coolnick86's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
encal202's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sashas_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.75
A book club pick :)
Charles Stross mixes a fun cocktail of sci-fi, horror, mystery and urban fantasy. I didn’t find it as tasty as the blurb led me to expect.
Mathematics as magic? Yes, sure, I can play this game, I’ve met the idea before. In this world, math magic makes parallel universes collide, ripping holes in space-time thingees. It’s not fun when this happens, because cosmic horror is not fun (“his eyes were full of worms”, can I unread this somehow, please?). This is where The Laundry, our super secret organisation, comes in.
There is plenty of action, various shenanigans, and horrific things happening. I liked the concept, but I had trouble with the world building. Or rather, the world building bored me. The entertaining plot kept getting interrupted by long discussions about maths, technobabble (I did like the computer geeky stuff), bureaucracy etc. My eyes were glossing over.
I did like the humour that stuck its head out from time to time.
“Her Majesty’s Extra-Secret Service has never really been clear on the concept of flexitime and sensible working hours.”
But it wasn’t quite enough to keep me from yawning and reading the last half of the book as quickly as I could. I wanted to be done already!
This novel feels dated as well. Not in a fist in your face kind of way, but in seeing a thin layer of dust over everything. Don’t get me started on the female characters.
My biggest problem, though, was the way the Nazis and international terrorism were incorporated into the story. Honestly, these are scary enough without dragging the occult into it.
The rest of the series shall have to do without me, I think ;)
Charles Stross mixes a fun cocktail of sci-fi, horror, mystery and urban fantasy. I didn’t find it as tasty as the blurb led me to expect.
Mathematics as magic? Yes, sure, I can play this game, I’ve met the idea before. In this world, math magic makes parallel universes collide, ripping holes in space-time thingees. It’s not fun when this happens, because cosmic horror is not fun (“his eyes were full of worms”, can I unread this somehow, please?). This is where The Laundry, our super secret organisation, comes in.
There is plenty of action, various shenanigans, and horrific things happening. I liked the concept, but I had trouble with the world building. Or rather, the world building bored me. The entertaining plot kept getting interrupted by long discussions about maths, technobabble (I did like the computer geeky stuff), bureaucracy etc. My eyes were glossing over.
I did like the humour that stuck its head out from time to time.
“Her Majesty’s Extra-Secret Service has never really been clear on the concept of flexitime and sensible working hours.”
But it wasn’t quite enough to keep me from yawning and reading the last half of the book as quickly as I could. I wanted to be done already!
This novel feels dated as well. Not in a fist in your face kind of way, but in seeing a thin layer of dust over everything. Don’t get me started on the female characters.
My biggest problem, though, was the way the Nazis and international terrorism were incorporated into the story. Honestly, these are scary enough without dragging the occult into it.
The rest of the series shall have to do without me, I think ;)
qwerty88's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, War, Violence, Kidnapping, Genocide, and Death
Minor: Confinement, Genocide, Body horror, Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Rape, and War
alwroteabook's review against another edition
5.0
In a fit of whimsy, I hereby announce I will give everyone five stars, but the reviews may not reflect it.
I liked this. It had a lot of things that appealed to my inner nerd - urban fantasy, Lovecraftesque monsters, spies, the everyman thrown into impossible situations - but Stross seemed to go into far too much depth on the various different scientific theories in this book, which caused it to drag at times, which is almost a death sentence on audiobooks. Also, seeing as this is a book aimed at nerds, we probably know many of them already. Definitely enough to take on book 2 though.
I liked this. It had a lot of things that appealed to my inner nerd - urban fantasy, Lovecraftesque monsters, spies, the everyman thrown into impossible situations - but Stross seemed to go into far too much depth on the various different scientific theories in this book, which caused it to drag at times, which is almost a death sentence on audiobooks. Also, seeing as this is a book aimed at nerds, we probably know many of them already. Definitely enough to take on book 2 though.
marpesea's review against another edition
4.0
The synopsis in here is terrible, don't pay attention to it. Computer nerd/IT guru turned secret agent for an agency that takes care of unusual cases (y'know extra dimensional beings and so forth). A lot of the IT humor was lost on me, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Narrator was fantastic.
dainean's review against another edition
4.0
A good alternative if you like the idea of urban magic, but don't want to have to listen to Harry Dresden leering at women the whole time. Not quite as flashy, but actually gives you some time to think and do detective work.
mnemex's review against another edition
5.0
This was a lot of fun; Lovecraft crossed with Tim Powers crossed with, um, Egan.
Or something; it's gory and chilling and amusing and incredibly, incredibly geeky.
I didn't like several other Stross books/series I read. EST left me cold. The Family Trade was incredibly put-downable after two novels. But -this- I like.
Or something; it's gory and chilling and amusing and incredibly, incredibly geeky.
I didn't like several other Stross books/series I read. EST left me cold. The Family Trade was incredibly put-downable after two novels. But -this- I like.
kapellosaur's review against another edition
1.0
This novel was released in 2001 and it hasn't aged well. The use of tech slang I haven't heard for nearly 20 years was a nice blast of nostalgia, and Stross knows his tech well enough that the science behind most of this made sense. However, as a result it'll read as jargon to a non-tech reader and as showing off to a tech savvy reader.
More of a problem was the characters involved in this novel (and the novella bundled with it). Women are ubiquitously diminished, being variously the crazy not-quite-ex, the office nag, the damsel in distress, and the weak-stomached sidekick. The protagonist himself mistreats women, particularly his on and off again girlfriend, who he actively encourages at one point when she threatens to self-harm, and refuses to accept the relationship on terms she asks for, despite still using her for sex. In the novella, a different partner is referenced only in her context as an emotional support rod to lean upon. He's everything of turn-of-the-century toxic masculinity, on top of being droll and snarky, and I could not root for him.
The plot was broadly fine but it didn't grab me as a mystery; the author clearly has a big interest in WW2 minutiae and for someone with a similar interest that would probably be enough to provide flavour. For me it was just space nazis.
More of a problem was the characters involved in this novel (and the novella bundled with it). Women are ubiquitously diminished, being variously the crazy not-quite-ex, the office nag, the damsel in distress, and the weak-stomached sidekick. The protagonist himself mistreats women, particularly his on and off again girlfriend, who he actively encourages at one point when she threatens to self-harm, and refuses to accept the relationship on terms she asks for, despite still using her for sex. In the novella, a different partner is referenced only in her context as an emotional support rod to lean upon. He's everything of turn-of-the-century toxic masculinity, on top of being droll and snarky, and I could not root for him.
The plot was broadly fine but it didn't grab me as a mystery; the author clearly has a big interest in WW2 minutiae and for someone with a similar interest that would probably be enough to provide flavour. For me it was just space nazis.