Midnight Riot: US Launch Tomorrow

My novel Midnight Riot is officially released in the US and Canada on the 1st of February 2011 and will be available at all good bookshops(1), online and in many electronic formats.

Midnight Riot: what the critics are saying…

“…fresh and original and a wonderful read. I loved it.” – Charlaine Harris

“A hilarious, keenly imagined caper.” – Diana Gabaldon

“Filled with detail and imagination, the quality of this achievement stands out….” – Peter F. Hamilton

“A witty and inventive twist to urban fantasy…Wouldn’t let go until the last page.” – Mario Acevedo

“…sweet relief for readers allergic to cliché.” – Locus Magazine

“…the most satisfying fantasy thriller to hit bookshelves in quite some time.” – SFX Magazine

“…witty, fun, and full of vivid characters, and the plot twists will keep even seasoned mystery fans guessing.” – Publishers Weekly

Midnight Riot is published in the UK by Gollancz as Rivers of London and a second book featuring the further adventures of Peter Grant, Moon Over Soho, will be released on both sides of the pond this spring!

(1) And hopefully most of the bad bookshops as well.

Simon Mayo’s Book Club

I don’t know why, and I’m certainly not going to look this gift horse in the mouth, but I will be in the studios of BBC Radio 2 on Monday plugging my book on Simon Mayo’s Book Club.

There will be a half hour interview, with musical interludes, after which I will answer questions online. Details are here.

That’s Ben Aaronovitch discusses ‘Rivers of London’ at 1800 on Monday the 24th of January.

They even provided a sample chapter for you here. Although I noticed that they have redacted the swear words.

Signing Tomorrow at Waterstones Covent Garden

Tuesday 18th January
12:30-14:30

Waterstones: Covent Garden
9-13 Garrick Street
London WC2E 9BA

Yesterday’s Signing

I was going to have a blog about my signing yesterday but I can’t find the USB cable that connects to my camera :(. Instead you’re just going to have to imagine the screaming crowds, the noise and finally the police being called in to kettle the unruly mob that threatened to destroy Forbidden Planet when they ran out of copies of my book.

Signing Tommorrow at Forbidden Planet

I shall be signing copies of my new book ‘Rivers of London’ and any other Ben related merchandise you might want signed, at Forbidden Planet tomorrow at 13:00 (that’s 1 PM in old money). Be sure to get their early to avoid disappointment (particularly mine).

Forbidden Planet’s London Megastore.
179 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8JR

Broken Kingdoms, Hidden Exposition

This is the sequel to N.K. Jemisin’s debut novel ‘A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms’(1). As in that novel Jemisin displays an uncanny ability to drop in exposition into the narrative in such a subtle way that often one is not aware it’s being dropped at all.

Jemisin often does this by giving her exposition an emotional charge; linking it to her main character’s childhood or a bereavement. Often she teases you by giving you flashes of information that intrigue or ramp up the suspense so that when the exposition arrives it reads more like show than tell.

It seems that nowhere in the georgeous panopoly of the hundred thousand kingdoms does there dwell a man called Bob. Or if he does live there nobody thinks it worth their while to tell him things that he already knows.

I strongly recomend this book series to anyone who hasn’t read it N.K. Jemisin’s website can be found here.

(1) I don’t do reviews for a number of reasons but I do like to single out aspects of certain books I like if I think they’re particularly good examples of craft skills.

Signing at Waterstones: Covent Garden

If you miss the signing at Forbidden Planet on the 15th January do not fear for I shall be signing again on the 18th of January from 12:30 to 14:30 at the Covent Garden branch of Waterstones.

Tuesday 18th January
12:30-14:30

Waterstones: Covent Garden
9-13 Garrick Street
London WC2E 9BA

Rivers of London: UK Launch!

Today was supposed to be the official UK launch day of my first novel ‘Rivers of London’. As it happens the books have been available from Waterstones, Amazon and other booksellers for days now but I had the 10th of January ringed in my diary so I’m going to blog anyway — so there!

Rivers of London: what the critics are saying…

“…fresh and original and a wonderful read. I loved it.” – Charlaine Harris

“A hilarious, keenly imagined caper.” – Diana Gabaldon

“Filled with detail and imagination, the quality of this achievement stands out….” – Peter F. Hamilton

“A witty and inventive twist to urban fantasy…Wouldn’t let go until the last page.” – Mario Acevedo

“…sweet relief for readers allergic to cliché.” – Locus Magazine

‘Rivers of London’ is published by Del Rey as ‘Midnight Riot’ in North America at the end of January watch this space for updates.

Signing at Forbidden Planet 15th January

I will be signing my new book ‘Rivers of London’ and anything else that comes within reach of my sharpie on Saturday the 15th of January 2011 at one o’clock.

Forbidden Planet
179 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8JR

15th January 2011

Starting at 13:00; be there or be square.

Spoor of the Gibbon: Biggles

Gibbons are masters of camouflage and unless you’re up close they’re difficult to spot. This is hardly surprising since they take great care to disguise themselves and, indeed, in many cases may not even realise their own true nature. One thing they cannot disguise are the odoriferous nuggets they leave behind and by this spoor we shall track them, the better to hunt them down like the vermin they are(1). Sometimes the spoor is subtle but sometimes it is such a steaming pile of celluloid that even the most generous must break down and say – ‘Truly this was a piece of shit.’

Biggles: Adventures in Time is just such a turd.

A summery of the source material can be found at Wikipedia and a casual glance reveals that it offers the putative adaptor a wide range of options. You can have straight up war films (in both World Wars no less) or Indiana Jones style adventures between the wars or post war detective dramas.

Rumour has it that the original writing team were aiming for Indiana Jones — a film series that was proving staggeringly successful at the time.

There was just one last question before the film could be made, the same question faced by all films with a British hero — how to shoehorn an American character into the plot.

Not really a problem in this case: Americans are plausibly all over the place in this historical period and especially prominent in the later stages of both world wars; they can be old friends or the other half a mismatched buddy team thrown together by fate or the War Office, they could be the love interest or they could be a combination of all of these things. They chose none of these options instead they plumped for a time travel story instead.

I’ve tried to summarising the plot several times now but the pain is too much if you want to know the details then check the wiki page. You can see the appeal it allows them to drop an American ‘ordinary Joe’ (from the modern day no less) into the Biggles story. There we can contrast his lovable modern American irreverence and ‘can do’ attitude with the stiffest of stiff upper lips of the Great War. And to be honest with a bit of effort you could make that work, unfortunately Biggles: Adventures with Gibbons doesn’t.

But Ben, I here you cry, what does this have to do with gibbon spotting. It’s very simple: the single most distinctive characteristic of the gibbon is their inability to understand story or to differentiate good story material from bad story material. They have a ‘tin ear'(2) for story.

What makes the bloody awful ‘time twins’ plot so bloody, bloody awful is that it shows no understanding of how stories work. Unlike it’s direct inspiration ‘Back to the Future’ the time travel aspect of Biggles has no bearing on the plot whatsoever it’s merely a macguffin to get our Ordinary Joe back to the Western Front, the time jumps are arbitrary and unrelated to the dastardly German’s secret weapon plot which has the result of sucking all the tension out of both plots.

Now I know, from watching the film, that the actual screen writers were not total incompetents and therefore the problem lies with a gibbon — probably a producer. When you consider the amount of money, effort and talent that goes into even a modestly budgeted film it becomes clear why gibbons are a menace and must be driven out of the industry before it is too late.

Gibbons: just say no.

(1) Can I make it clear that I’m not talking about real gibbons here.

(2) You can learn how to read stories but it takes a lot of practice that’s why most writers have alot of embarrassing crap hidden away in their lower drawers. It’s like playing a piano — you have to practice.