Rivers of London

Name: Rivers of London
ISBN: 9780575097568

by Ben Aaronovitch · first published 2011

12mentions

6recommended by

8HN commenters

2017–2025first – last mentioned

75% recommend25% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Urban fantasy in modern London, where a police officer discovers magic. Readers enjoy its mix of procedural detective work, London setting, and light humor. Suits fans of Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes stories.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Fantasy Fiction & Literature

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the a

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Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

KaiserPro · Jul 2, 2019 · Recommends

…short stories, not overly spy-y just fascinating character studies, with a bit of history. 4) differently morphous - Yahtzee croshaw this one is a scifi comedy, 100% worth getting in audiobook form 5) rivers of london - ben aaronovich, policeman who was all set for a life of being a desk clerk accidentally becomes a wizard policemen. 6) harry potter, obviously :)
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗
BerislavLopac · Nov 13, 2017 · Recommends

…Gavriel Kay) Gentlemen Bastards (aka Locke Lamora) series (Scott Lynch) Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke) If you're in the mood for something more modern, I'm highly recommending the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch.
on “Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels” ↗
skmurphy · Nov 8, 2022 · Recommends

…about space, astronauts, and travel to other planets. I don't know that that they provide a realistic view of what it means to live in space or to be an astronaut. I like to read urban fantasy like the "Rivers of London" series by Ben Aaronovitch, which offers--as far as I can tell--a realistic depiction of police work, London history, and a hypothetical system of magic. I have not tried any of the spells Aaronovitch…
on “What entrepreneurs can learn from regular people (2016)” ↗
fattybob · May 21, 2024 · Recommends

I really enjoyed reading “Rivers of London” by Ben Aaranovitch, I read the second one which was not quite in the same page turner realm, but I plan to read more of the series.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you've read so far in 2024?” ↗
Dambalala · Dec 27, 2025 · Recommends

. Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Urban fantasy with a great audiobook narrator (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith). Harry Potter meets Sherlock Holmes. Loved the computer history and London Library parts in False Value.…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗
BerislavLopac · Jan 14, 2023 · Recommends

Just looking at the first item I absolutely now have to share the amazing "Rivers of London" series of novels, comics and even a TTRPG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Grant_(book_series)
on “Always Look *Down* in London: Pavement Oddities” ↗
KaiserPro · May 18, 2023 · Recommends

…voices for each character, express the correct emotion for the particular scene, and intone some sort of personality into the book. A good example is Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Rivers-of-London-Audiobook/B004... listen to the free sample) He makes the characters different, and the main character PC grant comes alive in his voice. A negative example is https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Breakfast-of-Champions-Audioboo...…
on “The Work of the Audiobook” ↗
scrapheap · Nov 6, 2023 · Recommends

…get on with works that other people gets engrossed in - so you'll probably need to try a variety of styles to work out what works for you. Books worth trying to see if you like the styles include: * Rivers Of London - Magic in a modern London setting * Burning Chrome - A collection of classic Cyberpunk short stories * Leviathan Wakes - The start of the Expanse series of works, a harder style of sci-fi * All Systems…
on “Ask HN: How to transition from non-fiction to fiction reading?” ↗
KaiserPro · Dec 27, 2025 · Recommends

> Rivers of London series Whats nice about the first book is that its a love letter to london. Its not too serious, which a lot of fantasy can be. Its fun. Its a light fantasy, in that most of the world is "normal" london,…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗
y56366346767 · Jul 22, 2022 · Mentions

A few years back I was reading 'Rivers of London' by Ben Aaronovitch on the London Underground on my way to work when I realised he was talking about a body being found in the actual tunnel I was passing though at the time.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading, since when?” ↗
BerislavLopac · Aug 19, 2017 · Mentions

…Sails and Game of Thrones; b) Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga, which has just won the Hugo award for best literary series, although it might be a much harder nut to crack; and c) Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London, which might become the merging of Sherlock and Dr Who that fans have been dreaming about. :) Any of these would provide better material than the Kingkiller Chronicle, for example. I have read The Name…
on “Four book series that are shaping the future of science fiction on television” ↗
_Microft · Jan 15, 2020 · Mentions

There is an urban fantasy series called "The Rivers of London" series after the first book (or "Peter Grant"-series after the main character) and magic interferes with (in the sense of completely fries) more complicated electronics there, so his master (the last…
on “What kind of data is my new car collecting?” ↗