Foxglove Summer - MXHDR BookWyrm

English language

Published Nov. 13, 2014 by Gollancz.

ISBN:: 978-0-575-13250-4

(2 reviews)

When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved.

It’s purely routine—Nightingale, Peter’s superior, thinks he’ll be done in less than a day. But Peter’s never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get.

But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain’s most junior wizard after all.

Soon Peter’s in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear....

2 editions

Jon Nixon reviewed Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

Review of 'Foxglove Summer' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

An angry, invisible, carniverous, cart horse sized unicorn called princess Luna. What’s not to love?

Great fun. I think Aaronovitch is back on form with this one. It's full of wry humour and funny cultural references (I like the way that he drops them in and doesn't explain them). All of the new characters are great, but it's great to see so much of Beverly Brook again. As a bonus it’s set 25 miles from where I grew up.

A couple of gripes; it stalls slightly in the middle (but picks up again fast) and the ending felt tagged on (as if he couldn't think of a clever way to wrap things up) . I love Beverley’s character and the fact that she’s not to be messed with, but after such a clever and interesting book it was a shame that the ending was uninspired.

DigitalRob@ramblingreaders.org reviewed Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

Review of 'Foxglove Summer' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is my favorite of this series so far. Now that any romantic possibilities with Leslie are out of the way, I fully support Peter’s romantic explorations with Beverly Brook, and in the end, she’s my favorite character in this story.

I like some of the terminology introduced in this book. No one wants to appear insane or really believe magic drives real events, so a major part of Peter’s job requires him to create two narratives around events, a “real” official report and a true one for the Folly. to that end, he is asked to complete “A Falcon Assessment” of the events surrounding this case in rural England. People are left to interpret “Falcon Assessment” any way they deem appropriate, but no one actually asks him what it means. Some know, and some don’t want to know.

I like that the supernatural element of this story takes a …

This is my favorite of this series so far. Now that any romantic possibilities with Leslie are out of the way, I fully support Peter’s romantic explorations with Beverly Brook, and in the end, she’s my favorite character in this story.

I like some of the terminology introduced in this book. No one wants to appear insane or really believe magic drives real events, so a major part of Peter’s job requires him to create two narratives around events, a “real” official report and a true one for the Folly. to that end, he is asked to complete “A Falcon Assessment” of the events surrounding this case in rural England. People are left to interpret “Falcon Assessment” any way they deem appropriate, but no one actually asks him what it means. Some know, and some don’t want to know.

I like that the supernatural element of this story takes a while to develop. Peter stays on the case to stay out of London after determining no Falcon involvement. He’s still reeling from the betrayal at the end of the last case. Then a couple of cell phones change his conclusion, and Nightingale sends Beverley as backup.

Peter’s use of technology to trace the appearance of magic is brilliant, and his sacrifice at the end show the depths of his character. As another reviewer mentioned, the Fae in the Rivers Universe aren’t like Tinkerbell, but they definitely like to play with humans.

Finally, I love the portrayal of unicorns. While I’m certain it isn’t the first time in fiction, it is the first time I’ve seen unicorns as the malevolent enforcers of the Fae.