The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross (4/5 stars)
Think Lovecraft meets Len Deighton meets geeks anonymous. Lovecraft inspired monsters and demons (tentacles always popular) from other universes combated by The Laundry; a bureaucratic top secret organisation (“As far as the public knows, the Official Secrets Act only has two sections; that’s because Section Three is itself classified Secret under the terms of the preceding sections, and merely knowing about Section Three’s existence—without having formally signed it—is a criminal offence.”). However this is not glossy James Bond secret agent work, more Harry Palmer accounting for every paperclip.
There is actually a novel and a novella in this book but their theme is the same and my comments apply equally to both. I have previously read and thoroughly enjoyed a couple of Stross’ Laundry short stories - Down on the Farm and Overtime both available free from his blog http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/online-fiction-by-charles-stro.html. This full story was equally enjoyable but with somewhat less humour than those shorts which was, I felt, a shame, though the whole idea is still presented very tongue in cheek. Is this science fiction, fantasy, weird, horror? I really don’t know, so tagged it with all of them!
The main character is witty and likable, the action tight and the plot well-constructed. Considering this was either his first or one of his first books I was generally very impressed with the writing; easy and enjoyable to read. The geekiness is well written too with Stross continually poking fun at it in a nice, self-deprecating way and with a good many in jokes scattered throughout. Really Charlie, I mean: “I follow my minder through a maze of twisty little cubicle farms, all alike…” think “xyzzy,” and you probably need to be over 50 to get the connection.
As a bonus for the more literary there is also an essay at the end – Inside the Fear Factory – that looks at the relationship between espionage and horror stories. Not immediately obvious but quite convincing and worth reading if only to witness H P Lovecraft described as a writer of spy stories and Len Deighton as a writer of horror stories!
A very good, recommended read; I will certainly be going on to read more in the Laundry series.
Think Lovecraft meets Len Deighton meets geeks anonymous. Lovecraft inspired monsters and demons (tentacles always popular) from other universes combated by The Laundry; a bureaucratic top secret organisation (“As far as the public knows, the Official Secrets Act only has two sections; that’s because Section Three is itself classified Secret under the terms of the preceding sections, and merely knowing about Section Three’s existence—without having formally signed it—is a criminal offence.”). However this is not glossy James Bond secret agent work, more Harry Palmer accounting for every paperclip.
There is actually a novel and a novella in this book but their theme is the same and my comments apply equally to both. I have previously read and thoroughly enjoyed a couple of Stross’ Laundry short stories - Down on the Farm and Overtime both available free from his blog http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/online-fiction-by-charles-stro.html. This full story was equally enjoyable but with somewhat less humour than those shorts which was, I felt, a shame, though the whole idea is still presented very tongue in cheek. Is this science fiction, fantasy, weird, horror? I really don’t know, so tagged it with all of them!
The main character is witty and likable, the action tight and the plot well-constructed. Considering this was either his first or one of his first books I was generally very impressed with the writing; easy and enjoyable to read. The geekiness is well written too with Stross continually poking fun at it in a nice, self-deprecating way and with a good many in jokes scattered throughout. Really Charlie, I mean: “I follow my minder through a maze of twisty little cubicle farms, all alike…” think “xyzzy,” and you probably need to be over 50 to get the connection.
As a bonus for the more literary there is also an essay at the end – Inside the Fear Factory – that looks at the relationship between espionage and horror stories. Not immediately obvious but quite convincing and worth reading if only to witness H P Lovecraft described as a writer of spy stories and Len Deighton as a writer of horror stories!
A very good, recommended read; I will certainly be going on to read more in the Laundry series.
