Short Book Reviews: Another Fun "Laundry Files" Novel

 Season of Skulls (A Novel in the World of the LaundryFiles), by Charles Stross (Tor)

I’ve loved “The Laundry Files” by Charles Stross since the firstadventure, a delicious blend of spy action adventure and Lovecraftian horror,with a dry sense of humor and a touch of romance. The series begins in apresent-day world where magic is a branch of computational mathematics (i.e.,if you get sufficiently powerful computers, they tap into magic, often withresults you really, really don’t want, like awakening ancient powers andopening gates to other dimensions). Now, many volumes later, Britain is under “NewManagement” and the Prime Minister is an Elder God of terrifying power. EveStarkey, once the hyperorganized assistant to an unscrupulous magician, is justtrying to get her life back and stay under the radar…and fails at both.

This latest installment has all the tension, wit, and quirkyimagination of its predecessors, but with a bit more, very satisfying romancethrown in. Poor Eve has been through so much, and her ex-boss, perhapsnot-so-ex-husband is such a loathsome toad, she deserves a little happiness in theend. Stross delivers all this and more.

Great fun for lovers of the series