Stone and Sky

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stone and Sky is the newest Rivers of London novel by bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch. Each book is loaded with real locations and history, along with commentary on architecture and both the positive and negative changes to London and its surrounding areas. As a modern-day detective mystery series, that’s interesting enough; throw in a hidden subculture with practitioners of Newtonian magic and you have a world of secrets woven throughout ‘the capital of the world’. At least, that’s what Aaronovitch calls it, and having been born and raised in London, he says he will leave when they prise London from his cold dead fingers. He’s a master storyteller using a very tangible city with a complex history as his backdrop. 

Peter Grant is an officer of the Metropolitan Police. After a case involving ghosts, Peter comes to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale – the last officially sanctioned English Wizard. Peter becomes the first apprentice wizard in sixty years, specializing in weird police cases. He’s young and has a relaxed demeanor at odds with Nightingale’s posh and restrained personality. Peter brings technology and procedure to the team, and together they use magic to keep the queen’s peace. 

The Rivers of London series is one of the best urban fantasy series I’ve read, fully grounded in modern day London, though this particular book explores the Scottish coast and the city of Aberdeen. In this book, Peter, Beverly, their twin girls, Nightingale, Dr. Walid, Abigail, a talking fox, and Peter’s parents all head to Aberdeenshire, Scotland to investigate a weird death… of a sheep. They caravan up in three vehicles and literally camp out in the back yard of the “self-confessed cryptid aficionado” friend of Dr. Walid. It’s a family vacation, band tour, and work trip all in one.

It is lovely to see Peter and Beverly as parents, and how they’re surrounded with people (and foxes) willing to lend a hand. They’ve built a community and add to it with every case.

There’s a skilful balance in Stone and Sky, splitting the narrative and giving equal time to both Peter and Abigail. I do wonder if this is a precursor to handing the series over to Abigail and the foxes, or maybe testing the waters of doing so. I’m ambivalent about it, honestly, but I’ll reserve judgment for the future and keep an open mind for whatever comes next. Regardless, the series is incredible and Aaronovitch is a master storyteller.

I not only preordered the audiobook from Audible, but I ordered my ticket for a book signing event in Cambridge to not only get my copy of the hardback book, but to have the author sign it in person. That was a first for me and I was so excited to meet him.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Visit the author’s website.

Advance Reading Copy provided by DAW via NetGalley at my request; I received a complimentary digital copy of this book.

Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Audiobook narrated by Kolba Holdbrook-Smith.