Book Review: Charles Stross' Laundry Files Series

Charles Stross' Laundry Files books are my single favorite series of spy thrillers, bar none. They're also my single favorite Lovecraftian horror series, bar none. I don't know what provoked Charles Stross to write Lovecraftian spy thrillers, but it makes me deliriously happy.

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In the universe of the Laundry Files, advanced mathematics can be used- accidentally or intentionally- to summon eldritch, otherworldly entities that would like nothing more to devour your soul, implant you with mind controlling crustacean parasites that replace your tongue, or if you're really lucky just enslave you. The Laundry is the British government agency tasked with preventing these entities from overwhelming the world.

The series starts with The Atrocity Archives, which follows Bob Howard, IT guy for the occult government espionage agency the Laundry who decides to move into field operations. He's a profoundly un-Bondian superspy- he has far more in common with Q than Bond, and tends to have long relationships rather than glamorous flings. He avoids going in with guns blazing whenever possible- made easy by the fact that he uses magic (well, higher mathematics driven magic) instead. (Later in the series he actually has apps on his phone to perform a lot of magical functions.) Bob Howard has to suffer through far more boring meetings and PowerPoint presentations than combat situations.

Each of the books early in the series is something of a tribute to a major espionage author, like Len Deighton, John Le Carre, or Ian Fleming. Later in the series it does the same for a lot of beloved urban fantasy genres, but at no point does it ever stop feeling like, above all else, more Laundry Files. They're fantastically fun, and the stakes are always high. Somehow, the paperwork, office meetings, and other parts of it are often the most entertaining parts of the books. Much of that is the humor of Bob trying to cope with the boredom, but the bureaucratic nonsense is never just there for its own sake, but always drives the plot forwards. It's an astonishing achievement, but Charles Stross actually makes me excited about PowerPoint. (At least one PowerPoint presentation in the series does actually turn most of its audience into actual zombies, admittedly.)

That being said, the action outside the Powerpoint presentations is absolutely top notch. Charles Stross is one of my top ten favorite authors easily (probably top five), and this series is a big part of why. Battles on frozen alternate Earths where the Nazis released an entropy accelerating super-weapon, an evangelical Christian Church that actually worships a malevolent Lovecraftian Elder God, a lich that dresses and acts like an early 1900s British schoolmaster, a violin that drains the life from its audience, literally lethal office politics, and more awaits you inside the Laundry Files. Definitely no vampires, though. Everyone knows that vampires don't exist. Everyone.