Reviews

Dead Lies Dreaming by Charles Stross

milsy81's review against another edition

3.0

Found it to be slow starting and a little hard to get into these characters, but strengthened towards the end. 3 to 3.5 or so out of 5 on this one on it's own, but the ending leaves me interested to see both continuing growth both in the Laundry Files overall and in where this group of characters go.

chukg's review against another edition

5.0

Good as ever, this one is more of a caper novel in the 'new' reality of the Laundry Files, none of the main characters carrying over. There are a couple of good new main characters (I'm not sure if they'll be continuing in later books) and we get a look at more of the world under the New Management. While there are some terrible things in this book, it felt a little more 'fun' than some of the bleaker main sequence books, also the characters are a bit more diverse and there's a bit of queer romance (although this is definitely not any kind of love story). I'm looking forward to the next one.

onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition

3.0

Nyarlathotep is Prime Minister, Santa has been executed in front of a toy store, and an obscenely rich man who had backed a different Great Old One for Number 10 is after the Necronomicon makes the very clever decision to hire a team of people who have a very good reason to never grow up.

Life goes on, for most, on the other side of the negotiated apocalypse. A bit more outsourcing, a lot more skulls on display. People find a way to accommodate life under Lovecraftian Capitalism. Shades of James Bond, Peter Pan, Marvel, DC, and Doctor Who abound.

But as high as the stakes were, it just seemed like a side quest of a bunch of non player characters. I liked them well enough, but I wasn't invested in any of them enough to really feel their peril, loss, or triumph. They are, all of them, participating in a system that will kill them dead, dead, and deader, and all the good things in the world with them. But unlike Bob or Mo, I just didn't feel them. Also, Angleton let the freaking Necronomicon abide??? Heads should roll.

sillyperson's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bethwodzinski's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

broonie's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

noamberg's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

curgoth's review against another edition

3.0

I liked it, but I didn't get really excited about any particular part? I'm very behind on my reviews, so there's probably a lot I meant to comment on that I have since forgotten. I'll still pre-order the next one when it comes out.

haitch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious slow-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

agessaman's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75