The Labyrinth Index: A Laundry Files Novel

As exquisitely written and deliciously complex as any of Stross' Laundry Files tales! True, the proverbial other-worldly scheisse has hit the fan and the world is a very different place indeed, but somehow we still manage to pull off this wonderfully twisted and suspenseful tale with all the grace and aplomb of the previous books! And even more amazingly, with only a scant appearance by everyone's favourite 'Bob' and none at all by the lovely Mo, Stross puts together a tale with a motley collection of 'minor' characters that still have enough depth and fullness to them to keep you on your toes albeit inside a summoning grid for protection throughout!

You probably need to read a couple of the preceding 8 books in the series to get the maximum amount of joy from this. Do that, they are as good as this! A lovecraftian novel - although Lovecraft only saw glimpses of the reality described here. He could not imagine the true horror, which is really horrible. Well written with a decent amount of geek, situated in a consistent narrative universe, something that I always love.

The Laundry Files series has been a joy to read so far and 'The Labyrinth Index' doesn't disappoint. I get nervous every time one of these books doesn't have Bob Howard as the main protagonist but Stross manages to inject so much life into his characters so quickly that within a few pages I felt as attached to and even protective of Mhari Murphy as I have come to be of Bob and Mo. The stakes are high, the action is concise, the tension is high and it is all very rewarding in the end but what is so addictive about this series is the inter-governmental bureaucracy and the ever present atyciophobia superiors instil in their employees, which could have been quite boring and frustrating in lesser hands but is an utterly relatable delight in here. I'm not the fastest reader so heed my words when I say I finished this book in three days.