Night Witch

by Ben Aaronovitch

Other authorsSteve White (Editor.), Andrew Cartmel (Author.), Lee Sullivan (Artist.)

Ebook, 2016

Status

Available

Call number

741.5

Publication

London : Titan Books, 2016.

Description

Press-ganged into helping a Russian oligarch hunt his missing daughter, PC Peter Grant and his boss, Thomas Nightingale, London's only wizarding cops, find themselves caught up in a battle between Russian gunmen, a monstrous forest creature - and their nemesis: The Faceless Man. But as Grant and Nightingale close in on the missing girl, they discover that nothing about this case is what it seems! An all-new story that takes place before the new Rivers of London novel - The Hanging Tree! Collects Rivers of London: Night Witch #1-5.

User reviews

LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey

The story was a little confusing, even after I gave up on the individual issues and found the collected graphic novel on Hoopla. I don't remember the Russian witch from the books - which may be because it's been a while since I read my last one - so the obviously established relationships were

rather opaque to me. The pages in Russian, with no translation (except in the "how the pages were laid out" in the back of the book) were rather annoying. It's not like the dialog was anything important, but it's still annoying. Though the convention of translated conversation being in different color speech bubbles was clever. It was rather stupid, though - their first choice is to kidnap the person they want to help them. She points them at someone else; they refuse. They find another person - who points them at the same person...except not asking them (it's Nightingale) but forcing them by one means or another. I can see Lesley's aim, but even for frantic parents their actions don't make sense. I did like the scene with Beverly...though here I wonder about Lesley, was she setting them up for failure or does she truly have no idea what Beverly can do? Either is possible. Maxsim is amusing - and as in several other bits so far, facial expressions say more than the text about some of the characters. The one-page bits at the end (of each issue, collected in the back of the GN as well) are generally amusing - mostly Molly and Toby. There are bits that are in the separate comics that did not get collected - here, it's interviews with (that I saw) the artist and the colorist. But I wasn't interested enough to hunt down the individual issues.

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LibraryThing member Shrike58

The second story in this series of graphic novels continues the process of back-filling developments, with the main focus being on erstwhile Russian asset Varvara S. Tamonina in a story that is more straight-up crime thriller than urban fantasy. Again, if you're looking at the graphic novels as a

way to get a feel for the novels you're probably going too be disappointed, whereas if you've read the novels and want more time with these characters you'll be happier.

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LibraryThing member rivkat

Graphic novel set in the Rivers of London universe, focusing on a scheme that targets first Varvara Sidorovna, a powerful ex-Russian, then escalates to Nightingale’s own kidnapping. With bonus humorous interludes as Beverly Brook turns out to be more than a match for the Russian mob. I enjoyed

this, in part because though it was self-contained we also learned more about Varvara Sidorovna and saw some Faceless Man action.

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LibraryThing member JesseTheK

Eh. More art that doesn't move me.

LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc

This story arc deals with Peter trying to solve a kidnapping of a Russian oligarch’s daughter. To encourage Peter to solve the case faster Nightingale is kidnapped but not everything appears as it seems at first glance. Peter does solve the case in the end and Nightingale is back and things are

right in their world again. The little one and two-page stories that are in here also give some great color to the other characters in the story universe as well.

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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

An interesting story involving some Russians and the Kidnap of Nightingale. There's an attempt at kidnapping Beverly which goes completely wrong in certain ways and complicates their lives slightly (worship is an interesting thing).

It adds to the stories but left me with more questions than answers.

LibraryThing member Count_Zero

Glad to see Beverly Brook get a prominent role in this one.

LibraryThing member jennybeast

Always excellent to read another Rivers of London book, no matter what the format -- great story, good twists, and a very amusing cameo by Beverly Brook.

LibraryThing member amberwitch

The artwork is photorealistic, with a very subdued colour palette and a monotone panel flow, making it seem mean and sterile. The drawings are serviceable and competent, but lacking in creativity and dynamics. In general I prefer ligne claire and similar drawing styles, as I find they better take

advantage of the graphic novel medium, so visually this was not for me at all.

I enjoyed the little vignettes in the end of the album, but would have wished the kind of whimsy had been included in the full length story.
The story read like a novella that someone decided to make into a graphic novel without considering about why. It would have been nice if the creators had taken advantage of the media and format to create something more, instead of just something else.

If you are a completist this will add texture to the River of London universe - for example in this album we get the back story of Maxim, a minor character with no origin story in the novels.

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LibraryThing member booklover3258

Really good series. Wonderful artwork. In this volume, a girl is kidnapped and the parents think a woodland deity. The police hire a Russian woman who does magic to help with the case. So many twists and turns in this one. I also love the villain woman in the mask. Excellent story.

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