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I like this book well enough, but can't really recommend it. It has numerous flaws that I found myself overlooking simply because it was pushing so many geek buttons. To begin with, the novel fails utterly to set the right tone for a horror story, and after page 50 or so its more like a slapstick comedy with an occasional gruesome murder. Also, the book has more techno-babble than an entire season of Star Trek: TNG. It's the worst case I've ever encountered in all of my years reading science fic...
I really enjoyed this installment in The Laundry series. It was a lot of fun. I especially liked all the references to James Bond. I am going to add some high praise for the narrator of the audiobook, Gideon Emery. I'm assuming here that he's an English narrator because that's the main voice in the novel. There are quite a few Americans in this installment and Emery does a great job with the American accent. The one example that really stood out to me was the word "process". The first vowel in t...
And so on the second of the Laundry Files - and I will admit I have mixed feelings about this book. yes there is still the great sense of dark humour and the malicious joy you can feel as the author really lets his imagination go. However it does feel that there was an idea that as pretty much over played - true even the storyline is used to justify what is going on - but still at times it is played a little to thickly.That said there are some really creative ideas and the whole storyline is eve...
Did you finish The Atrocity Archives and think, “Gee, I liked this magical computational spoof on James Bond quite a lot, but I wish it had been Bondier and spoofier?” Well, if you did, then The Jennifer Morgue is the Laundry Files novel for you.I didn’t—so keep that in mind when I say things like, “All I wanted to do with my life was read this book.”I am not a Bond fan. I’ve never had a Bond film marathon. In fact, aside from seeing Skyfall in theatres with friends and (maybe) Casino Royale, I
Combining a tribute to Ian Fleming (and his hero, James Bond) with Lovecraftian overtones, Charles Stross once again delivers an entertaining tale of bureaucracy versus the evil forces of the universe. It was only a short part here, but I did enjoy the reveal about the diabolical forces behind PowerPoint. There's a reason (rooted in the occult) why you go to sleep when someone whips out a PowerPoint presentation. It definitely fit the mood of the book. For me, this is the strongest of the the th...
Third read! 2/23/18:I'll give a more loving review this time. :)After much much reflection, I have to say that this is probably the funniest of all the Laundry Files books. The Ian Flemming style works perfectly not only for the plot, the geshes, and the snark... but for the fast pacing and the dry, dry humor. :)Smart cars on the Autobahn? Destiny entanglements? Hero traps? Supervillains controlling the world through their military spec word processors? Delicious. Utterly delicious. :)And of cou...
This is the second book in the Laundry Files series and proudly presented to you by Cthulhu-like oceanic overlords as well as Ian Flemming and a certain agent he created.Once again, Bob is more stumbling than purposefully walking and it frustrates him and the reader alike. It's not frustrating as in the book isn't good, but frustrating as in "can't these people see what a glorious geek he is?"! Because Bob is. He's a nice guy, a good guy, a smart guy (unless it comes to how to talk to women), an...
So...how do I explain this. This book was written for me. I don't mean, personally for me, Charles Stross wouldn't know me from Adam; I mean that I'm a former UNIX administrator with a love of nerd humor, geek culture, Bond movies, Cthulhu mythos, and the trappings of eldrich horror. This book was written FOR ME. I am its people. If you were to take down the refined details of the target audience, I'd hit every check-box.I assume there are less than a hundred people ON EARTH who would fit the sa...
What a wild ride! Charles Stross takes Bob of the Laundry, which is a mix of occult, spies, and bureaucratic nightmare, and mixes it up with James Bond style spy craft. The entire book spoofs, riffs, and engages with the Bondverse, adding in lots of humor, action, twists and turns, and of course Lovecraftian grue. Don't miss the fascinating essay at the end about Bond, Fleming, and spies.I will probably space these out: while I enjoy Bob, the computer tech and math that mixes with magic, and the...
Bob does Bond! Great fun!
Maths is magic and the Elder Gods are real. Bob Howard works for the Laundry, the UK's secret intelligence agency that protects you from these facts and their consequences, which include such delights as insanity, possession and having one's soul eaten.I'm reading this series in random order, having gone 3-1-2-4. This is book 2, in which our reluctant hero has to stop the megalomaniac business man turned would-be Ruler of the World by circumventing a fiendish geas that will only allow a highly u...
3.5 stars. The second book in "The Laundry" series after the excellent The Atrocity Archives. This story can best be described as Ian Fleming meets H.P. Lovecraft (or James Bond meets the "Old Ones"). A spy thriller set in a world where the metaverse can be breached using complex mathematics and mankind co-exists with entities right out of the best Lovecraftian horror tales. As usual, Stross' writing is excellent and the plot is pretty well thought out (though certainly far-fetched). Overall a v...
Lazy Review: It's like an urban fantasy version of James Bond mixed with H.P. Lovecraft.Very Lazy Review: OMFG TOTES RIPD OFF Ben Aaronovitch & Chris F. Holm!!!!Blurb: Second book in series, follows Bob a computer hacker who accidentally discovered that magic and demons and stuff are real and is now a desk jockey who occasionally has to run field ops for the Laundry, the MI6 of magic and demons and stuff. This time he gets sent to a beautiful Caribbean island to stop an evil billionaire from des...
I really hated this book. This is the case of fandom getting in the way of a good story because I loved The Atrocity Archives and I love Weird Espionage. In this case, the book is one long satire of James Bond and you'd think I'd love that, except for the small problem that the book is about mocking James Bond while I'm a huge James Bond fan. I laughed precisely twice during the entirety of the book. The first time was a joke about having a James Bond-esque souped up...Smart Car. That, my frien
3.5To be honest, it is much better than the first (which I also liked). I would have loved this if not for one of the tropes I hate the most in fiction. It was so unnecessary, especially in a story like this. Oh, well, it doesn't matter. The rest of it has been as crazy entertaining as you could imagine in a story where you get a mashup of lovecraftian and James Bond themes, maths and physics, the occult and lots of humour. And a bunch of other stuff.Bob gets saddled with a special partner and h...
3.5 stars. Good paranormal thriller as Bob teams up with a partner from another secret agency and is caught up in a very specific hero archetype geas... This edition also contained the short story PIMPF, which I'd subtitle Bob Gets an Intern and Almost Lets Said Intern Die...Whoops.
With most series, the first book is usually the one that has the most impact. After that things usually taper off somewhat. This is the second book in the Laundry Files series and I didn't find this the case here. I think I enjoyed this book more than the first one.Bob is off on another mission and this one is very much a mash up of James Bond and Cthulhu. Prior knowledge of the Bond books and movies is a big plus here as there are numerous references to plot points. A megalomaniac billionaire h...
I think Stross' Laundry Files books fit a particular niche crowd. They definitely aren't for everyone, and perhaps that is why this doesn't receive a four star rating (even though I'm likely to read more of his work). The humor in the books is subtle, and much is really aimed at those who might have a better than average understanding of tech (having done some sys ad work I'm sort of qualified there). For the averegae reader the tech references and humor could be a big miss, one that would detra...
I'm at the intersection of knowing Bob Howard's cultural references, understanding the Lovecraft flavor injections, and being in the vicinity of the mathematics and technology. And while it is is grade-A technobabble and cultural snark and surface mathematics, it eventually makes my eyes glaze over. This is unfortunate because the plot relies on various MacGuffins and deep borrowing from James Bond--spoilers!--and without Bob spouting this stuff, the story falls apart.There are series of parts t...
This a very well rounded book. It does not get a higher score because it is so limited by the cliches it is spoofing that is impossible to see how it could be better within those constraints.James Bond meets Lovecraftian horrors, in a darkly humorous way. If you like a comedic approach to cosmic horrors, this is your book. If that leaves you cold, skip this book. Anyone who knows what Delta Green means, will certainly like this.