Gollancz celebrates Rivers of London 10th anniversary with special editions

Gollancz is marking the 10th anniversary of Ben Aaronovitch's bestselling Rivers of London series with two special editions of the first book.

The publisher, working with the Zeno Agency and the author, will also be reaching out to fans, librarians, booksellers and others to create an “unmissable celebration” of the series.

One of the 10th anniversary Rivers of London editions will be a demy hardback featuring new artwork, specially commissioned endpapers and an introduction by the author. It will be published in August, coinciding with the anniversary. A further deluxe limited edition version will also be released in a slipcase featuring sprayed edges, new artwork and an original Rivers of London map.

Aaronovitch is a former Waterstones bookseller and “Doctor Who” screenwriter whose series features the adventures of Detective Constable Peter Grant, as he polices the magical underbelly of the streets of London. A third novella in the series, What Abigail Did That Summer, is out this month. The series has also branched out to a range of graphic novels published by Titan Comics, plus a role-playing game forthcoming from Chaosium.

The author said: “My expectations for Rivers of London were modest making its surprise success all the more gratifying when it came. I’m amazed both that we are already at the 10th anniversary and that so many readers have gone out of their way to tell me how much they enjoy the books. I’m extremely grateful to John Berlyne my agent, and to all the people at Orion, Gollancz and my foreign publishers past and present for their hard work and support that made this series so successful. Not to mention the brilliant work by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith in reading the audiobooks. I should also mention the enthusiastic support I’ve had from booksellers and librarians across the country and beyond. But I am most grateful for all the thousands of readers who shelled out their own hard-earned cash to buy the books - the most important people of all.”

The series has been published in 14 languages with sales in excess of two million copies, according to the publisher, with UK audiobook sales of over 425,000 copies. Through Nielsen BookScan, they have sold 699,314 print copies in the UK for £5.9m. The first nove in the series, Rivers of London, is his bestseller, at 174,657 copies in paperback.

John Berlyne, director of the Zeno Agency, said: “Ben’s books keep on hitting milestones and their popularity 10 years on from their first appearance is a testament to both his great writing and Orion’s great publishing.”

Orion Fiction publishing director Emad Akhtar said: “The Rivers of London series is one of the most cherished being written today - capturing readers’ imaginations not just in novels, but comics, board games and beyond. It’s a great pleasure and a privilege to be marking this milestone with such an amazing author and readership and we’re all very excited to share what we’re working on with the fans, old and new.”