This latest installment of The Laundry features Mo, a trouble-shooter who welds a ghoulish violin made by Erich Zann. Charles Stross’s The Laundry novels are a mash-up of H. P. Lovecraft and James Bond. The previous novels were narrated by Bob Howard, Mo’s husband. Mo gets center stage as an outbreak of ordinary people suddenly acquire superpowers. Mo is given a vampire and a mermaid and a “good” superhero to deal with the crisis. I like Mo (she’s a redhead and smart) but too much of The Annihilation Score centers on team-building and PowerPoint slides. And, unfortunately, knowledge of the previous books in the series is probably a necessity in order to make sense of what’s going on. I enjoy this sort of stuff, but you many not. GRADE: B
I keep thinking I should try the first one as it sounds like a possibility, but I have so many other things ahead of it….
Jeff, I really liked THE JENNIFER MORGUE. And each book got better. But with THE ANNIHILATION SCORE, the series is in a holding pattern.
And it looks long. I tried one of these and wasn’t thrilled. It was also too long, but probably not as long as this one.
Bill, THE ANNIHILATION SCORE is 401 pages. But it seemed longer.
I read one of the novellas in this series. I like the concept but didn’t care for the story at all. I think Stross is just one of those authors whose work doesn’t resonate with me.
James, I have to be in the mood to read Charles Stross. He’s a High Concept guy. But John Scalzi can write rings around him.
Long always puts me off. And I am not sure I liked mashups. You have to have so much background on the things being mashed up.
Patti, I like the concept of blending Lovecraft and James Bond. But the execution, especially in this book, is sometimes lacking.
Frankly, this sounds awful.
Rick, you have to be in the mood for a soul-sucking violin and invasion by the minions of the Elder Gods.
I need to read this series. I read and loved Equoid, the novella that won the Hugo, and know I would enjoy the actual novels. I have the first one on my Kindle.
Carl, if you’re a fan of Lovecraft and James Bond, you’ll enjoy THE LAUNDRY series. EQUOID was terrific.