didn’t. It’s not that kind of series. It is however one of the very few book series where I always go half crazy waiting for the next instalment. So you could maybe say that I’m addicted to it. Like seriously addicted, withdrawal symptoms and all. Only Harry Potter had managed that so far.
There is no book I would recommend to everyone regardless of interests but your books come very close. And everyone I’ve talked to them about either loved the idea and went on to love the books or already loved them.
In short:
Thank you for weaving such an exquisite story out magic and pop culture and history and many more things. Here’s to many, many more word in that story! Keep writing.
