STG's

Season of Skulls, by Charles Stross, is his latest book in the Laundry-adjacent fantasy series that covers Eve (mostly her, in this case), her brother and friends (all of which have magical powers) and her "husband". This was a very different book from the rest of the series, as it mostly takes place in a made-up dream reality created by magic, a couple of centuries ago from the present, where Eve goes to try to stop her husband from getting a powerful book and trying to raise a dangerous god. Overall, really enjoyable.  

 Quantum of Nightmares, by Charles Stross, is another book in the Laundry series universe (Lovecraft horror/fantasy), as it carefully points out in the cover, but it doesn't have what used to be the main characters - which I imagine are harder to use now that Bob is super powerful. The Eater of Souls is  only mentioned once in the whole book, as a major threat the government dangles. However, as in the last book, that doesn't make it worse, just different. The gang from the last book is back (Eve, Imp, Doc, Game boy, Wendy, Deliverator, etc), and they have to undo a gigantic mess that was started by Rupert, before he disappeared in the end of the last book (it is still unknow if he actually died). I really like the big plan - feels a little silly but pretty grandiose use of the author's rules for the reality.  Overall, pretty much great.

 Dead Lies Dreaming, by Charles Stross, is another horror book in the Laundry Files series. This one goes does not concern the main characters, but mostly Imp and his gang of magically powered villains, Eve, a minion of a rich, twisted guy, and Wendy, a super-powered rent-a-cop. It does happen after the new government is in place. Mostly this is about the chasing of a powerful book, and the consequent mess. I very much liked this one, as it went a little deeper into the magic of the series, and had plenty of action. I am also happy to hear that a sequel to this should be coming out later this year.

The Labyrinth Index, by Charles Stross, is the latest volume in the La undry horror series. Following the last volume, a god from another dimension is now in control of the British government. And turns out the in the USA, nobody seems to be talking about the President, or even remember that he exists... So Mhari (a "vampire") and her crew are going to the US to find, rescue the president, and try to save the US from being taken over by another alien god... Excellent as usual. Lots of exciting bits, and the evolution across the books of the powers of the groups fighting has been nice, although we did lose the "this could be happening right now under your nose" vibe a few books ago. Strongly Recommended by fans of the series, and if you don't know it yet and like clever horror, you really should start with the first one.

The Delirium Brief, by Charles Stross, is the latest novel in the Laundry series - a Lovecraftian horror/spy mix. The last book ended after a massive invasion by elfs, and this one deals with the follow up. Suddenly the Laundry is a public matter, and the government is very interested in it. As are other enemies... It was nice that this was a Bob Howard book. Bob is now more powerful, which was entertaining. There was a little scene where someone says he went from tactical to strategic, and I'm kind of sorry this wasn't really necessary in the story. The move in the end was interesting, and I'm very interested in seeing how that follows up in the next books.

Just finished The Nightmare Stacks, by Charles Stross - the latest volume in the Laundry series. Again, in this one Bob Howard doesn't even appear. I don't know if he's ever going to get back or if he got too powerful for a full book, but this time I didn't mind. In his place is Alex Schwartz, a vampire and a new hire to the Laundry (from 2 books ago). Unlike the last book, which I felt was a bit too annoying, this one was pretty great. The beginning was a little slow, but from the middle to the end it was great. I liked the choice of the "monster of the week", as well as how they were used, and the fact that instead of the hero just stopping the attack at the last second before any damage was done, that this time it went full CASE NIGHTMARE RED. The only thing I wanted was a little more of an aftermath, instead of abruptly stopping at the last second of a conclusion that should have been obvious way back in the book.

The Annihilation Score, by Charles Stross, is a book on the Laundry Files series. The laundry series is about a group of the UK government (The Laundry) that protects the country against Lovecraftian horrors. In this volume, the narration is for the first time by Mo O'Brien - the wife of the usual main character. What she faces is the start of a breakdown in reality, where common people start getting occult powers, which naturally they view and frame as superpowers and start being supervillans and superheroes. This is a very, very different path from the usual Laundry series, and tends to be more humorous, with use of slight slapstick comedy in places. I didn't really like it as much as the rest of the series, and it seemed to drag a little around the middle. It does pick up around the end, which is quite satisfying (and avoids the "it all ends well" with everyone being saved that so many books follow).

The Rhesus Chart - by Charles Stross - was another excellent entry in the Laundry series. I read this on release, but this was months ago, so I'm just going to say that I really enjoyed it, and I really want to see what the follow up for this will be!

Equoid - by Charles Stross - is a novella that takes place in the Laundry universe. The laundry is a secret british agency that deals with Lovecraftian occult attacks. I wouldn't normally bother to review a novella (32 pages), but it is worth reading, specially if you like the Laundry series. This one is a tale about unicorns - who turn out to exist, sort of, and to be pure evil. You can get Equoid on Tor  for free.

Saturn's Children, by Charles Stross, is an SF book earlier in the same universe of Neptune's Brood , which I reviewed a month ago. In that universe, humans have become extinct, but robots took over. These robots are built from human neural patterns - effectively humans on a different platform, because we never got AI right. The story is told from the perspective of a sex-bot (without clients, of course, as humans got extinct), that ends up turning into a spy. While somewhat interesting (and having plenty of funny moments), I felt this was the Stross book I enjoyed least over the years. It is acceptable, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Neptune's Brood - by Charles Stross - is an interesting SF view through a future where humanity (kind of) has expanded to many stars - but never figured out how to travel faster than light. Thus, they can only travel on very slow colony ships - that max out at 1% light speed - or digitize themselves and upload between star systems. The latter is helped by the fact that humans have evolved beyond our current bodies (now named Fragiles) and now are based on a very interesting structure based on mechanical cells. These allow for upgrades (vacuum resistence, wings, pressure resistent, different forms, etc), and you can actually backup your brain state on what is called a soul chip. There are also a few drawbacks, like being attacked with a debugger or an hilarious but short zombie situation. One of the interesting things in the future is that the very rich can just "fork" themselves into new people, adding features to further their interests. They can either transfer ...

The Apocalypse Codex - by Charles Stross - is the newest book in the Laundry series. The Laundry is a British occult organization dedicated to saving us from the horrors of other dimensions - kind of a UK terror version of the MIB. In their universe, proving specific mathematical theorems is an advanced way of doing magic. As usual, the main character - Bob Howard, computational demonologist - gets assigned into more than he can handle. But this time, he has other major players with him - a powerful witch called Duchess Persephone Hazard (the name is a little too Bond for me) and her companion, Johnny McTavish. They go hunting for information on an american pastor who is - as usual in the Laundry books - trying to release another alien god. Very good, as usual, and recommended for fans of the series.

Rule 34  by  Charles Stross, is another good near future SF book. Rule 34 says that anything that can be conceived, there is already porn about it on the net. How that relates to the story? It doesn't. In the story it was just a mild joke about the computer crime department. I think it was more of a gimmick by Stross to make the book seem a little more colorful. The main story is about a series of very unusual murders, mostly from the perspective of detectives in Scotland. The technology of most of the book is very near future, as in many of his other books. And just like them, there were a few funny comments on his blog about actual news that seemed taken from the book. Some of the tech on this book is augmented reality glasses being heavily used by everyone, 3D printers as a source of pirated materials and use of drones everywhere. The last two are already starting, and quite likely to get here soon enough (just read a news story about The News Corps use of drones.....