Ben Aaronovitch Books In Order

Ben Aaronovitch is the author of the popular Rivers of London, an urban fantasy series, featuring PC Peter Grant. Reading the author’s books in order starts with Rivers of London, his debut novel and so far his most popular book, which has also been published under the title Midnight Riot.

While officially the series is called the Peter Grant series, many people call it the Rivers of London books (based on the series’ first novel).

Here are the Ben Aaronovitch books in order for his bestselling Peter Grant series and his novelizations of the Doctor Who series, along with his short stories and anthologies.

Latest Ben Aaronovitch Books

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Rivers of London Books Series in Publication Order

aka the Peter Grant series

1. Rivers of London, 2011 (aka Midnight Riot)
2. Moon Over Soho, 2011
3. Whispers Under Ground, 2011
4. Broken Homes, 2013
5. Foxglove Summer, 2014
6. The Hanging Tree, 2016
7. The Furthest Station, 2017
8. Lies Sleeping, 2018
9. The October Man, 2019
10. False Value, 2020
11. What Abigail Did That Summer, 2021
12. Amongst Our Weapons, 2022
13. Winter‘s Gifts, 2023
14. The Masquerades of Spring, 2024
15. Stone and Sky, 2025

Rivers of London Books in Chronological Order

the chronological order of the Peter Grant books in order also includes the graphic novels

1. The Masquerades of Spring, 2024
2. Vol. 7: Action at a Distance, 2019
3. A Dedicated Follower of Fashion, 2012 short story
4. Rivers of London, 2011 (aka Midnight Riot)
5. The Home Crowd Advantage, 2012 short story
6. Moon Over Soho, 2011
7. The Domestic, 2012 short story
8. Whispers Under Ground, 2011
9. Broken Homes, 2013
10. Vol. 1: Body Work, 2015
11. Foxglove Summer, 2014
12. What Abigail Did That Summer, 2021
13. The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny, 2012 short story
14. Vol. 2: Night Witch, 2016
15. King of the Rats, 2014 short story
16. Vol. 3: Black Mould, 2017
17. The Furthest Station, 2017
18. The Hanging Tree, 2016
19. A Rare Book of Cunning Device, 2017 short story
20. Vol. 4: Detective Stories, 2017
21. Favourite Uncle, 2014 short story
22. Vol. 5: Cry Fox, 2018
23. Vol. 6: Water Weed, 2018
24. Lies Sleeping, 2018
25. Vol. 8: The Fey and the Furious, 2019
26. The October Man, 2019
27. False Value, 2020
28. Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List, short story
29. Amongst Our Weapons, 2022
30. Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby, short story
31. Vol. 9: Monday, Monday, 2021
32. Vol. 10: Deadly Every After, 2022
33. Vol. 11: Here Be Dragons, 2023
34. Winter‘s Gift, 2023
35. Stone and Sky, 2025

Rivers of London Novellas and Short Stories

1. The Home Crowd Advantage, 2012
2. What Abigail Did That Summer, 2021
3. The Furthest Station, 2017
4. A Rare Book of Cunning Device, 2017
5. The October Man, 2019
6. Winter‘s Gifts, 2023
7. The Masquerades of Spring, 2024

Rivers of London Graphic Novels

with Andrew Cartmel, Celeste Bronfman

1. Vol. 1: Body Work, 2015
2. Vol. 2: Night Witch, 2016
3. Vol. 3: Black Mould, 2017
4. Vol. 4: Detective Stories, 2017
5. Vol. 5: Cry Fox, 2018
6. Vol. 6: Water Weed, 2018
7. Vol. 7: Action at a Distance, 2019
8. Vol. 8: The Fey and the Furious, 2019
9. Vol. 9: Monday, Monday, 2021
10. Vol. 10: Deadly Every After, 2022
11. Vol. 11: Here Be Dragons, 2023
12. Vol. 12: Stray Cat Blues, 2024

Peter Grant Anthology and Short Story Collection

• Tales from the Folly, 2020 -includes previously published stories and brand new tales released for the first time. The list includes: The Home Crowd Advantage, The Domestic, The Cockpit, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Granny, King of the Rats, A Rare Book of Cunning Device, A Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Favourite Uncle, Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List, Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby, Moment One: London September 1966, Moment two: Reynolds, Moment three: Tobias Winter

Other Ben Aaronovitch Books

1. Remembrance of the Daleks (Doctor Who novelization), 1988
2. Transit (Doctor Who novelization), 1992
3. The Also People (Doctor Who novelization), 1995
4. So Vile a Sin (with Kate Orman) (Doctor Who novelization), 1997
5. Genius Loci (Genius Loci novelization), 2006
6. Rebel (Blake’s 7: The Audio Adventures), 2007 – audio CD format
7. When Vila Met Gan (Blake’s 7 Early Years), 2010

Ben Aaronovitch Anthologies

• Something Changed, 2005
• Time Signature, 2006
• Missing Adventures, 2007

Ben Aaronovitch Biography

Ben Dylan Aaronovitch was born in 1964 in Camden and was raised in London. His father is Sam Aaronovitch, a well-known economist/academic who was one of the senior members of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and his elder brothers, David Aaronovitch, a British journalist, and Owen Aaronovitch, a Coronation Street actor. His family also includes a couple of sisters and a dog.

Ben attended Holloway School. After leaving school, he was not sure what to do with himself. However, in his early 20s, he realized that he has a knack for writing and that he enjoys it. Also, he hated doing physical work of any kind and felt that writing was the only thing he was really good at.

The first books by Ben Aaronovitch were two Doctor Who serials for the BBC, followed by an episode of Casualty. He even wrote for SF soap opera Jupiter Moon.

Next, he wrote several Doctor Who novelizations and original novels. He was, in fact, the very first Doctor Who author who made Daleks levitate.At some point in his career, he also sold books for Waterstones, when his writing career seemed to be in a funk.

As he was shelving sci-fi books in the store, he decided that he would be best suited to write his own books rather than write for others. And so the Rivers of London series was born and, with it, the new popular series as well.

The books are part urban fantasy part magic-infused police procedural with a very British flair. The main character of the series, Peter Grant, is a Police Constable and a magician’s apprentice. He is also the biracial son of a jazz musician and an African immigrant. His humor is engaging and very personal to him. Some of the lines in the book make you really laugh out loud.

Before publishing Midnight Riot, Ben Aaronovitch gave it the title Magic Cops. It would have been a TV story, however, after he watched the new (at the time) Dresden Files TV show by SciFi, he realized that the two characters are very similar, so he put the TV idea aside.

Next, he read the Dresden Files book and noted too many similarities between Harry and Peter’s storylines, so Ben had to rethink his strategy, lest he be called a literary thief. He even had to change the magic Peter Grant used to be different from Harry’s complex magic system.

Initially, he wrote Peter Grant as a woman with parents from Jamaica. However, as the character grew, Ben realized that the main role was best suited for a man.

However, a lot of folklore is also included in the urban fantasy novels. For example, The Goddess of the Thames is a Nigerian immigrant. Father Thames is an old guy who was around during the Romano-Celt times who has returned after being away since the 19th Century.

One question many readers ask is whether they should read the novellas since they’re not all about Peter Grant. They are, indeed, not essential, however, if you love the ROL (Rivers of London) universe, it is filled with all sorts of interesting characters. The novellas basically fill in the world with random stories about these related people, giving them a much-needed background. They flesh out the world quite nicely, making the Peter Grant universe quite lively and full.

In addition to his Peter Grant series novelizations, Aaronovitch also wrote several Doctor Who comic strips for the magazine Doctor Who Magazine in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These strips include The Mark of Mandragora, The Good Soldier, Prologue, The Fallen, and The Chameleon Factor.

Ben Aaronovitch’s contributions to the Doctor Who universe – Doctor Who and Doctor Who New Adventures series – have been well-received by fans and critics alike, and his work is considered an important part of the show’s legacy.

The author is currently living in Wimbledon and is full-time working on his urban fantasy mystery series. He was also involved with Cityread in London, an event that is celebrated each April, where people read one book a month. Rivers of London was part of one such month where people would read only that book in London. Of course, the fact that the book title has “London” in it helped as well.

About the Rivers of London Series

The Rivers of London book series is also called the Peter Grant, or the PC Grant series. It is an urban fantasy series which also includes many elements of crime and mystery (which is the main reason I added it to Mystery Sequels). It has also several graphic novels and short stories that are ongoing.

The series currently has 9 main novels, and the graphic series includes 11 books. The Peter Grant universe started with Rivers of London, the main first book which was published in 2011.

In the Rivers of London books, we first meet a young Metropolitan Police officer, Peter Grant, who after seeing something as weird as a ghost, is pulled into the supernatural and magic department of the Met who is always looking for such people to join them.

As it turns out, Peter becomes the first English apprentice wizard in over 70 years, and as soon as he joins, he is tasked to investigate to paranormal and related cases in the very first book.

As each book progresses, Peter, now a London Police Constable and apprentice wizard, is involved in weirder and more complex cases. From finding out who posesses people to investigating a murder, finding stolen artifacts, visiting nearby villages to catch paranormal baddies, to becoming a father, Peter has his hands constantly full.

The various novellas and short stories in the book series are usually about related side characters which fully flesh out the Rivers of London universe. While they are not necessary reading material, they are extremely important to any fan who loves this magical and mysterious world.

There are many important characters that Ben Aaronovitch introduced in his series, including:

• Peter Grant, our main character, a detective constable with the Metropolitan Police who has completed his mandatory probation period and started out doing paperwork.
• Thomas Nightingale, a Detective Chief Inspector who is also the head of the Folly. He is the last English Wizard that was officially sanctioned.
• Lesley May, a police constable working for the Metropolitan Police who has already completed her mandatory probationary period. She is characterized as a brave, hardworking officer with good conduct and skills.
• Alexander Seawoll, Detective Chief Inspector, Senior Investigation Officer (SIO) who also works in the Murder Investigation Team.
• Dr. Abdul Haqq, a famous crypto pathologist as well as gastroenterologist.
• Inspector Neblett, is not only the shiftcommander for Peter and Lesley, but also the line manager at the Charing Cross Police Station.

The comics are also set in the same universe, and while they were initially released serially, eventually they got published in so far 11 different volumes.

Each of the comics is set between various novels. The list is included in the chronological list of the police constable Peter Grant series.

What is the Latest Been Aaronovitch Novel?

Ben Aaronovich’s latest book is Stone and Sky, the tenth book in the Rivers of London series.

Ben Aaronovitch Books Adaptations

• In 2019, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s production company, Stolen Picture, acquired the rights to adapt the book series. However, nothing seems to have happened since then with this particular adaptation, so in July 2022, Ben Aaronovitch announced that he had joined forces with Pure Fiction Television and See-Saw Films to bring all the novels, short stories, novellas, and graphic novels, to the screen. In November 2023, it was announced that John Jackson, known for his work on “Being Human” and “The Gentleman,” would be the main writer, along with Kara Smith (“Lockwood & Co”), Tolula Dada (“No Escape”), playwright Robin French, actor Tobi King Bakare, and Joshua St. Johnston (“Grantchester”). Ben Aaronovitch was also set to contribute as an executive producer for the new TV series.
• The series was also adapted into a tabletop RPG game called Chaosium’s Rivers of London: The Role-Playing Game with modules like The Domestic and Going Underground. in 2023.
• Every novel and novella in the book series has been also adapted into an unabridged audiobook narrated by narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, including also originals such as A Rare Book of Cunning Device

Ben Aaronovitch Awards and Nominations

• Rivers of London was nominated for the Galaxy National Book Awards in the New Writer of the Year category in 2011
• Rivers of London was nominated for the Kitschies Inky Tentacle in the Cover Art category in 2012
• Rivers of London was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2012
• Rivers of London (audiobook) was short-listed for the CrimeFest Sounds of Crime Award in 2012
• Whispers Under Ground was a finalist for the Locus Award in the Fantasy Novel category in 2013
• Whispers Under Ground was nominated for the Phantastik-Preis in the Foreign Novel category in 2014
• Foxglove Summer was nominated for the CrimeFest: Sounds of Crime Award in 2015
• The Rivers of London series was nominated for the Hugo Award in the Best Series category in 2017
• Lies Sleeping was nominated for the Dragon Award in the Best Fantasy Novel category in 2019
• Lies Sleeping was a finalist for the Locus Award in the Fantasy Novel category in 2019
• The Fey & The Furious was nominated for the British Fantasy Award in the Comic/Graphic Novel category in 2021
• False Value was nominated for the CrimeFest: Last Laugh Award in 2021
• False Value was shortlisted for the British Book Award Page-turner of the Year in 2021
• The Rivers of London series was nominated for the Hugo Award in the Best Series category in 2023
• Ben Aaronovitch received a short-listing for the CWA Dagger in the Library for career recognition in 2023
• Rivers of London RPG won the Silver for the ENNIE Award in the Best Rules category in 2023
• The Domestic (RPG) was nominated for the ENNIE Award in the Best Free Product category in 2024