Winter's Gifts: The Brand New Rivers Of London Novella

£7.495
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Winter's Gifts: The Brand New Rivers Of London Novella

Winter's Gifts: The Brand New Rivers Of London Novella

RRP: £14.99
Price: £7.495
£7.495 FREE Shipping

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I was looking forward to this 'Spin Off' story but I was disappointed at how thin the story felt. The book had that Series 1 Episode 1 feel to it, where you can see the potential but you can also see that the series hasn't hit its stride yet.

I have to say, though, that compared to the Peter Grant books, this one feels muted to me, as if while writing Aaronovitch constantly had the worry, "Can I write this without bringing hordes of rabid Americans down on my head?" I grew up in the USA, und zwar, in the northern USA near the Great Lakes, so I too had a thought like that in mind as I read. And I am here to say that Aaronovitch gets it mostly right -- nothing really feels off. (But remember, I'm reading a German translation.) Now, this caution is very different from the feel of the books set in London. London is Aaronovitch's patch, and he knows when he can and should transgress. I surmise that he doesn't dare transgress in an American story. That person is FBI Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds. Leaving Quantico for snowbound Northern Wisconsin, she finds that a tornado has flattened half the town - and there’s no sign of Henderson. Another great work-friendly gift is the Really Useful Mug. It's not your typical workplace mug – it offers a ton of fun facts that go great with a morning cup of coffee. It's microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe. What are the best winter gifts for my wife? If you're looking for an answer to a question about winter gifts, read on. We've compiled a list of the most popular winter gift questions and answered them below. What should you gift someone in winter?It's not Reynold's faith that bothers me but the absence of any need to reframe that faith in the light of her experience. Of course, I'm looking at this through my atheist eyes so I may be missing something. Accents aside, the narration was fine, but... it could have been better. (I just read a review saying that all the male characters sounded like Barney Rubble for some reason. Ha.) I guess Kimberly is supposed to be from the midwest (wait, or Oklahoma? Does Aaronovitch think that Oklahoma is the Midwest? And wouldn't someone from the state with such a large Native population maybe, you know, know more about the stories of Native Peoples in this country? It kind of helps with the use of "momma" though.) And the British narrator apparently grew up in the US? It's funny how much these details matter, and yes I think there SHOULD have been a beta reader. I have been spoiled by the likes of Kobna Holdbrook Smith and Nigel Planer. They virtually disappear behind their voices, so I didn't expect much out of this reader. I have yet to hear a woman doing a decent male voice. But I can enjoy the books anyway. I'm just totally in love with Nigel and Kobna. But I have one word for this reader. "Parker." She slipped up once and said "parka." Maybe I listen to too much BBC and American accents have started to sound weird to me. But "parker"? In a book where it's cold and snowy, everyone is going to be putting one of these on and off all the time. It was jarring. All the men sounding like adolescents was a bit weird too. But the "parkers" were grating on me. This is supposed to be an Oklahoma accent? I know of only one place where the "r" is added where it doesn't belong and that's Massachusetts. We had a neighbor from "Maather's Vinyaad." But she also removed Rs. She called me "Maather" all my young life. Being a novella it was mercifully short. The MC - let’s call her Karen, cause that’s what she is - is insufferable. She’s every American stereotype rolled into one person and the writing definitely comes across as lazy as a result. But probably it was the audiobook format. For some reason, audio was the only format I could get this (recently-published) book in my US library system. Audio is my least favorite medium for books, so it had that going against it with me.

Gifts that make cold hands warm and warm up frozen bodies are always great ideas for people who seem to run a bit cold in winter. The Big Mug is one such gift. It's made from stainless steel and can hold up to 470 ml of liquid. The Warmies Heatable Plush Blue Bunny is another. When it's warmed up in the microwave, it becomes a toasty companion. Warm your friends and family up with Gifts Australia's winter gifts Help her dial up the cosiness and stay warm this winter with our Mint Camellias Linen Heat Pillow. She can heat this pillow up in the microwave, and it will keep her nice and toasty. It's also great for easing period cramps, aches, and pains. If you're looking to pair it with something, we recommend the hand-poured Daybreak Luxury Soy Wax Candle. It offers 30 hours of burn time and emits the scent of mineral salts with vanilla blossom. Do you offer any women’s winter gifts? Things soon go from weird to worse, as neighbours report unsettling sightings, key evidence goes missing, and the snow keeps rising - cutting off the town, with no way in or out... Seriously, this type of “I don’t need to know about winter to tell you all about winter” hubris is the reason the Franklin expedition failed.So, let me get one thing out of the way. Die schlafenden Geister des Lake Superior is a German translation of the novella Winter's Gifts, originally written in English by London author Ben Aaronovitch. It is the first book-length work in the Rivers of London series to be set in the USA. I am a US citizen and a native English speaker. So why did I read this book in German, and why am I writing my review in English? Aaronovitch was also treading a chancy line with his portrayal of Native American (Ojibwe) spiritual life. He did a decent job (William takes Kimberly to task for asking about "legends" and he's like, "It's a religion. Is the bible about "legends" to you?") but there are so many ways it could have gone badly. Improper use of American English. It’s a parka not a parker, it’s a handgun not a pistol, etc. The mistakes are obvious and jarring. Part of this is on the sub-par audiobook narrator, but not all. Humour based on social commentary or self-deprecation? Nah - it's a novella. We don't have the space. And besides, this is America, their humour is different. She'll also love the Persian Rug Yoga Mat. Hot yoga is the perfect winter sport, and this mat will inject some more style into her yoga session. What are the best winter gifts for husbands?

If you’re going to write about living in winter, learn about living in winter first. Literally millions of people do this every year, so it shouldn’t be hard to find someone with first-hand experience. Things soon go from weird to worse, as neighbours report unsettling sightings, key evidence goes missing, and the snow keeps rising - cutting off the town, with no way in or out…

So, in summary, it's a fine story. There's nothing wrong with it, really. But nothing in it makes me really jump with joy.

Karen is SHOOK to learn another character isn’t a practising Christian. I can only assume this is Karen’s first foray outside the compound, and she qualified for the FBI over Zoom. Although FBI Agent Kimberley Reynolds has worked with Peter Grant from time to time since she helped him investigate the fatal stabbing of a US Senator's son in 'Whispers Under Ground', 'Winter's Gifts' is the first book with her as the main character. If it (understandably) doesn’t quite have the full familiar joy of the main range novels – Peter is such a strong character that it’s always tempting to just want more of him – Winter’s Gifts nevertheless manages to ably demonstrate (much like The October Man) that there’s more to this series than just British wizardry. Indeed there’s plenty of scope for exploring magic in different places and different forms, and this sort of supernatural horror(ish) story fits in perfectly with the series as a whole and works well in the shorter novella format. With her gentle humour, sharp observation skills and amusing intolerance for bad language, agent Reynolds joins the ranks of Tobias and Abigail as thoroughly entertaining viewpoint characters who offer an interesting new perspective on this world, adding depth and variety to a series which continues to entertain and satisfy. As for the story and environment, there were few places where I, as a longtime inhabitant of the Great Frozen North, said, to myself, "That's all wrong", but there was also no place where I thought, "That's an insightful, original way to describe how it feels, or how it looks." So, not wanting to wait, I bought and read the German translation. Now, although I read Deutsch fairly well, it is beyond my abilities to write more than a sentence or two auf Deutsch. Thus, with apologies, my review is written in English.Aaronovitch's choice to make Kimberly be a person raised as an Evangelical Christian who calls her mom "Momma" has always grated on me a bit, as it's a stereotype of Americans that's not my favorite. I will say that she got a lot more human here, and I think that might be his intent, but... still not my favorite. One of our best gifts for a wife in winter is the Jurlique Home Spa Hamper. It has everything she needs to forget the freezing weather outside and focus on a pampering day inside by herself or with friends.



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