Title: False Value (Rivers of London #8)
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Dates read: 10/08/25 – 17/08/25
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (3.5 stars)

Publisher: Gollancz
Number of pages: 420
Fiction or non-fiction: fiction
Subject or genre: contemporary, crime, fantasy, mystery

Book blurb:

Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s brand new London start up – the Serious Cybernetics Company.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street’s famous ‘silicon roundabout’, Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant’s favourite son.

Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological – and just as dangerous.

How I discovered or acquired this book: I first read Rivers of London back in like 2012/2013, read the first 4 or 5 then for whatever reason, didn’t read anymore. Over the last year or so, I’ve been catching up and working my way through the books that are new to me.

My thoughts:The Rivers of London series is usually a comfort read for me, but False Value ended up being a slightly uneven ride. This instalment takes Peter Grant into the world of tech start-ups and corporate intrigue, complete with nods to Douglas Adams and plenty of nerdy references. The premise is fun, but the execution left me a little adrift.

I struggled at times to keep track of who was who – the cast ballooned quickly, and some of the secondary characters blurred together. The pacing also felt uneven: stretches of exposition and tech detail that slowed the story down, followed by bursts of action that pulled me back in.

That said, Aaronovitch’s dry humour and knack for blending the magical with the mundane are still very much present. I loved the London texture, the tech satire, and the glimpses of Peter in a slightly different setting. It’s not a bad entry by any means, just one that didn’t quite flow as smoothly as my favourites in the series.

At 3.5 stars, this felt like a transitional book – laying groundwork, but not quite delivering the punch of earlier books. I’m curious to see where things go next.