Ben Aaronovitch. Orion Publishing, (416p) ISBN: 9781473226715. Fantasy, read 09/07/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Stone & Sky

I’d been patiently waiting for this since finishing the read through of the whole Rivers of London series at the start of the year.

As usual I waited until I could get the audiobook version as I love Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s interpretation of Peter and the series, and we were treated to another narrator this time as well. We have Shvorne Marks narrating the chapters that centred Abigail the most. For me this really, really worked.

This book takes us to Aberdeenshire in search of a big cat cryptid, evidence of which was found by an old friend of Dr Walid, this gives Peter and the family an excuse for a holiday in Scotland, and an opportunity for the Jazz men gig time, and Abigail, Indigo, and Nightingale seem to tag on for the sake of completeness.

It being set in Aberdeenshire also gives Ben Aaronovitch the opportunity to play with difficult accents making Kobna’s and Shvorne’s job that much harder.

I did enjoy the double branched narrative throughout that neatly dovetailed at the end, liked the expansion of pocket dimensions, was interested to see the interpretation of Scots folklore and the well-known insular nature of small villages the world over explained in the world of Peter Grant.

It did feel like a bit of a stretch though with some facets just not working together unlike the trip to Herefordshire, and I also didn’t appreciate the dropping in of bits that won’t be explained until some novellas or graphic novels have been released, finding that facet of the stories more annoying as it becomes more common.

Overall though another strong story cementing Peter’s place as a fulcrum in the magical world but in a world that he is clueless about really.