[JPK]

Looks like LAUNDRY #13, A CONVENTIONAL BOY, has released. I'm both a bit excited and nervous about this one after the way the last couple books in the overall universe have gone.

[JPK]

I'm most of the way though A CONVENTIONAL BOY now, and while it isn't breaking the mold by any means, it's really enjoyable. Lots of the Laundry stumbling through bureaucracy and having things slip through the cracks. Very much like being back around book 3 or 4 in a good way.

[Abyss]

shame on me not posting this here....

Abyss, on 23 January 2025 - 08:31 PM, said:

Just Finished Charlie Stross' A CONVENTIONAL BOY. Some weirdness here, it's a Laundry book, but a flashback that takes place circa 2010, and it's packaged with two stories, OVERTIME and DOWN ON THE FARM, that have been around for years and were packaged w ATROCITY ARCHIVES, i think. Then as a bonus there's a piece at the end w Stross discussing the crossover between Dungeons n Dragons and the rise of the radical right. All of which is to say, it's a good thing i really enjoyed BOY because an entire Audible credit for a five hour story and some repackaged stuff i already owned might have otherwise annoyed me, tho the Stross discussion piece is in fact very interesting.

BOY is great. A relatively straightforward story about Derek, a man who was arrested i error by the Laundry when he was 14 for playing DnD during the Satanic Panic, who spent the rest of life in a detainment camp but decides to go on the run to attend a TTRPG convention. It's.... honestly its brilliant, the kind of writing that yanked me into the Laundry stories way back and kept me there even when the series goes thru dips. There are easter eggs and call backs and references right thru to various DnD and other gaming elements, and little nuggets for the rest of the series. Derek is at once sympathetic and a victim and thoroughly engaging as a gamer on a mission with a few things he's learned from years in a Laundry prison camp. The choice of past/future High Priestess of the Black Pharaoh Iris as a second pov works well too. It's a very satsfying Laundry story, worth the time/money, and i hope like hell Stross plans to bring Derek back in a future book because dammit the guy still has a few dice left to roll.
...

[Abyss]

new book blurb NEW BOOK BLURBBBBBBB

Quote

An occult assassin, a living god and an elderly queen face off in
THE REGICIDE REPORT,
the thrilling conclusion to Charles Stross' Hugo Award winning Laundry Files series.

After 60-plus years in power in the U.K., Queen Elizabeth II has gathered a surplus of mana from believers spread across the British Commonwealth. That makes her a threat to the Elder God recently installed as Prime Minister—and a target to a shadowy faction within the Laundry looking to depose the Black Pharaoh.An assassin is dispatched to take out Queen Elizabeth and neutralize the threat of the Black Pharaoh. Bob Howard and Dominique "Mo" O'Brien return for the last time, reluctantly pressed into service protecting the queen.Plus, Mhari Murphy and her team, many of whom are now infected with vampirism, are back from their mission to Washington DC with mixed success.

God save the Queen—someone has to.

who's excited???? I AM EXCITEDDDDDD!!!

[JPK]

Abyss, on 12 May 2025 - 04:06 PM, said:

new book blurb NEW BOOK BLURBBBBBBB

Quote

An occult assassin, a living god and an elderly queen face off in
THE REGICIDE REPORT,
the thrilling conclusion to Charles Stross' Hugo Award winning Laundry Files series.

After 60-plus years in power in the U.K., Queen Elizabeth II has gathered a surplus of mana from believers spread across the British Commonwealth. That makes her a threat to the Elder God recently installed as Prime Minister—and a target to a shadowy faction within the Laundry looking to depose the Black Pharaoh.An assassin is dispatched to take out Queen Elizabeth and neutralize the threat of the Black Pharaoh. Bob Howard and Dominique "Mo" O'Brien return for the last time, reluctantly pressed into service protecting the queen.Plus, Mhari Murphy and her team, many of whom are now infected with vampirism, are back from their mission to Washington DC with mixed success.

God save the Queen—someone has to.

who's excited???? I AM EXCITEDDDDDD!!!

Conclusion is a dirty word.

[amphibian]

Oh wow, I stepped off this series when it went to Not Bob (I did read the accidental elf invasion one) and I guess I have some catching up to do. Will report back in a few months.

[Abyss]

JPK, on 12 May 2025 - 08:34 PM, said:

Abyss, on 12 May 2025 - 04:06 PM, said:

new book blurb NEW BOOK BLURBBBBBBB

Quote

An occult assassin, a living god and an elderly queen face off in
THE REGICIDE REPORT,
the thrilling conclusion to Charles Stross' Hugo Award winning Laundry Files series.

After 60-plus years in power in the U.K., Queen Elizabeth II has gathered a surplus of mana from believers spread across the British Commonwealth. That makes her a threat to the Elder God recently installed as Prime Minister—and a target to a shadowy faction within the Laundry looking to depose the Black Pharaoh.An assassin is dispatched to take out Queen Elizabeth and neutralize the threat of the Black Pharaoh. Bob Howard and Dominique "Mo" O'Brien return for the last time, reluctantly pressed into service protecting the queen.Plus, Mhari Murphy and her team, many of whom are now infected with vampirism, are back from their mission to Washington DC with mixed success.

God save the Queen—someone has to.

who's excited???? I AM EXCITEDDDDDD!!!

Conclusion is a dirty word.

i'd almost agree w you except that i think he wants to end it and i'd rather see how he does that with finality rather than just leave it aside to die.