A review by booksandlemonsquash
The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch
4.0
It’s really interesting to see a world away from the Folly, and to see how the Germans do things. BUT it’s just not as funny or clever feeling as the main stories. I get that Aaronovitch has written this because he has a huge following in Germany, and I love that he’s giving them something just for them. I just wanted a bit more (bearing in mind my ridiculously high standards for this series). The second half was better actually, because it moved away from the necessary info dump at the start. It’s a short story, set in a familiar but different universe - the information is needed, but there’s not a lot of space to put it in.
All this said, I liked Tobias and loved Vanessa. And I really liked their Rivers, and how they deal with things within the Police compared to the Met. The story is good fun too, it manages to be fairly complex, despite the length, and yet is still easy to follow.
A good novella, but not a patch on the main books. Still 4 stars, because it’s still brilliant and I did really enjoy it. I just have high standards now ;)
All this said, I liked Tobias and loved Vanessa. And I really liked their Rivers, and how they deal with things within the Police compared to the Met. The story is good fun too, it manages to be fairly complex, despite the length, and yet is still easy to follow.
A good novella, but not a patch on the main books. Still 4 stars, because it’s still brilliant and I did really enjoy it. I just have high standards now ;)