The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross

The Atrocity Archives is a small book compared to the door-stoppers of modern fantasy and SF, weighing in at only 299 pages once you discount the introduction, afterword and (a very necessary) glossary of terms and abbreviations. But don't let that put you off. The sheer number of ideas contained in those few pages is just mind-numbingly amazing, and keeps the story racing along at break-neck pace.

The premise: The Laundry, a top-secret government agency with the duty of protecting the world from unseen horrors--a troop of Nazis existing on an alternate universe, breaking through the dimensions of space and time; terrorist capable of summoning demons, et cetera, etc! And how does The Laundry do this? With magic of course! Not the Gandalf type, though, but by harnessing technology... For with pure mathematics, anything is possible...

When Bob Howard, a low level techie at The Laundry, goes and gets himself noticed by his superiors, his trouble begins...Forced onto assignments where he's frequently in danger, Bob doesn't think things can get any worse ( a very dangerous thing to think in an organization which uses advanced mathematics to compel there employees to tell the truth!) ...so of course they do!

At times too concentrated with jargon and surplus info, this book is nonetheless a cracking read. Some parts are very funny (particularly when you meet his house-mates, Pinky and The Brain!) and the office characters crucifying Bob (metaphorically) for overdue paperwork, etc will be very real to those unfortunate enough to work for a top secret government agency...or just a normal office!

Very nearly Nine out of Ten, the best Stross book I've read yet!

This review first appeared on my blog: thebookswede.blogspot.com

Black-Ops Spy Thriller meets Cyberpunk meets Lovecraft. Possibly one of the unlikeliest synopses ever, but with Charlie Stross’ authorial voice behind it, it works. It helps that it doesn’t take itself 100% seriously, leaving lots of room for in-jokes and sarcasm. Did I mention the Dilbert-esque office politics? No one can do government bureaucracy like the British.

Told from the first-person POV of Bob Howard, “Atrocity Archives” contains a novel and a novella detailing his adventures as part of a super-secret agency. Its mission is to keep secret the fact that it is possible to make gateways to other universes and that sometimes mind-bogglingly evil and frightening things pop their heads through to take a look around. It aims to keep those gateways shut. As it turns out, Alan Turing did actually write a paper showing how NP-complete problems (look it up, it’s part of the fun of reading Stross) could be transformed. That’s what started the trouble. Every once in a while someone else rediscovers the solution and has to be sabotaged or brought into the agency. And sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, gates get opened anyway. Then mayhem most certainly ensues.

With great aplomb and good humor, we’re introduced to the weird world of black-ops computer hackers, people who are quirky to say the least. Most people in the agency want to never, ever see the Elder Gods sitting in Trafalgar Square, and do everything they can to prevent that. In the meantime, though, they also do stupid things to their computers and have to call IT. The main character is in the process of shifting from IT work to field ops, and having a foot in the Dilbert world and another in Bond-meets-Lovecraft world is the sort of juxtaposition that only Stross could think up.

He goes somewhat light on the description of the vile forces waiting for us in the universes beyond, but whenever you have a book that has any relation to the Lovecraft oeuvre, it can get a little gory. So those with vivid imaginations and easily unsettled stomachs should beware. However, this isn’t really a horror book, and the author’s afterword gives a nicely insightful analysis of the antecedents across multiple genres that inspired the story overall. There’s nothing earth-shaking here, and the hero does get the girl in the end, so if you’d just like your speculative fiction spiced up with something out of the ordinary, this is the book for you.