A review by ineffablebob
Season of Skulls by Charles Stross
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Season of Skulls picks up the story from Quantum of Nightmares, following Eve in her struggle to free herself from servitude to her boss Rupert, and perhaps do a service for the New Management in the process. A lot of it takes place in an alternate version of the early nineteenth century, with Eve caught up in the flow of a historical romance storyline which she has to subvert to her own purposes.
I enjoyed the book, because I like Stross' writing style and am interested in seeing where he takes the Laundry Files world, having read all the other books. Having said that, I think this is one of the weaker entries in the series. I felt that it dragged in the middle - once Eve gets mired in the past, not much happens while she's confused and disoriented. It picks back up around halfway through once she figures out her situation and starts doing things again, but it takes a while. I also miss some of the things that attracted me to the earlier Laundry Files books - lampooning corporate culture and random IT-nerd jokes, for instance, which don't really fit into the historical romance framework. But having said all that, if you've followed the Laundry Files story to this point, you won't want to miss this installment.
I enjoyed the book, because I like Stross' writing style and am interested in seeing where he takes the Laundry Files world, having read all the other books. Having said that, I think this is one of the weaker entries in the series. I felt that it dragged in the middle - once Eve gets mired in the past, not much happens while she's confused and disoriented. It picks back up around halfway through once she figures out her situation and starts doing things again, but it takes a while. I also miss some of the things that attracted me to the earlier Laundry Files books - lampooning corporate culture and random IT-nerd jokes, for instance, which don't really fit into the historical romance framework. But having said all that, if you've followed the Laundry Files story to this point, you won't want to miss this installment.