This one was fun to read as it gave us a different perspective of magic in this world, how things were done in Germany versus England. I liked that Nightingale and Peter were mentioned, almost held up to the standard of how things should be done.

Tobias Winter was so matter of fact with magic, a good thing for Vanessa, who was just getting exposed to things. Vanessa took to learning so much in stride. The two of them managed to get to the bottom of things pretty quickly all the time dealing with a couple of the River Gods. I had to laugh at the advice that Tobias gave one of the River Gods at the end.

Set in the world of Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, this story explores a mysterious murder in Germany that's being investigated by Detective Tobias Winter. The structure is similar to the London series, as a policeman familiar with the world of magic has to solve a crime while explaining (or not explaining) the oddities to his regular police colleagues. The new setting allows Aaronovitch to give more detail about how magic works outside England, and provides more background on how the world evolved to where things stand. Fun.

In my excitement upon seeing that there was a new Rivers of London story coming out, I somehow completely missed that this book is not about Peter Grant or any of the previously introduced characters that we've come to know and love. Instead, it is a magical police procedural from the POV of, essentially, the German equivalent of Peter, Tobias Winter. Tobias is the sole apprentice of the Director of the German equivalent of the Folly, who are much further along with incorporating procedure for magical incidents into the overall national policing approach.

Where Peter is curious and funny and just overall enchanted by the magical world, Tobias is...boring. He's ho-hum average policeman who just happens to cover the magical infractions. He seems to be tired of being the bridge between the magical and mundane and has zero sense of wonder. And for that reason, this novella just didn't sparkle for me the way the rest of the series does. Watching Tobias work definitely left me thinking how interesting it will be if he and Peter ever end up meeting (and I really can't think of a reason to introduce Tobias this way unless Aaronovitch intends for them to meet!). I still love this series and look forward to more books from this author, though!

The October Man is an entertaining detective story with a side of urban fantasy, following a German cop with magic abilities as he attempts to solve a murder case in rural Germany. It’s a quick read that follows a well-drawn trail, evenly pacing discoveries amidst some surprising fantasy elements. I’m newer to urban fantasy so I’m always surprised by how everyday the fantastic becomes. The rural cop paired with the protagonist adds a bit of wonder to the proceedings as this is her first experience with a magical detective, but its otherwise written as a commonplace thing in this universe.

Aaronovitch has a very accessible writing style which pairs well with a detective story. The dialogue feels effortless and believable, especially between the temporary partners as she freaks out about his magic. Her reactions are very believable in our post-Harry Potter world. She’s more interested to hear about fairies and elves than to learn how it really works. The detective himself doesn’t think he’s anything special, adding an extra element of nonchalant to the proceedings. Their dynamic is quite humorous as they’re led all over this small city in German wine country. I’d be very interested to read more from the Rivers of London series after reading through this standalone addition.

Review to be published on 5/24: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/05/24/the-october-man-book-review

Overall, The October Man is a solid read, providing just enough mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat. With fantasy elements sprinkled in and some surprising cameos from unexpected characters, it makes for an entertaining read.

Interesting expansion of the Rivers of London series focusing on a similar paranormal police unit in Germany and told from the perspective of Tobias Winter, Germany's version of Peter Grant., who is mentioned once or twice but is not in any way a character in this title. While this story focuses more on police investigation than actual magic usage, it is an enjoyable read for fans of the Rivers of London series and might seem to indicate there will be a future collaboration or crossover between the different countries paranormal police.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

So this little gem of a novella takes place in the same world as the Rivers of London, but in Germany instead, and features a new main character in a similar role as Peter Grant there in Germany. The mystery/police procedural with magic worked well for this novel, and we got to meet a few new characters that I'd love to see make appearances in the main series novels.

After the end of the last main series novel, I was unsure as to where the series would be going. I'm even more excited now that I've seen a glimpse of a bigger magical world.

This novella is the first in the Peter Grant series to not...really be about Peter Grant. (He gets mentioned in passing, as the Nightingale's apprentice, and everyone (and everydeity) agrees that Something Is Going On in Britain.) Instead, this story introduces Detective Tobias Winter, and takes place in Germany. Winter gets called in on a murder case in Trier, and quickly partners with a mundane police officer named Sommer (really), who doesn't seem like she's going to stay mundane for long. Winter isn't quite as compelling a narrator as Peter, but there is some interesting information about what's been happening in Germany (magically speaking) since WWII, with the obvious implication that there's going to more crossover and a wider universe for Peter to play around with in the future.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

First and foremost, I want to say that I liked the majority of this novella.

So, let's get into The October Man. Though this series is based in London with DI Peter Grant, this is NOT part of that strain. It's part of the world, but in no way impacts the reading so far. (If the Folly goes back to Germany or the EU this may change.) I think that is a very good thing for this book. Tobias is smart, no nonsense, and to me, just a bit jaded. He's still learning magic, but seems knowledgeable. He makes intelligent leaps from the facts, so the police work is still sensible and realistic; but there's not much of s sense of who he is. He runs to calm himself (and because he has to anyway), he can cook, but there's no relationship he's in, and his parents are briefly mentioned as a teacher and a police officer. But, there's no real sense if he's going to be quirky, or fun, or interesting, really. (I know that in a novella, there isn't much time for character development, but I wish he had more. )The magic division of the police seems very integrated and common knowledge, but he's the only apprentice, and has a cleanup crew and one medical examiner. But, there's no timeframe as to how new he is, how long he's known, or even how he decided to become a magical police officer. I'm not asking for a full story, though that might be fun- I just want a sense of why I should care about Tobias. He has the potential to be a wonderful character, but he's not there yet.
But, I really liked his liaison, Frau Sommer. She was funny, inquisitive, and could really also be a good character going forward as well. My biggest issue however, was the German. I appreciate that it's included for the localization but the book is written in British English for an English speaking audience, and not all the words are translated. Some sense of relationship is lost in this, and the language switch was jarring at times.
But, though it sounds like there are some major issues with the book, for the most part, I can hope the next book with Tobias will be a full length novel, and allow for some of these questions to be answered. For fans of the main series, this is a good side jaunt, but if you haven't already read the whole series, I'd start back at Rivers of London.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Police Procedural, Peter Grant, Rivers of London

Similar books: Dresden Files, Felix Castor

Rating: Solidly Recommended Urban Fantasy Police Procedural Novella

Here's the TL;DR for my review (SPOILERS!):

Pros
Ancient German mythos meets modern day detective work
This is set in the same universe as the Rivers of London series. If you're not familiar with the series up-to-now, this is a good place to start. I liked that this fleshed out the setting in a much-needed way.
I liked the murder-weapon. Someone's using wine-making fungus to kill people in a magical ritualized fashion.
I liked the length of the novella. It was short enough that there was basically no filler content. It was action-and-plot packed from cover to cover.
Mixed
I liked the blank slate of Tobias. He's a new protagonist who hasn't had 7+ books written about him. However I thought his personality could have been developed a little more.
Cons
I wanted a bit more exposition and worldbuilding about magic in Germany. The author gave the reader enough to understand what was going in in the novel, but never as much to sate my curiosity.


I got this book for free for the purpose of an honest review.

This novella is book 7.5 in the 'Rivers of London' series- though truth be told this book felt more like a side-branch of a new series. This is set in Germany and not London, and stars a brand new character. In fact there are no returning characters from the prior series. While there are numerous homages to the previous 'Rivers of London' books, this book doesn't depend on those previous book. As a result, this book does stand entirely alone.

I liked this book quite a bit, more than some of the more recent 'Rivers of London' books. When a body is discovered covered in wine-fungus mold, Tobias Winter is called in to investigate. Toby is the German equivalent of Peter Grant- a young apprentice wizard who solves magical crimes for the government. And this wine-fungus murder is most certainly magical, meaning poor Toby has his vacation called off so he can solve the case.

Plot: I liked it. This is a tightly-plotted story of murder and mayhem in German wine-country. Winter and Sommer are two cops who must team up to discover who is behind the strange deaths, researching not only local criminals but also local folklore. The author does a good job of keeping the tension up by constantly throwing curve balls and bringing in new evidence.

Pacing: the book doesn't have any noticeable slow points. This is a Police Procedural genre novel pacing wise: body is discovered, talk with suspects, find evidence, expand suspect pool, find more evidence, reduce suspect pool, chase the murderer, the end. The author does a satisfactory job of following genre conventions in this way.

Characterization: While I like Toby as a new POV character, I think he could have used more characterization. His father got more characterization in this novel, and his father never actually appeared in this book. If this gets more books in this sub-series, I would like the author to flesh his protagonist out more.

My biggest piece of constructive criticism overall is that I wanted more details about Nazi-era magic use in this setting. It hung over like a cloud over the entire story, but the author never actually said what it was they did.

Net total, I enjoyed it quite a bit. If you're interested in reading a Police Procedural Fantasy, check this out.

This novella adds a new voice to the established Rivers of London story. The narrator, Tobias Winter, is part of the German form of the Folly (which is not supposed to exist due to post-war fall out following the battle at Ettersberg). Much like their English counterparts, the Bundeskriminalamt (or BKA) investigate crimes with supernatural elements. While it does not advance the Rivers of London story, it does provide a good set up for what I believe will eventually be an international task force to help manage the currently unexplained increase in magical activity.

Much like the rest of the series, this was a quick and easy read. Moving the story to the Continent adds a fresh feel after being in England for the previous books. The plot moved at a good pace and had a few interesting details that I would love to see pursued in future books (i.e. more interaction with German rivers). My main issue with this story was that I didn't feel particularly attached to Tobias. Tobi looks at magic with a somewhat jaded lens of obligation, whereas Peter seems to delight in not only the practice of magic but the manipulation (or what Nightingale would probably call the 'bastardization' of magic) of Forma. The fun/humor of the rest of the series was somewhat lost in this book as well, but then again the humor could have just been lost on me. That being said, I enjoyed Vanessa's character and am interested to see how she develops. Overall, I would recommend this book and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I've been a fan of Ben Aaronvitch and his Rivers of London series for a number of years, so when I saw that he had a new novella coming out I jumped at the opportunity to evaluate the book from the publisher prior to publication.

This book, although part of the Rivers of London series, is outside of the series itself. Instead, this book takes place in Germany where Tobias Winter, a figure similar to Peter Grant, is tasked with investigating the death of a man at a wine vineyard in Trier. As usual with the Rivers of London books, the death of the man in question is definitely not "normal." Tobias ultimately meets his local counterpart Vanessa Sommer and the two start the investigation.

In this book, Winter works for the Abteilung KDA, which is the German equivalent of The Folly. Although both Peter Grant and Knightengale are mentioned within this book as UK investigators of the supernatural, they are not characters in this book. As this book is listed as #7.5 in the series, I'm betting there will be a forthcoming interaction between the UK and German investigators in Book 8, but this is just my wild speculation at this point.

As for this book itself, it's a very easy and quick read. I love Aaronvitch's style of urban paranormal because he "normalizes" the paranormal to the point that anyone could see themselves accidentally falling into this world.

Overall, I think anyone who is a fan of Aaronvitch's work will appreciate this new novella. It's great to hold you over until Book 8 is released.

This was delightful and doesn't require reading the Rivers of London series, but it does help inform what's going on and who some of the players/beings are in this book. In the October Man, the location has moved to Germany and their division of the magic/supernatural shenanigan police. The characters are fantastic and the mystery surrounding a winery is intriguing. I enjoyed meeting the rivers of Germany, too. This is a short tale, so I'm hoping this turns into a full series!

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

I've been reading all the Rivers of London books as they've come up and enjoying them all, and this is no exception.

The difference, though, is that this isn't in London at all - it's in Germany, with a whole new main character, Tobias Winter. Still the one who gets called in to deal with any police cases that seem to involve the occult. He actually reminds me quite a bit of Peter Grant, and he mentions Grant quite frequently.

The German terminology takes a little getting used to, but the plot is right in line with the other Rivers of London plots. It would be interesting to see this line expanded, particularly since there have been repeated references to involvement in WWII, on both sides, of magic users. The book is just a novella, and was a little too short to really get into this, but it would be fun to see this play out more.

A solid read - definitely adds another dimension to the series.

It was fun and I always enjoy Aaronovitch's writing style. However, the characters were not that memorable and had similar voice to the London series. I mostly missed London even if other parts of the world are also interesting but outside of Europe would be really interesting in the future.

The author has taken his urban fantasies to a new locale. This time the detective who searches for signs of magic at crime scenes is Tobias Winter and he’s in Germany. Unfortunately, he’s not as sharp or amusing as Peter Grant. The river goddess is also a pale imitation of her London counterparts. In truth, I didn’t not see the need to tell basically the same story about vestigia and river gods but just use a different country and character. I also found the plot confusing. One of the characters seemed to have three different identities (or maybe not, it all got very fuzzy at the end). Also there were some editing errors, like a baby changing gender, that forced me to keep searching things in the book. The novella did hold my interest, but I hope the author sticks with Peter Grant. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

I didn't know quite what to expect when I requested this novella through NetGalley, but I enjoy the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch so much I knew I wouldn't be sorry if I was approved for the galley. Coming in at 216 pages this is a long-ish novella but Aaronovitch packs it with a lot of detail about Tobias Winter and the case of magic he's investigating in Trier, Germany. A dead body has been found beside a river bordering a vineyard and the cause of death definitely has magical implications.

This new story (noted as being #7.5) has the same basic premise of crime, rivers and magic as the stories that take place in Britain but this time the focus is on the way the crime is investigated in Germany. The location is wonderfully depicted and the characters all have the right feeling to put your imagination right there in Germany as you read. Nightingale and Peter Grant are mentioned several times with a little bit of an us-versus-them attitude but mostly as major crime unit comparisons, Tobias and members of the German KDA (Komplexe und diffuse Angelegenheiten) don't seem to have met the English magic fighters.

I enjoyed this quite a bit and it definitely has a German feel to it. Congratulations to Aaronovitch for getting that just right. It will be interesting to see if these two countries partner up to solve a crime together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for an eGalley of this novella.

An excellent expansion of the Rivers of London series. Although short, this tale manages to show the Folly's German counterpart as a wholly distinct entity, yet still a believable part of the RoL world.

I still love Peter Grant, but I hope to see more of Tobias Winter.

Received via NetGalley.

A short side book in the Rivers of London series. Tobias Winter is Peter Grant's German counterpart: a young police detective and apprentice magician. When a body turns up covered in a rapidly growing wine fungus, Tobias is tasked with finding what caused this clearly unnatural death. A local river spirit both complicates matters and helps provide the solution.

Tobias is a bit blander than Peter and not as snarky, but he is an appealing character. Fans of the Rivers of London will want to read this, and it also stands alone quite well.

This is a spin-off of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London. Set in Germany we follow detective and magic practitioner Tobias Winter. I do prefer the Peter Grant series, but this is well worth the read. Somewhere someone called Aaronovitch's books CSI Hogwarts. I also really enjoy the graphic novels created from the Rivers series.

You should always realize that my ratings for Ben Aaronovitch are relative to his own works; his Peter Grant series is generally five-star in comparison to any other urban fantasy. In this novella, he leaves Grant behind to follow Tobias Winter, a special agent in the special division for magical enforcement in Germany. Winter is relaxing at his parent’s house when he gets a call about “possible infraction in Trier,” which is official-speak for a potentially magic-related death. He is assigned a liaison officer, Frau Sommer, and together they work to solve the mystery.

It’s an interesting idea, to base the concept of a story on the idea of a world and the police procedural structure, but to leave out any characters from the last seven books. Tobias needs to explain the whole ‘magic’ thing to Sommer, so a reader joining the world at this particular point would not be left out. In a way, that’s a nice idea. For series fans, however, I’d say this will feel slightly disappointing, as there have been so many interesting characters throughout the seven books that I could name a handful that would be a lot of fun to explore. Kumar, from the Underground; the sword-wielding Li; Madame Tang; even, dare I say, more Abagail. I know he’s been doing some of the exploration with the graphic novels (Guhleed, Nightingale, the River Twins), but those prove less character-expanding and more about the adventure.

Tobias, unfortunately, felt largely like a watered-down Peter to me. Less funny, more methodical, prone to explaining but also still prone to methodological leaps. He gets a run and a cooking interlude to help distinguish himself. Sommer felt largely bland, with portentous hints.

There’s a bit of German language sprinkled in. To be honest, I’m not sure why. It doesn’t really give much of a sense of atmosphere, and since German isn’t really a common language, it’s largely incomprehensible. Here’s one bit:

“I joined the Bundeskriminalamt rather than the Polizei Baden-Württemberg so Papa wouldn’t be able to order me about at work.”

or

“Trier is not famous as a policing hotspot, having been voted Germany’s Quaintest Town five years in a row in the poll of popular destinations conducted by the Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus.”

Sigh. Ben, Ben, Ben. You’re missing the point of using non-English words in your writing when you are writing in English. You are supposed to be conveying the inexplicable, or a cultural signifier, n’est-ce pas?

This is going to sound grumpy, I suppose; but you should always assume that I like an Aaronovitch book and what I have to specify are the ways in which it wasn’t a five-star read. The writing is clear and sophisticated. There’s certainly weird bullocks, as Det. Seawoll would say, but it’s used to good effect. Violence and gore for the sake of being thrilling and titillating is generally avoided, although there’s certainly some more horrific elements here than what we’ve usually seen Peter deal with. A new kind of fae sneaks in, as well as more encounters with rivers. Plot moves reasonably fast, although typically twisty, once we get Tobias out to Trier. Setting is developed decently, and definitely feels different from London policing.

That said, I’d really prefer Grant & Co. There were just a couple of points where I laughed, one early on:

“Despite my admiration for Förstner’s ability to insult both of us at the same time, my brain still finally managed to flag a crucial piece of information.”

I was left feeling like I spent the day with Peter’s older, more serious brother. A decent story, but I missed the sense of fun.