The Jennifer Morgue: Book 2 in The Laundry Files
Partnered with a gorgeous American agent who's actually a soul-sucking succubus from another dimension, Bob's mission should he choose to accept it is to stop the bad guys, avoid getting the girl, and survive - shaken, perhaps, but not stirred. A Laundry Files Novel. A Laundry Files novel. Book 1 in The Laundry Files. Book 4 in The Laundry Files. The Essential Charles Stross. Book 3 in The Laundry Files. Charles Stross is a full-time science fiction writer and resident of Edinburgh, Scotland.
The title is derived from General J. Fuller , military theorist, right-wing intellectual occultist, and an associate of Aleister Crowley. The plot of the book revolves around an eponymous document which describes a supernatural entity, the Eater of Souls. When the document and Bob's boss go missing, Bob must locate them before they are used to bring about the return of the Great Old Ones. A large part of the book revolves around the supernatural properties of the London Necropolis Railway. The Apocalypse Codex is the fourth novel in the Laundry series, published in In this novel, the protagonist Bob Howard, an agent for the intelligence agency known as the Laundry, is tasked with investigating American Televangelist Raymond Schiller, who seeks to gain influence in Britain.
Bob finds out that Schiller, who preaches a quiverfull prosperity gospel , is serving a supremely dangerous supernatural entity and trying to bring about the end of the world. The book introduces new allies for Bob: Persephone Hazard, a freelancing witch and secret agent, and Peter Wilson, a vicar and expert in biblical apocrypha. According to Stross, while the first three books in the series were written in the style of Len Deighton , Ian Fleming and Anthony Price , respectively, the fourth installment is written in the style of a Peter O'Donnell Modesty Blaise novel.
For future installments, Stross feels that "the series has acquired an identity and feel of its own", and does not intend to continue the pastiche motif. The Rhesus Chart is the fifth novel in the Laundry series, published in The novels follow the protagonist Bob Howard, an agent for the intelligence agency known as the Laundry. The Rhesus Chart plot describes an investigation into what appears to be vampire activity, despite the fact that everyone had known previously that there was no such thing as vampires and they were a ridiculous superstition unrelated to actual occult threats.
In fact, people are almost suspiciously resistant to the idea that vampires could exist or be involved, which complicates the investigation. Howard's personal and professional lives cross and cross again. The Rhesus Chart received a Kirkus Reviews starred review. The Annihilation Score is the sixth novel in the Laundry series, published in The protagonist is Dr.
Editorial Reviews. From Publishers Weekly. In this alternately chilling and hilarious sequel to The Atrocity Archives () from Hugo-winner Stross, Bob Howard. The Jennifer Morgue (Laundry Files Book 2) and millions of other books are available for instant access. Kindle | Audible. Enter your mobile number or email .
Dominique "Mo" O'Brien, the wife of Bob Howard, the protagonist of previous books in the series and also an agent for the intelligence agency known as the Laundry. Mo is promoted to management, tasked to create an inter-agency department to coordinate between The Laundry and the police. Making her unwilling job even harder is that two of the Laundry personnel assigned to her team are Ramona from The Jennifer Morgue and Mhari The Rhesus Chart , two women who have history with her estranged husband Bob Howard.
Add to that, she's the holder of the powerful magical Eric Zahn bone violin that she calls Lecter. Lecter is increasingly asserting its power, including induced dreams that relate to The King in Yellow. The Nightmare Stacks is the seventh novel in the Laundry series, published in Like the previous story Equoid explored unicorns, and The Rhesus Chart explored vampires, The Nightmare Stacks explores Elves with a basis in folklore.
Like the unicorns from Equoid , Elves turn out to be a good deal less friendly and cuddly than some myths may lead one to expect. On a parallel-universe Earth , hominid evolution has diverged such that a different human subspecies has been created, in between Neanderthals and Denisovans in genetic closeness to Homo sapiens.
These Elves or alfar have evolved to be expert magic users, and have visited Earth in the past, from which come the folklore. They are also almost all completely lacking in empathy, and live in a magically-enforced hierarchy with little freedom. Because magic has made the Elves' home world uninhabitable in a world war, cracking the moon and summoning ancient horrors, the last remnant of the Elves plan to magically travel to the Earth to take it over and make it their new home. In secret, Agent First suffers from what is considered among Elves a dangerous defect: On Earth, Agent First magically copies the look and memories of British drama student Cassiopeia Brewer, in order to infiltrate human society.
This causes some problems, as Earth's liberal society is at first incomprehensible, and then later enticing, to the Elf. Alex's power being apparent also makes the otherwise hopelessly socially incompetent year-old virgin Alex very attractive to Cassie.
The Elves invade Leeds , and while they suffer some losses due to modern technology being unknown and unexpected to them their military technology being based on magic , they do threaten the British heartland. She reveals she was magically bound to take a magician to her father. Alex was supposed to be magically bound to Cassie's will, but because of Cassie's experience living Cassie's life, she has been turned against her superiors, and no longer wants to exterminate or enslave the entire human race.
After killing Cassie's evil stepmother, Cassie and Alex escape, and an airstrike is called. The All-Highest is killed by a Hellfire missile fired by a Predator drone.
The novels follow the protagonist Bob Howard, an agent for the intelligence agency known as the Laundry. I think Stross' Laundry Files books fit a particular niche crowd. Jul 09, Carly rated it really liked it Shelves: A Laundry Files Novel. Add to that, she's the holder of the powerful magical Eric Zahn bone violin that she calls Lecter. I really hated this book. More books by Charles Stross.
This automatically transfers the title of All-Highest of the Elves to Cassie, with magic enforcing obedience. It's like an urban fantasy version of James Bond mixed with H. Second book in series, follows Bob a computer hacker who accidentally discovered that magic and demons and stuff are real and is now a desk jockey who occasionally has to run field ops for the Laundry, the MI6 of magic and demons and stuff. This time he gets sent to a beautiful Caribbean island to stop an evil billionaire from Lazy Review: This time he gets sent to a beautiful Caribbean island to stop an evil billionaire from destroying the world with magic.
Pretty good stuff, Stross does this amazingly well, his ability to build worlds and tell a story within them is top class, this urban fantasy series has many similarities with others that came afterwards see very lazy review but none of them come close in terms of quality of writing and for me at least entertainment.
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There's a lot of narration of action sequences but they largely felt unnecessary or dull compared to just witnessing Bob interact with the sex demon he had become entangled with for example. Two for two on the enjoyment stakes but I'm not going to rush out and get more from this series. View all 5 comments. Apr 02, Sherwood Smith added it Shelves: What a wild ride! Charles Stross takes Bob of the Laundry, which is a mix of occult, spies, and bureaucratic nightmare, and mixes it up with James Bond style spy craft. The entire book spoofs, riffs, and engages with the Bondverse, adding in lots of humor, action, twists and turns, and of course Lovecraftian grue.
Don't miss the fascinating essay at the end about Bond, Fleming, and spies. I will probably space these out: Kind of like watching the Winchester boys and their eponymous supernatural otherworld that seems to only get bigger and badder monsters. At one point early on in this book a character accuses Bob of being religious, and Bob retorts no way, he's an atheist!
To which the bad guy fires back, "You believe in Hell. So I read for the fast-action plots and the humor.
The Jennifer Morgue
Jul 09, Lesley Arrowsmith rated it really liked it. I'm at the intersection of knowing Bob Howard's cultural references, understanding the Lovecraft flavor injections, and being in the vicinity of the mathematics and technology. And while it is is grade-A technobabble and cultural snark and surface mathematics, it eventually makes my eyes glaze over.
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This is unfortunate because the plot relies on various MacGuffins and deep borrowing from James Bond--spoilers! There are series of parts t I'm at the intersection of knowing Bob Howard's cultural references, understanding the Lovecraft flavor injections, and being in the vicinity of the mathematics and technology. There are series of parts that are interesting, but I didn't connect to the whole.
Lovecraft's view that there are vast, unsympathetic intelligences and humanity is utterly helpless and unknowing I think Stross' Laundry Files books fit a particular niche crowd. They definitely aren't for everyone, and perhaps that is why this doesn't receive a four star rating even though I'm likely to read more of his work. The humor in the books is subtle, and much is really aimed at those who might have a better than average understanding of tech having done some sys ad work I'm sort of qualified there.
For the averegae reader the tech references and humor could be a big miss, one that would detra I think Stross' Laundry Files books fit a particular niche crowd. For the averegae reader the tech references and humor could be a big miss, one that would detract from their reading of the tale. The Laundry is the division of of the British government that eals with the fact taht so-called magic is really higher mathematics.
These civil servants work at keeping Lovecraft's old ones from coming, and other multi-dimensional "supernatural" events from harming the general populace. That's where Stross mixes sorcery with science. Stross does a better job at giving Bob some character this time around, as Bob becomes much more relateable for the average reader. I really enjoyed this installment in The Laundry series.
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It was a lot of fun. I especially liked all the references to James Bond. I am going to add some high praise for the narrator of the audiobook, Gideon Emery. I'm assuming here that he's an English narrator because that's the main voice in the novel. There are quite a few Americans in this installment and Emery does a great job with the American accent.
The one example that really stood out to me was the word "process". The first vowel in t I really enjoyed this installment in The Laundry series. The first vowel in that word sounds completely different in the two accents. Emery doesn't miss a beat when an American character says it vs.
I can't even pronounce it like a Brit and I'm sure most English people can't say it the way I do. I definitely will not hesitate to listen to audiobooks narrated by Gideon Emery again. Mar 13, Psychophant rated it really liked it Shelves: This a very well rounded book. It does not get a higher score because it is so limited by the cliches it is spoofing that is impossible to see how it could be better within those constraints.
James Bond meets Lovecraftian horrors, in a darkly humorous way. If you like a comedic approach to cosmic horrors, this is your book.
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If that leaves you cold, skip this book. Anyone who knows what Delta Green means, will certainly like this. Jan 26, Belarius rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Charles Stross returns to the world of British occult espionage in The Jennifer Morgue, a sequel to his eccentric, high-density work in The Atrocity Archives reviewed here.
Staying true to form, Stross once again constructs an elaborate parody of genre fiction by simultaneously using and mocking the traditional narrative formula. The Jennifer Morgue is, like its predecessor, actually a longer story of the same title , a shorter story "Pimpf" , and an essay lumped together into one book. The m Charles Stross returns to the world of British occult espionage in The Jennifer Morgue, a sequel to his eccentric, high-density work in The Atrocity Archives reviewed here. The main narrative makes up the lion's share of the book and is very explicitly a send-up of the classic James Bond stereotypes.
Pimpf is weak and forgettable, while the closing essay is quite excellent. For the purposes of this review, I'll assume the story-and-essay caboose cancel one another out and focus on the main storyline. Despite being a sequel, the story is able to stand alone.
It spends less time dwelling on the "how" of things and focuses on the action. Plus, it's familiar action. While the spy fiction of Len Deighton the spy fiction inspiration for The Atrocity Archives may be a bit obscure to some readers, everyone knows Bond. And as Bond goes, The Jennifer Morgue is really quite as good.
In many ways, Stross has woven a more plausible story than many Bond has stumbled through, which is saying a lot given that Stross is weaving Lovecraftian cosmic horror along side the traditional fast cars and seductive assassins. The core problem with The Jennifer Morgue, then, is that it pegs itself too closely to Bond. At the risk of sounding like a snob, Ian Flemming was no Shakespeare, and the Bond formula is both tired and absurd. Without the big-screen action to carry the improbable plot twists, cheezy dialog, and Deus Ex Machinae, Bond falls flat.
Credit goes to the author for having found a very clever way of justifying the absurdity of Bond within the framework of the story a plot device that, for the sake of future readers, I won't spoil , but in the end it's still a Bond plot, and as a result the story seems at times to ride on predictable rails toward its conclusion. To die-hard Bond fans who also enjoy the works of H.
Lovecraft, it's hard not to recommend The Jennifer Morgue. But to seasoned readers who make effort to avoid the less intelligent pulp, I fear Stross may have chosen to lampoon the material sufficiently closely that the resulting book isn't quite as good as it could have been.
It's still plenty enjoyable, but it isn't quite as brilliant as his earlier use of these characters. Feb 12, Matt rated it liked it Recommends it for: Computer geeks who are fans of H. I like this book well enough, but can't really recommend it. It has numerous flaws that I found myself overlooking simply because it was pushing so many geek buttons. To begin with, the novel fails utterly to set the right tone for a horror story, and after page 50 or so its more like a slapstick comedy with an occasional gruesome murder.
Also, the book has more techno-babble than an entire season of Star Trek: It's the worst case I've ever encountered in all of my years reading science fic I like this book well enough, but can't really recommend it. It's the worst case I've ever encountered in all of my years reading science fiction. Also, there are numerous references that can only be appreciated by someone with an intimate knowledge of Lovecraft's works, but all too often these references seem to be little more than random name dropping.
In some cases, the reference didn't even fit. So, on one hand, if you haven't read the collected works of H. Lovecraft, then the amount of what will appear to be random techno-babble you have to wade through doubles. And on the other hand, if you have, then you'll be wondering why the cultist invokes the name of his god's most hated enemy when making a metaphor about contacting his god. Also, the more you think about the plot and, not to give too much away but the meta-plot as well , the less the story makes sense.
Ultimately, the twist comes from such far left field and is so poorly executed that it simply seems to be a bad trick by the author on the reader who has been in good faith reading the story. In the best plotted novels, when the twist comes, it makes scenes in the story make more sense and you get the sense you missed things. In this case, it made the story make less sense and muddled more prior scenes than it clarified. Still, for all that, I found I couldn't help but enjoy a story about a guy whose job is to hack into the mainframes of necromancers with his shoelaces and cast spells of contagious data corruption on thier operating systems.
Stross ramps up the immediacy of his prose in this even further: Or, at least, that's how it starts. As the novel goes on, Stross gradually adds elements in the canon with another author whose storytelling informs the plot. Some of these changes are momentary and jarring, but they aptly mirror the progression Stross ramps up the immediacy of his prose in this even further: Some of these changes are momentary and jarring, but they aptly mirror the progression of the plot.
Sad to say, the relationship between Mo and Bob continues to be a weak point in the second book. In the first it was practically an informed attribute; in this book it only exists as a focus of anxiety regarding Ramona Random. This brings me to one of my sore points with the book, which I'll pseudo-redact with the spoiler tag: And my opinion didn't change. This one wasn't in my humble opinion nearly as good as the first one. The first one was obviously intended to be a sort of collision between H. Lovecraft and Ian Fleming. This one was to be that also I have a limited knowledge of both bodies of work.
We get a female possessed by a succubus who eats the lives of men as she has sex with them having an orgasm at the same time. That way I assume you get your sex and violence in a single scene. The story was probably a pretty good idea, but just didn't have the legs for the length it ran here. Still, it wasn't horrible and I may later run the newest volume down Too bad, I really kind of liked the first one. Jun 10, Konstantinos Georgokitsos rated it really liked it. The Laundry Files is an extremely funny series even more if you know a thing about computers and programming, but it is no prerequisite.
This time, in addition to the occult, Stross deals with the spy of spies, James Bond. With an afterword on the spy genre that is worth reading in itself, he again delivers solid fun and entertainment. This series is a keeper. Feb 01, An Odd1 rated it it was ok. Readers have to be in that frame of mind to like this writing, plus some sort of techno-blabber. Prologue set in was a struggle. I skip boring parts, eventually much. I'm here as a neutral observ "F-ing weather" p 4.
I'm here as a neutral observer in accordance with Section Two" p 5. Six stories -- of underwater something below ship? Ends "The grab was 3,' below sea level and still rising when the tentacles finally caught up with it. The rest, as they say, is history" p I guess tentacles are from another dimension after I remember narrator Robert fought monsters through space hole in 1 Atrocity Archives https: Did they all die? At least Angleton lived. Angleterre is England in French.
Unclear why success, why partial, why "mothballed" p Was he 'Brit' in Prologue? My sister makes chocolate mice for Xmas presents with almond-slice ears and licorice-whip tails]. X-rated for constant curses "blonde female driver gesticulating angrily.. Putzing along zoom-zoom Autobahn in tiny plastic toy Smart rental does not your testosterone manliness reduce. Worthwhile for demon in shapely skin-suit whose opinion denigrates "ridiculous little tin can" p 18? Take a chill pill -- little blue Viagra if you must.