The reader, Gideon Emery, was perfect for this book, and the material was a fascinating blend of Lovecraftian tropes, computer technical geekery, and ..Show More »the application of over-the-top spycraft.

And damn it if the interpersonal relationships didn't have extraordinarily satisfying arcs! Stross's characters have really begun to feel like real people in the best possible way.

This has me slavering to hear the previous Laundry book, also read by Emery. I hope you've got Emery already producing the Fuller Memorandum, now that I'm on the topic, because if you can't tell, I think Stross, the Laundry books, and Emergy are a winning combo.

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While _The Jennifer Morgue_ was a bit disappointing (though by no means bad) compared to _The Atrocity Archives_, this book was every bit as good as t..Show More »he first in the series. Not quite as exciting, since the concepts in it have already been well explored in previous two books, but this story is certainly more of an adventure than anything else in the series to date. If you liked _The Atrocity Archives_ even just a little, you should go out of your way to read / listen to this book.

The narrator, Gideon Emery, is PERFECT for this book (as he was for the other two) and does an excellent job with one exception: the mispronunciation of "rosin". It's hard for me to believe that even in British English, it's pronounced the way he said it; I assume he's not familiar with the substance and has therefore never heard it pronounced correctly. THAT was rather distracting.

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I am a big fan of the Laundry series, and this book is still excellent, but, as the series moves on, it has matured, by necessity, in ways both good a..Show More »nd bad. In general, much like the Harry Dresden series, as the series has developed, it has become less lighthearted, losing the parody and many of the pop-nerd-culture references in favor of more spy- and Love-craft. The characters are now quite well developed, but that leaves less room for the cartoonish bad guys and bizarre plots that made the early books amusing. On the other hand, it means that the stakes feel more real, the plot more grounded in previous novels, and the action more engaging.

This trend is not the reason why I have slightly mixed feeling about the book (though I still strongly recommend it to anyone who has read the series so far). First off, the plot in this particular book is, in some ways, a little less inventive then Stross often is capable of - you are introduced almost immediately to an evangelical church leader with clearly ominous intent, which is a bit of an easy target. There are twists and turns, but perhaps the revelations are more expected in this novel then previous ones.

The second issue is that, as the series has gone on, the main character has shifted from regular schlub to a hero on a larger stage. This is fine, but, as the protagonist moves up the ranks, and as more of the secrets of the Laundry universe are revealed, it removes a little of the overarching cosmic horror that made the series some interesting. Again, this is natural for any ongoing series, but it, plus the slightly less surprising plot, makes the book Really Good rather than Amazing.

On the other hand, the reading is insanely good - many accents, from cosmic horrors to royalty, are covered beautifully. Overall, a really good choice, though this is clearly not where new readers should start.

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