Adventures in the Mouse House

46. The Nightmare Stacks by Charles Stross

The seventh in Stross' Laundry series, in which Lovecraftian horrors from other dimensions are real, and there is a branch of the Civil Service to deal with it.

Regular readers will know that I love these books, and I was really excited to find that this one takes place in Leeds. It turns out that was kind of distracting - I kept having to check with Google maps that I remembered correctly where places are. But it made me appreciate things like the chapter title "the Doom that Came to Harehills" - I worked in Harehills for two years.

Like the last book, Bob is no longer the protagonist - he's now one of the scary people (in the loosest possible use of "people") on Mahogany Row. The protagonist is Alex, one of the vampires (sorry, PHANGs) from the last book but one. I like Alex a lot. He's funny and adorable. The adversaries are the Laundry-world take on the Fae.

So everything that should make it Right Up My Street, but I still struggled a bit with it. Part of it was a technical thing - the use of italics to demonstrate that the Fae are speaking in their own language. In my visually impaired state, I struggle with italics. Added to the fact that I never like the parts in books where the POV shifts to the antagonists, that meant quite a lot of the book wasn't that engaging.

It's definitely not that he's phoning them in (something some authors do when they get to this point in a series) - it's definitely well thought through.

I think the problem was that it wasn't The Annihilation Score - Mo is by far the most interesting character in the series, it's about classical music, and Mo's violin scares the ever-loving bejeezus out of me.

33. The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross

I was eagerly anticipating this and then for some reason thought it was due out in August and missed the release by a few weeks.

Anyway, it's wonderful. Just when you're wondering where the Laundry series can go (because there are major game-changing events at the end of every book), this one is written from the point of view of Mo, Bob's wife.

Throughout the series we have an idea that Mo is a more powerful demon-banishing badass than Bob (as well as the functional adult in the relationship). And she has the coolest weapon - a violin that kill demons.

In this one we find out just how scary the violin is (very) and the toll it is taking on her - it tries to kill Bob (now the Eater of Souls) and so he has to move out.

Meanwhile, there is a plague of people gaining superhero powers, Mo is outed by a BBC24 news team subduing one who uses his powers for evil, so she is tasked with being the public face of the new supernatural policing unit, including COBRA meetings, briefings with the Home Secretary and is given a crack team of Bob's ex-girlfriends to save her bacon.

It's the usual Laundry stuff - really funny, lots of action - but I really related to this one too much, especially the parts about dealing with management bullshit at work (from the perspective of being the manager).

I bought this on my Kindle because I'm ripping the house apart and need to have less stuff lying around, but then I went into Waterstones and saw how pretty the dust jacket is on the hardcover. Now I want to get that too.

32. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross

This month's Bibliogoths selection, but as I can't go I'll post a review:

Imagine a world where Lovecraftian horrors can be summoned from alternate dimensions using an interesting mix of magic, mathematics and computer programming. There would, of course, be a super-secret layer of civil service to keep it all secret and under control. And count every last paper clip.

Sheer genius. Every single word. Hilarious and scary at the same time. I read a lot of good books, but this is the best thing I've read in a long time.

I shall be seeking out his other works forthwith.

33. In Sickness and in Power: Illness in heads of government during the last 100 years by David Owen

I have got to stop listening to Radio 4's Start the Week with the laptop on - if they're discussing a vaguely interesting book I log in to see if the library has it and reserve it if they do. This is quite often.

Lord Owen, long serving British politician who initially trained as a doctor, not surprisingly has an interest in how the health of heads of government has impacted on their governing. The first part is a bunch of short case studies of health problems various world leaders in the 20th century had; this is interesting but left me asking more questions than it answered. (This is generally a Good Thing, by the way). Part two is longer detailed case studies which, let's be honest, I was really only reading for the chapter on JFK. What is remarkable isn't so much that he functioned with so many serious health problems, but how appalling his treatment for them was, even by the standards of the time, until the last year or so of his life.

Where the book falls down, is that Owen has a bee in his bonnet about something he calls "the hubris syndrome" (he's written a whole book on the subject) which he admits isn't a recognised medical diagnosis, but he still devotes part 3 to a study of Bush and Blair's hubris over Iraq. Fascinating stuff, but does not fit well with the rest of the book, especially as he dismisses analysis of Hitler and Stalin by saying they didn't suffer from any formal psychiatric disorder.

Despite this inconsistency, I found this a really interesting and entertaining read.

His take-home message is "covering up illness is bad, m-kay".