Moon over Soho - Keota's Bookwyrm Instance

English language

Published April 12, 2011 by Del Rey.

ISBN:: 978-0-345-52459-1

(1 review)

The second novel in Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series takes the police constable cum apprentice magician into Soho and the world of jazz, where somebody seems to feed of the musician's vibes, while a black magician is expanding his territority.

2 editions

Anna Hudak reviewed Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

A restrained sequel (and it's for the better)

4 stars

While it may not have been quite the whirlwind thrill-ride of the first book that deeply explores a fantasy London, I think it was for the best. I don't know how you could top how, well, magical, the first book was and the thrill of discovering an urban fiction take on so many fantasy tropes made for this world by Aaronovitch. It feels more mature, more focused, and I enjoyed that. The basics of the world have been laid for us, and this book narrows its focus to dive deeper into magician societies and vampires. It really begins to explore those and allows us to understand those aspects of the world more. It doesn't try to up the excitement or ante from the first book, and I respect that. Too many authors, or directors, or any creator of any type of medium, fall into the trap of "bigger is better" …

While it may not have been quite the whirlwind thrill-ride of the first book that deeply explores a fantasy London, I think it was for the best. I don't know how you could top how, well, magical, the first book was and the thrill of discovering an urban fiction take on so many fantasy tropes made for this world by Aaronovitch. It feels more mature, more focused, and I enjoyed that. The basics of the world have been laid for us, and this book narrows its focus to dive deeper into magician societies and vampires. It really begins to explore those and allows us to understand those aspects of the world more. It doesn't try to up the excitement or ante from the first book, and I respect that. Too many authors, or directors, or any creator of any type of medium, fall into the trap of "bigger is better" and continually try to one-up themselves. Aaronovitch doesn't, and instead focuses on making a good story. I'm grateful for that.