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January 10, 2008
The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Stross
The Attrocity Archives was Stross doing Len Deighton (via his crazy Cthulu obsessed imagination), The Jennifer Morgue is Stross doing James Bond, (via the same process). Except it's cleverer than that, in ways that I won't spoil, but it just is.
There's a prologue setup, a super villain, gadgets (of the occult type), monsters, zombies, a trip to the Carribean, a boat, a casino, and of course demonology via maths. All of the cleverness and wit you expect for a Laundry-verse story.
The problem is that James Bond films are predictable, and yes this is part of the fun that Stross plays with, and subverts, but I didn't have that "what on Earth (or not) will happen next?" feeling that I had with The Attrocity Archives. With the Bond films we watch it for the spectacle, which somehow doesn't translate to the written word.
The other downside is that the freshness of The Attrocity Archives has been lost. If you want more of the same then fine, and it's still fun and witty, but for me the original idea had lost its sparkle (as with most sequels).
Included in the book is a short story entitled PIMPF, which I enjoyed, and is sort of a proto-Halting State Laundry tale. It's funny, especially if you're a computer geek. Maybe the Laundry-verse is better suited to short stories now that the universe has been laid out?
The appendix includes a dissection of the James Bond myth, and an interview with Bloefeld. Of course.
So if you liked The Attrocity Archives and want more, The Jennifer Morgue is it. More of the same.
There's a prologue setup, a super villain, gadgets (of the occult type), monsters, zombies, a trip to the Carribean, a boat, a casino, and of course demonology via maths. All of the cleverness and wit you expect for a Laundry-verse story.
The problem is that James Bond films are predictable, and yes this is part of the fun that Stross plays with, and subverts, but I didn't have that "what on Earth (or not) will happen next?" feeling that I had with The Attrocity Archives. With the Bond films we watch it for the spectacle, which somehow doesn't translate to the written word.
The other downside is that the freshness of The Attrocity Archives has been lost. If you want more of the same then fine, and it's still fun and witty, but for me the original idea had lost its sparkle (as with most sequels).
Included in the book is a short story entitled PIMPF, which I enjoyed, and is sort of a proto-Halting State Laundry tale. It's funny, especially if you're a computer geek. Maybe the Laundry-verse is better suited to short stories now that the universe has been laid out?
The appendix includes a dissection of the James Bond myth, and an interview with Bloefeld. Of course.
So if you liked The Attrocity Archives and want more, The Jennifer Morgue is it. More of the same.