Rivers Of London: Deadly Ever After

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.

---

What’s Deadly Ever After About?

Two of Beverly’s sisters, the twins Olympia and Chelsea Brook, are hanging out with some people they just met around a campfire. It’s just a relaxing moment—when one of the group suddenly starts trying to eat them all. Olympia tries a magic whammy on him, which doesn’t help too much, but the others are able to capitalize on this and subdue him.

Over the next couple of days, others in the group suddenly start acting strangely—an actor quits his current project, dresses up like a frog, and starts to make nature documentaries; another takes a bite of an apple and goes to sleep like Snow White.

The sisters try to get some help from the Folly, but they’re too busy. Abigail gives a quick consultation but isn’t that helpful. So the sisters have to figure out what’s afoot on their own and try to set things right.

What About Peter, Nightengale, etc.?

They’re pretty deeply involved in some strange case and we see them briefly here and there—I’m curious about what they’re up to, but I really don’t want either a comic or a novel/novella to tell us—I just want to live with the random and odd images.

How’s the Art?

The art for the Rivers of London has never been the strongest—it’s good, it’s dynamic, it moves the story along, and helps tell the story. But by and large, it’s not the greatest comic art in the world—I’ve never disliked it (I don’t think), but I’ve rarely been wowed by it either. It’s good, not great.

That’s what we have here—capable art that tells the story, conveys the emotions, and occasionally elicits a grin.

(all of this reads to me like the most sinistral left-handed compliment—I’m not trying to be that way, I’m apparently just having one of those days)

So, what did I think about Deadly Ever After?

I love the idea of getting stories in this world that only have a tangential connection to Peter and the rest. We all know that the entire Demi-monde/Supernatural world doesn’t revolve around the Folly. Things like this have to happen, before Peter was recruited, we know that Nightingale didn’t have time to handle everything—people cleaned up after themselves. And that’s what the twins try to do here—and mostly succeed.

I guess I really don’t have much to say beyond that—not only do I love the idea of this kind of story, I appreciated this example of them. We get a great magic story, meet some new people, and spend some time in this world that readers love. Can’t ask for more than that.

Sure, I hope to see more of the ol’ gang next time, but regular doses of the world outside like this one would be a good thing.