Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday post, I highlight one of the top potential fantasy novels of the year, with the excellent upcoming book Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch.

Amazon

2025 is shaping up to be a really impressive year for fantasy fiction, with some outstanding reads already released or on the horizon.  While quite a few of these intriguing and awesome upcoming books are on my radar, one of the ones I am most excited for is the new urban fantasy novel from Ben Aaronovitch, Stone and Sky, which will serve as the latest entry in the author’s acclaimed Rivers of London series.

The Rivers of London books are an outstanding urban fantasy crime series set in modern-day London that follows a young officer in the Metropolitan Police, Peter Grant, who becomes an apprentice wizard to deal with supernatural and magical crimes around the city.  Cleverly blending a modern and very British police narrative with some unique fantasy elements the Rivers of London series is extremely impressive, and I have really come to enjoy its complex features and memorable stories, especially in books like Lies Sleeping, False Value and Amongst Our Weapons (one of my favourite books of 2022).  As such, I am very keen to see this series continue later this year with Stone and Sky.

Stone and Sky, which will be the 10^th Rivers of London book, looks set to be another exciting and complex entry in the series.  Set for release in July 2025, Stone and Sky will take the protagonist, his family, and various other members of his magical world, to Scotland, where they find themselves investigating a strange new murder with dark implications.

Plot Synopsis:

‘This isn’t London. The rules are different up here, and so are the allegiances.’

Detective Sergeant Peter Grant takes a much-needed holiday up in Scotland. And he’ll need one when this is over…

If more’s the merrier, then it’s ecstatic as his partner Beverley, their young twins, his mum, dad, his dad’s band and their dodgy manager all tag along. Even his boss, DCI Thomas Nightingale, takes in the coastal airs as he trains Peter’s cousin Abigail in the arcane arts.

And they’ll need them too, because Scotland’s Granite City has more than its fair share of history and mystery, myth … and murder.

When a body is found in a bus stop, fresh from the sea, the case smells fishy from the off.

Something may be stirring beyond the bay – but there’s something far stranger in the sky…

I really like the sound of Stone and Sky’s synopsis, especially as Aaronovitch is going to enhance a cool fantasy murder mystery, with some fun family drama and an interesting new setting.  Taking the Grant family and their magical issues to Scotland has a lot of potential, and I am looking forward to seeing how crazy things can get there, especially when a dark and unusual murder is thrown into the mix.  The author will also likely feature some unique inclusions around magic in Scotland, with the city’s own wizards or magical lawmen perhaps taking issue with Grant and his team trying to butt in on their turf.  I am very intrigue to see how Aaronovitch will expand on his already elaborate magical universe, and I am certain there is going to be some fascinating dives into the setting and its magical history.

Honestly, I was always going to grab the new Rivers of London when it came out, as Ben Aaronovitch is such an incredible author.  However, I am also really intrigued by the above plot synopsis for Stone and Sky, as Aaronovitch takes this story away from the regular setting of London and presents a cool new case.  I have no doubt that Aaronovitch will blow us away with Stone and Sky, and it is currently one of my most anticipated fantasy reads for the second half of the year.