[Book Review] Escape from Puroland

Escape from Puroland (The Laundry Files 7.5) / Charles Stross

Previously Reviewed:

This novella is fantastic.  Coming it at under 150 pages it's a fast read, with just enough filling in of background & setting that an unsuspecting reader can dive in and follow without getting bogged down.  Bob is, after all, generally conscientious in journaling his missions.  Also, like a new reader, he is always being thrown into situations without a thorough briefing, so beyond establishing details such as his marriage, the organization he works for, and his role as the Eater of Souls, Jr, and the concept of Computational Demonology (all of which are integrated seamlessly), we are all discovering things together.

Most of the series takes place in England, with a few visits to the US and International Waters.  Escape from Puroland brings us somewhere new both in location for the series and the mythology it has delved into.  For this little jaunt takes us to Japan and into the realm of yokai, kaiju, and Hello Kitty.

If you're familiar with The Laundry Files, especially Stross' take on such fantastical creatures as elves and unicorns, you can probably guess the general direction this is going.  It does so with unabandoned glee.

But more than that, Escape from Puroland, manages to be a wonderful escapist breath of fresh air.  The novels as of late have been a bit too prescient, entire plotlines scrapped because real life events pre-empted them forcing the author to rewrite, or published only for the readers to uncomfortably shiver at how close to home it hits (The Labyrinth Index and the internal government coup starting with the attempts to privatize the Post Office stand out in particularly stark light).  Yes, the series has always been a mix of satire, horror, and dark SFF, but part of enjoying horror is knowing what we're reading is not real and the ability to enjoy the terror in the safety and comfort of our own homes.

The horror here is more constrained, it fills the atmosphere intertwined with Stross' characteristic dark humor.  The narrative sharp and to the point, and an excellent addition to the series, especially for those of us who have been missing Bob Howard.

Advance Reader Copy courtesy of  Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review; changes may exist between galley and the final edition.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[Book Review] Battle of the Linguist Mages

Image
Battle of the Linguist Mages   / Scotto Moore The description of this book caught my attention immediately , and a cover blurb from one of my favorite authors?  Sign me up! The book isn't quite what is promised, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that it has so much potential.  It's like how Ready Player One  reads a lot different in a post Gamer Gate environment.  (Also, to be fair, the description I first read when looking through review copies is different than what is up  now.) Now, don't get me wrong, the premise is phenomenal.  I love a good SF that takes seeds of the here and now and goes "what if?"  It looks at where VR gaming is now, where streaming and MMOs are now, the balance between real life skills and game controls, and launches into a believable continuation.  Then we get a little seasoning of magic and more.  It made me laugh and has some neat ideas that it develops. But writing and tone wise, it feels a lot like Ready Playe
Read more

[Book Review] When Sorrows Come

Image
When Sorrows Come (October Daye #15)  / Seanan McGuire Previously reviewed: Rosemary and Rue Once Broken Faith The Brightest Fell Night and Silence The Unkindest Tide A Killing Frost After... we'll kindly say many books of dodging the inevitable, Toby's finally getting married.  In her defense, at the start of the book even she did not know the date chosen for the event.  There's a little too much significance in this marriage to allow for a simple document signing in front of the local Justice of the Peace.  A marriage between a member of the Divided Courts and a King of Cats, and of course Toby has been anything but "just" a changeling for some time now.  A hero of the realm, daughter of a First Born, king-breaker, kingdom maker, finder of lost things, and, most importantly, one of the few members of Fairie that understands crime scene investigation and procedure. This is  October Daye, of course something is going to go Horribly Wrong, likely involving blood, w
Read more

[Book Review] You Sexy Thing

Image
You Sexy Thing  / Cat Rambo The teaser hooked me with "Great British Bake Off meets Farscape" The story took a little bit longer, meandering in it's comfortable little setting. Then, as things are wont to do, everything went utterly wrong.  And that  my friends is when things started getting really interesting.  Rambo lulls you into complacency even as our intrepid heroes gear up for the biggest challenge of their culinary careers, and then pulls the rug out from under everything and sends the plot careening sideways into adventure and strife from most unexpected corners.  Amidst all of this, the characters unfold, giving the reader emotional stakes in the outcome. A delightful journey, all and all. Advance Reader Copy courtesy of  Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review; changes may exist between galley and the final edition.
Read more