| Rivers of London | |
| Author: | Ben Aaronovitch |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Urban Fantasy |
| Publisher: | Gollancz |
| Pub Date: | 2011–present |
| Media Type: | |
The Rivers of London series (alternatively, the Peter Grant or the PC Grant series[1]) is a series of urban fantasy novels by English author Ben Aaronovitch, and comics/graphic novels by Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, illustrated by Lee Sullivan.
Tales from the Folly, a short story collection, was published in November 2020.[2]
The graphic novel series is cowritten by Andrew Cartmel. Initially published serially, the individual story arcs later appeared as graphic novels. All the graphic novels are published by Titan Comics.
Aaronovitch has announced some forthcoming titles on his personal blog.
Aaronovitch has announced several works within the same fictional universe, but set outside the chronology of the main series. These works include a short story entitled 'Cock of The Wall' focusing on Petrus Aelius Bekemetus,[3] who Aaronovitch describes as a "temple official/Londinium wideboy" – i.e. set in Roman London which Peter Grant briefly visited in the third book of the series.[4]
In a blog entry,[5] the author has provided a list of the stories, by internal chronology.
| Timeframe (if known) | Story title | Published |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | The Masquerades of Spring (novella) | 27 August 2024 |
| 1957 (framing story takes place after the events of The Hanging Tree and Water Weed) | Action at a Distance (graphic novel) | Parts 1–4, October 2018 through January 2019, collected 12 November 2019 |
| 1966 | Moment #1 | included in Tales from the Folly |
| 1960s | A Dedicated Follower of Fashion (short story) | Waterstones edition of False Value, included in Tales from the Folly |
| January to June 2012 | Rivers of London (novel) | |
| During the 2012 Summer Olympics | The Home Crowd Advantage (short story) | 'London Edition' of Rivers of London and on his official website, included in Tales from the Folly |
| 2012 | Moment #3 | included in Tales from the Folly |
| September to October 2012 | Moon Over Soho (novel) | |
| The Domestic (short story) | Waterstones edition of Whispers Under Ground, included in Tales from the Folly | |
| December 2012 | Whispers Under Ground (novel) | |
| The Cockpit (short story) | Waterstones edition of Broken Homes, included in Tales from the Folly | |
| March–April 2013 | Broken Homes (novel) | |
| Not given | Body Work (graphic novel) | Parts 1–5 – 16 July 2015 through 20 November 2015, collected 29 March 2016 |
| August 2013 | Foxglove Summer (novel) | |
| What Abigail Did That Summer (novella) | 18 March 2021 | |
| The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny (short story) | Waterstones edition of Foxglove Summer, included in Tales from the Folly | |
| Night Witch (graphic novel) | Parts 1–3 – 16 March 2016 through 18 May 2016, collected 1 November 2016 | |
| 2014[6] | King of the Rats (short story) | Waterstones edition of The Hanging Tree, included in Tales from the Folly |
| Undisclosed month in 2014 | The Hanging Tree (novel) | 3 November 2016 in the UK,[7] 31 January 2017 in the US[8] |
| Late July 2014 | The Furthest Station (novella) | 28 September 2017 |
| Black Mould (graphic novel) | Parts 1–5 – 12 October 2016 through 8 March 2017, collected 25 July 2017 | |
| Undisclosed month in 2014 | A Rare Book of Cunning Device (audio book) | Audible special edition in 2017, included in Tales from the Folly |
| Detective Stories (graphic novel) | Parts 1–4, 7 June 2017 through 3 September 2017, collected 29 December 2017 | |
| 2014 | Moment #2 | included in Tales from the Folly |
| December 2014[9] | Favourite Uncle (short story) | Waterstones edition of Lies Sleeping, included in Tales from the Folly |
| Cry Fox (graphic novel) | 8 November 2017, collected 26 June 2018 | |
| Water Weed (graphic novel) | Parts 1–4, June 2018 through September 2018, collected 18 December 2018 | |
| Prologue dated 14 November 2014.[10] Main events summer 2015, based on reference to Michelle Obama's visit to a London school[11] (in reality, Tuesday 16 June 2015[12]) | Lies Sleeping (novel) | 18 November 2018 in the UK |
| The Fey and the Furious (graphic novel) | 25 November 2020 | |
| The October Man (novella) | 31 May 2019 | |
| January 2016[13] | False Value (novel) | 20 February 2020 |
| Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List (short story) | Waterstones edition of The October Man, included in Tales from the Folly | |
| Amongst Our Weapons (novel) | April 2022 | |
| Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby (short story) | included in Tales from the Folly | |
| Cock of the Wall (short story) | unpublished as yet | |
| Monday, Monday (graphic novel) | 1 December 2021 | |
On the page where the official order is given, the author writes: "One caveat – the short story The Home Crowd Advantage is obviously set in 2012 during the London Olympics, but because it was written before the chronology of the series had firmed up it contains a number of anachronisms. I've learnt to be philosophical about this sort of thing." Many of the stories give vague dates, and some of those dates conflict with the official series order (compare Foxglove Summer and The Furthest Station). The short story collection Tales from the Folly includes a note above each story indicating which of the novels it is set between.
Sarah Shaffi wrote for The Guardian:
Reviewing the ninth book in the series, Amongst Our Weapons, in The Guardian, Lisa Tuttle wrote:
On 1 May 2019 it was announced that a television adaptation of Rivers of London would be produced by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's production company, Stolen Picture.[14] However, according to Aaronovitch, the series is "still in the same state of permanent pre-pre-production".[15] On 7 July 2022, a new TV adaptation of the book series was announced, to be produced by Pure Fiction Television, See-Saw Films, and Unnecessary Logo—Aaronovitch's production company.[16] On 2 November 2023, it was announced that John Jackson would be lead writer on the television adaptation.[17]
At Dragonmeet convention in London, on 30 November 2019, it was announced that a role-playing game based on the book series would be published by Chaosium.[18] The game was released in PDF version on 30 November 2022, pending book version.