nightdog_barks | (Reply)

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I shall have to poke into the fanfiction as I have time. When it comes to following the rules, Aaronovitch is meticulous, which is something I greatly appreciate. I actually foresaw the twist in Broken Homes, but in the sense that I knew it was going to happen at some point from the beginning of the second book, just not precisely when. It's part of the great mythological cycle of western storytelling, and while Aaronovitch is subtle about it, he does follow it. Another example is the hero having dead/absent parents -- yes, but absent due to dysfunction rather than literal separation. He also distills the essence of local traditional folklore and still keeps it within the framework of his stories, as you've seen throughout the first three books, and you'll hopefully appreciate the different way it manifests in Foxglove Summer.

Regarding Nightingale's character, it works brilliantly for story telling purposes not to be explicit about what happened at Ettersberg, but I am desperate to know the entirety and the details. (Like so much in the books it also touches on real world links which are important to me.) And oh, to see Nightingale's adventures as a young man! One could easily have a book per country/adventure, including all the diverse flavours of local magical practice... (I do not know if such a thing would be a mainstream media seller, but I would be falling all over myself to get at it.)