Nightingale: London 1966

Rivers of London #0.5

by Ben Aaronovitch

Moments One

Set in 1966. Nightingale and Hugh Oswald meet up in London, during one of Oswald's rare trips to the city.

Moments is a term used by Ben Aaronovitch for very short works of fiction, that he doesn't like to call short stories. He adds that they are not likely to be incorporated into any longer work.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Audiobook

2 pages, ebook

First published August 8, 2016

About the author

Ben Aaronovitch's career started with a bang writing for Doctor Who, subsided in the middle and then, as is traditional, a third act resurgence with the bestselling Rivers of London series.

Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading these Rivers of London moments slowly while (somewhat impatiently) waiting for the next full-length novel. There's not really a whole lot to this one — a younger Nightingale meets up with Hugh Oswald (of Foxglove Summer fame) for a meal and thinks about maybe buying a Jaguar. There are mentions of the Folly and Molly and Mama and Father Thames, but it's only a couple of pages long so don't expect much depth. 3 stars.

[Ronda · Rating 3 out of 5]

These moments are cute, the series sounds good! 😊

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically a scene that didn't fit into any existing books. Nightingale and Hugh are sitting in a cafe, circa past times. Probably helps if you have read Foxglove Summer. I don't think there are any particular spoilers for future books; more like it expounds slightly on things mentioned in that book. Overall, very short. Could do with a bit of punctuation, or a bit of Kobna. /sigh.

http://temporarilysignificant.blogspo...

[Milda Page Runner · Rating 3 out of 5]

'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose' - The more it changes, the more it's the same thing.

Too short to earn a higher rating.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super short vignette for Nightingale. This is more of a completionist thing than anything. Great if you're a fan of the series but it doesn't really fit in anywhere else.

Totally bite-sized, however, so no big deal.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the name of this series of shorts is moment and that's what this really is, a moment in time. A glimpse in to the thoughts of a young Nightingale. Nice but way to short.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, so for completeness' sake and orientation: the author penned short stories, novellas and ... "moments". In his own words, they are bits and pieces that conjure a certain atmosphere and linger in the back of his head and when he was asked to do a short story collection, he wrote these "moments" down, too.

In this very first, we are indeed in London on 1966 where Nightingale meets a friend who fought in the war with him, Hugh. There is another friend referenced but we don't get to see David (yet).
Anyway, the meeting is just a lunch among friends, who both apparently happen to have magical abilities and during the lunch (or, rather, on the way back from lunch) Hugh puts an idea into Nightingale's head that results in him acquiring something that could be described as his signature style in the first novel. :)

Most surprisingly, the author is right about "an atmosphere being conjured" - and in so few words no less! Not to mention that there was a teaser about Nightingale's past, WW2 and other wizards - so of course I'm even more intrigued now.

Pretty cool and should you not own Tales from the Folly, you can read the "moment" for free here: https://temporarilysignificant.blogsp...
(I wasn't quite able to give this a higher rating because it's really incredibly short.)

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I only found out about these today! I have been a fan of the Rivers of London series for years and I was very pleased to find several ultra short stories that tie in to the series. I'm trying to spread reading them at least a little.

I much enjoy it when authors take the time to share with us some of their ideas that didn't make it into the main book. This is a very short story (you can read it free on Ben Aaronovitch's blog) but had some interesting information nevertheless. Also, the reference to Molly made me curious (okay, I have been curious to find out more about her for years).

Recommended for fans of the series.

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 3 out of 5]

* Enjoy my reviews? I would appreciate knowing what you enjoy with a comment, instead an empty 'like button' click.

The art Ben Aaronovitch chose is perfect for his casual 1966 London scene. It is 19 year-old South African supermodel Erlin Ibreck of “The African Drum” magazine. It began in 1959 as an anti-apartheid and lifestyle magazine printed until 2000, now issuing on-line. A look down a common street conveys an urban beauty of modernity. Viewed from 2021 in particular, Erlin’s lovely dress and the cars of the decade encapsulate their own kind of thrill for us to see. Ben’s present day detective is black. Here 40 years earlier, we join his future law enforcement boss on the metaphysics side.

“Nightingale: London 1966”, 2016, comprises one scene, so short that only we attuned to fine details could glean much from it. I have now figured out that what I enjoy about it is its jaunty normalcy. Thomas Nightingale and Hugh Oswald, who seem to have been mates before World War II 21 years prior, are simply two men meeting for lunch and having a natter, as the expression went in England. Their talk is cherished but calm and natural: an update on Hugh’s son, cars, and food. There is no stress or danger and no need to save the world, which is a refreshing little respite when you know what the series premise is.

“Rivers Of London” is a chaotic, exuberantly creative blend of mystery with fantasy and the paranormal! It catches the interest of readers as soon as we hear about it. My spouse bought me the début as a Christmas present. The sequel’s paperback awaits me and this little taste holds me over in between those colourful adventures.

Hugh & Thomas only subtly refer to a change in the air and a new River Thames caretaker: the magnificent, queenly, alluring black Goddess who dazzles Peter Grant in 2011.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story is a flashback to 1966 (a very good year — the year I was born!) in Nightingale’s voice. YAY! I’d love more from his POV. Hugh Oswald is visiting London and encourages Nightingale to update his elderly Rover automobile. Nightingale muses about getting “one of the new Jaguars” (which we already know he did), and a modern-styled suit. They also converse about the new Thames goddess, whom we know as Mama Thames.

Lovely bit! (However, it has not been edited - grammar and usage is definitely rough.)

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these short stories, they usually give you a different view to favorite characters. I think what I like about this one is that Nightingale is seen as a young man, much like the Peter of today. It really makes you think about Nightingale in a new way.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barely a wisp of a story. A moment in Nightingale’s life. I’ve been listening to Kobna’s wonderful audiobooks of this series And I can hear Nightingale’s voice in my head. Lovely.

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple scene that means more with already knowing the characters

[Soňa · Rating 3 out of 5]

PODCAST is here :)
Re-read: The fact is that this is super short so there is not much happening, just glimpses and ideas of how things could or will go...

However, it is one of the prequels to the whole Rivers of London story and series so I started with it. And here you can find the most updated list of reading order.

I give this time only 2 purring Thames kitties as it didn't give me much food for thought, except that I want to go to next chapter :)

Goodreads Challenge 2022: 3. book
***********************************************
As the author himself states:
Moments are little bits of fiction that don't really rate being called a short story and are unlikely to ever be incorporated into a longer work. Needless to say, they still constitute a finished work and I assert my copyright etc.

And this is really super short story about Nightingale, it's like 2-3 pages. More of just a few thoughts put together about one moment in the past that just came to your mind. I would say that I really need to find the time and read this in order as it should be so these short works give me more sense :) At the moment this feels a bit disconnected and therefore I gave only 3 stars.

First sentence: Since the war it had become impossible, during his infrequent visits to London, to persuade Hugh to visit the Folly we naturally gravitated to the Navy and Military.
Last sentence: And perhaps a new suit in the modern style to go with it.

Goodreads Challenge 2020: 14. kniha

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my catnip: authors writing little scenes in the life of their characters that are never going to be stories, or parts of the novels. Just people being people in a world that is similar to our own but differs in one invisible respect.

It's fun. Fun is good. Everyone needs more fun. Certainly a very grim week of news makes me treasure it.

Available to read online: very short, I mention for those who don't like reading on screens.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

another short and sweet moment

[Patricia Burroughs · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a bit of detective work to finally find this, but I am so glad I did. Google and you'll find it on the author Ben Aaronovitch's website. It is a 'moment' rather than a short story in his terminology, and that makes sense.*

But it's a moment that gives little bits and sips of background to Nightingale's world. As the title suggests, it takes place in London, 1966.

I found it quite lovely and am now off to see if he has any other 'moments' on his site.

* Or--you can follow the link from the listing. My dys-brain. It sometimes plays games with my eyes. Sigh.

[Rob Trans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short story in which the Nighingale has lunch with a colleague who was also a survivor of the WWII Ettersberg disaster. We learn a little about London and the Nightengale advancing into the then modern times of 1966.

[Debrac2014 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, just a scene with Hugh and Nightingale!

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An online moment (i.e. short story) in the Rivers of London series. A prequel to the series. Doesn't add much to the storyline, just a moment in time between two characters.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nightingale is a prequel (termed a “moments” by the author) in the Rivers Of London series by best-selling British author, Ben Aaronovitch. It is VERY short, and will make little sense to a reader who hasn’t read the first eighty pages of the first book. That said, it is available free on the author’s website, and does contain a few interesting background snippets about DCI Thomas Nightingale.

[Victoria Nika · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, little entry in the series that’s enjoyable.

[Rina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think there would be a story form shorter than short stories, but turns out there is! It's a 'Moment'. This was very short and sweet - just a moment in Nightingale's day. It was good, but not long enough to get me hooked.

[Amy Welham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moments are snippets of fiction created by Aaronovitch that adds detail to the Rivers of London world but will never be incorporated into anything greater. This first moment was written in 2016 but chronologically falls first in the series. Its an incredibly brief snapshot of Nightingale and Hugh Oswald. (Hugh we first met in Foxglove summer. He fought at the battle Ettersberg and retired to Hertfordshire after that).
It takes literally five minutes to read so if you enjoy the series just click the link in the description.

[Jen Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tbh I would gladly read a whole series about Nightingale. Pretty sure he is my favourite character of the series, especially on this reread.
This is a tiny moment in time, of Nightingale’s life that gives a sneak peek into his history. Worth your five minutes. You can find it here:

http://temporarilysignificant.blogspo...

Enjoy.

[Catka]

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.

[Melissa Goodnight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Backstory to a very popular series I'm thinking of starting. Interesting, but I think the first book will make this make more sense to me.

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moments

This will be a conbined review of three works by Ben Aaronovitch, Nightingale: London 1966, Reynolds – Florence, Az. 2014, and Tobias Winter - Meckenheim 2012. These are what Aaronovitch calls "Moments', and you can read them free on his web site. These three are, as far as I know, the only ones that exist as of this date (19-Mar-2022). As you can see, the titles all have the form "Name -- Place, Date". Each is a brief introduction to the magical law enforcement officer named. They are not actually stories, since nothing really happens. We just get a brief glimpse of the named officer and his/her thoughts. I have read only the first two novels of the Rivers of London series. I have already met Nightingale, who shows up in the first one. Reynolds and Winter were new to me.

In two of these moments, we learn that Nightingale is a bigger deal than we really get any inkling of in the first two novels, where he seems a bumbling, ineffective old man out of his time. Apparently, however, he led a group of officers who revered him, "The chaps have always needed to set me on a plinth this way", as he puts it. In Moments 3, the German office responsible for magical law enforcement (KDA = "Department for Complex and Unspecific Matters", "K" is obviously "Komplex" and "A" Abteilung, no idea what the "D" stands for) is utterly dismayed to learn that Nightingale has taken an apprentice (that would be Peter Grant, of course). This is the reaction:

‘The Nightingale has taken an apprentice,’ I said.

‘Ah,’ said the Chief. ‘That’s unfortunate. How certain is this?’

‘The Embassy has confirmed it.’

‘Shit, shit, shit,’ she said.

So, yeah, Nightingale is a big deal.

Reynolds, of Moments 2, is an FBI agent. (I surmise FBI because she mentions training at Quantico.) She's just showed up at the small town of Florence, Arizona to interview a prisoner. She struck me as a fairly authentic portrayal of an American.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the Peter Grant series, where there's a special task force in London that deals w/ all the things that go bump in the night, that ordinary coppers aren't equipped to handle. Start with Rivers of London. While this is numbered as #0.5, it won't make any sense until you've at least read the first book.

Entirely, entirely too short ( Go here to read it). A tiny vignette of Nightingale in 1966, when he meets up with his friend Hugh (who is in the novels, but I've temporarily forgotten who he is) and reminisces about WWII & friends lost. I'd love to hear more about Nightingale's history, as well as Molly's.

[JayeL]

This short story includes Nightingale and Hugh Oswald who shows up in one of the later books. It doesn't add much, except perspective to Midnight Riot. It is included in Tales of the Folly, but isn't in the same order in that book as the numbering indicates it should be