Ben Aaronovitch, author of Midnight Riot—published as Rivers of London in the U.K.—has received a signal honor: he’s on the shortlist for the prestigious Galaxy National Book Award in the category of Best New Writer of the Year!
“Galaxy” has nothing to do with SF/fantasy—it’s the name of the company sponsoring the awards, which honor all sectors of the publishing business and were formerly known as the British Book Industry Awards. Winners are voted on by about 750 book experts. It’s terrific to see a genre author shortlisted; most of this year’s nominees and previous winners have written literary fiction, although Susanna Clark won several years ago for her debut novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
But who could fail to be charmed by Ben’s sprightly first novel, in which PC Peter Grant realizes that he has the ability to see the hidden, magical side of London, and is recruited by Chief Inspector Nightingale as his apprentice in the war against… well, we’re beginning to find out what, as the series continues in Moon Over Soho and the upcoming Whispers Under Ground. Funny, page-turning, at times shocking and always entertaining, Ben Aaronovitch is already a winner, even if the award goes to someone else. We’ll find out which way the votes fall on November 4. And if you haven’t yet discovered Midnight Riot for yourself, you can read the first 50 pages here. Good luck, Ben!
