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Dead Lies Dreaming

(Dead Lies Dreaming #1)

Charles Stross (Goodreads Author)

4.04 · Rating details · 1,138 ratings · 141 reviews

In a world where magic has gone mainstream, a policewoman and a group of petty criminals are pulled into a heist to find a forbidden book of spells that should never be opened.

The secret agents of the Laundry Files novels were unable to stop magic becoming public knowledge - in book one of this new series by Charles Stross, the repercussions of that failure are fel

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ebook, 400 pages

Published October 27th 2020 by Tordotcom

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Aug 15, 2020 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cthulhu-goes-ph-nglui-mglw-nafh-ct, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, mindfuq, humor, mystery, 2020-shelf, reality-bending, worldbuilding-sf

Sometimes I'm just astounded.

After reading this book, I'm not only reeling after a great Heist story, but I'm rocking to a Dark Fantasy that happens to be Hard SF while very much being a Superhero tale being couched in a Lovecraftian universe while setting me up to be murdered by Bond in its classic thriller milieu just before I wonder if Peter from Peter Pan will ever grow up.

If you're asking WTF, then you're in the right frame of mind.

And it's AWESOME.

For you old fans of Bob and Mo and fairy ...more

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Aug 21, 2020 Trish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was definitely worth the wait!!!

This 10th volume in the Laundry Files series is either a fun standalone or the beginning or something new.
In the previous volume, the Black Pharao finally made it into our realm, leaving his pyramid on the dark moon behind and taking over Downing Street. In times of Trump, Putin and, yes, also Johnson ... is this really supposed to scare us? Well, sort of. Because the new Upper Management is bringing back archaic punishments for even the littlest of crimes, This was definitely worth the wait!!!

This 10th volume in the Laundry Files series is either a fun standalone or the beginning or something new.
In the previous volume, the Black Pharao finally made it into our realm, leaving his pyramid on the dark moon behind and taking over Downing Street. In times of Trump, Putin and, yes, also Johnson ... is this really supposed to scare us? Well, sort of. Because the new Upper Management is bringing back archaic punishments for even the littlest of crimes, having everyone mistrusting everyone else and being perpetually afraid. Moreover, London has become infested with rich people buying up every scrap of land before letting it decay and normal people being crushed between rivaling factions.
Enter a merry gang of robbers. But not your usual kind. No, they don't give back to the poor - unless you count the joy people will supposedly feel upon seeing the movie they are gonna make. You see, movie equipment is almost as expensive as a house near Kensington Gardens these days so what's a boy to do if he wants to persue his dreams?
Which brings us to ... well, dreams. The dreams of a young woman who is trapped in the service of a masochistic boss and who will sacrifice almost everything to become the next sad template of a corporate power-woman; the dreams of a trans boy just wanting to be himself; the dreams of a lesbian black girl in search of love; the dreams of a gay guy with no fashion sense - yes, it sounds as if the author was ticking off boxes but believe me, he wasn't, the cast was brilliant; and the dreams of a former cop who now works for a private security firm.
Everything is outsourced these days and therein lies the problem - as certain other, more violent parties will have learned by the end of this book.

So what is this REALLY about? Well, magic has come back into the world and with force. Owning THE Necronomicon will put whoever manages to acquire it at the top of the food chain and Black Pharao be damned. We thus get a bidding war (literally) followed by an actual treasure hunt that was the most fun since ... actually it might just have been the most fun EVER.
In between we learn about how magic works in a modern world, we learn of the things from other planes that want to creep in through the cracks. And we learn about a family's tragic past that, amongst other things, has resulted in one hell of a house that I'd like to explore for a bit!

Seriously, I am still marvelling over Stross' craftmanship that he used to combine the high-tech magical world we know from the series with stories like Bond and Peter Pan. Not to mention that he evidently also took a course in accountancy. *snickers*

The plot was layer upon layer upon layer of mythical magical goodness, the writing was fast-paced like you wouldn't believe, the action was strong, the characters had palpable chemistry and the worldbuilding was once again superb.
Maybe it was the storytelling-aspect of this volume that appealed to me most despite me not being too much of a fan of Barrie's creation.
Anyway, no matter if this is a standalone or kicking-off a new era (which would make sense considering how the last volume ended and that humanity has itself entered a new era under new management), it is delicious and fantastic and you don't even have to have read the previous 9 books to enjoy it (though I recommend that you do)!

Disclaimer: I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, Netgalley! ...more

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Oct 14, 2020 Andreas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Synopsis: It’s an alternate London in the Laundry Files universe, but with a fresh start of characters and topics, and hopefully less tentacles. An anarchic robber gang, the transhuman “Lost Boys”, stage several robberies. Their ultimate goal is to fund an avant-garde Peter Pan adaption titled “Dead Lies Dreaming” where “Peter was nothing if not pansexual”.

There is a certain risk with those criminal acts, as the new power in Downing Street – headed by an Elder God reintroduced the Bloody Code wh Synopsis: It’s an alternate London in the Laundry Files universe, but with a fresh start of characters and topics, and hopefully less tentacles. An anarchic robber gang, the transhuman “Lost Boys”, stage several robberies. Their ultimate goal is to fund an avant-garde Peter Pan adaption titled “Dead Lies Dreaming” where “Peter was nothing if not pansexual”.

There is a certain risk with those criminal acts, as the new power in Downing Street – headed by an Elder God reintroduced the Bloody Code which “prescribed death penalty for pretty much everything above the level of a parking ticket”. Even Santa falls under that law:

[He] saw four elven warriors shackling a Santa to a stainless-steel cross outside Hamleys Toy Shop. […] When the alfär executioner held his heavy-duty electric screwdriver against Santa’s wrist, the screams were audible over the rumble of passing buses. […] Doc squinted at one of the execution notices taped to the lamp posts. “Huh. He’s an unregistered transhuman.” Superpowered, in other words. Like us went without saying. “Identifies as, well, Santa. Guilty of breaking and entering, animal cruelty, flying under the influence, violating controlled airspace—” his eyebrows rose steadily—“human trafficking, slave labor, shoplifting toys, breaking rabies quarantine with reindeer.”

The story follows the gang as they get a special job uncovering an occult book, the famous Necronomicon. Their quest leads them through a inter-universe dream-house on a time travel back into London’s Whitechapel – as ugly as a Brasilian favela back then – in the year 1888. Incidentially, that’s Jack the Ripper’s year.

On their heels, a couple of heavy-armed Russians, and a so-called Mr Bond try to uncover the same item. But the book is highly dangerous itself, protected by wards, and driving mens’ soul to madness.

Review: That longer citation set the comical horror tone of the whole novel. I don’t appreciate horror at all, but in this case it was light enough that it didn’t cause any nightmares (yet). In fact, it is more a thriller with lots of action and shooting than anything else. The transhuman powers and the magic system was introduced very carefully and was amusing first and fascinating later on when the whole setting unfolded. Stross did a masterful job with the novel’s world building.

He probably harvested a lot from his long running Laundry Files series. I just cannot comment on this background, because I haven’t read anything from it, and the novel never gave me the feeling that I missed anything. So far, I’ve read from Charles Stross only his novel Accelerando with the great novella Lobsters, and some other short stories. Dead Lies Dreaming is far lighter with technical terms than Accelerando and easier accessible. It’s a real page turner, never letting up the action and heist story.

I could have lived without the character of Mr Bond who read more like an over-the-top parody and whose plot-line could have deleted without larger impact. Most of the over characters were well-done. The author pushed in LGBTQIA heavily into this story, as we find transgender and multiple homosexual characters in the Lost Boys. I liked them all and cared for them, but in the end it was really a story of two siblings: The leader of the gang Imp and his sister Eve working as executive assistant for an ultra-rich asshole. Their family has a lot of burdens – their father is dead, and the mother in a sanatorium for mages. Stretched over the whole novel, their history and relationship become clear, and I loved the way Stross introduced it bit by bit.

The style crosses several subgenres of speculative fiction: There is some Cyberpunk in it, but Stross never gets too far into infodumping the newest cryptographic terms. He touches lot of occult Lovecraftian elements, and they give far more than an atmospheric twist, because they are essential for the setting and for the plot. And there is the comical superhuman aspect, where many protagonists have one or the other form of special abilities. Stross juggled those subgenres marvelously and weaved them into a action-heavy thriller.

It’s a perfectly enjoyable, giggle-infusing, and well rounded novel in all aspects, and I fully recommend it. I’m very looking forward to the next volume in this Stross come-back ...more

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Nov 08, 2020 Sebastian rated it liked it · review of another edition

I generally enjoy the Laundryverse, and the style is the usual enjoyable smart-ass Stross, and I get what he is trying to do, but this one just didn’t work for me. Usually when Stross is riffing, pastiching or playing off of other writers and their characters I can’t really spot what he is doing until he points it out – this time it was so painfully finger-in-the-eye that it kept rubbing me the wrong way throughout (I mean… Wendy? Really?). This is compounded by the lengthy introduction and setu ...more

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Oct 26, 2020 Lou rated it really liked it · review of another edition

When magic and superpowers emerge in the masses, Wendy Deere is contracted by the government to bag and snag supervillains in Dead Lies Dreaming, the tenth instalment in the Laundry Files series, and although not strictly a necessity, I would recommend reading them chronologically. As Wendy hunts down Imp―the cyberpunk head of a band calling themselves “The Lost Boys”― she is dragged into the schemes of louche billionaire Rupert de Montfort Bigge. Rupert has discovered that the sole surviving co ...more

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Dec 02, 2020 Susan Hampson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-library

This is my first Charles Stross book, although it is number ten in the Laundry Files series. I was told, the book could be read, as a stand-alone, and I agree with that. Stross rapidly got all of his character introductions on the table, to begin with, giving me plenty of time to settle into who was who.

The characters are diverse enough to make them all instantly memorable as the story darts between the very different lifestyles of brother and sister, Imp and Eve. Magic, curses, intrigue and dro ...more

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Oct 14, 2020 Alex Sarll added it · review of another edition

Stross' latest is a Laundry Files spin-off, a nested Peter Pan riff posing as an occult/techno-thriller in a sideways London where the Lovecraftian apocalypse is real to the extent that Nyarlathotep is now Prime Minister. So there's the first problem: it's another dystopia which in fact looks fairly appealing compared to our own timeline. There's one scene where a character's ward is nullified as she comes under psychic attack: "a bleak tide of depression washed over her. It felt like she'd jump Stross' latest is a Laundry Files spin-off, a nested Peter Pan riff posing as an occult/techno-thriller in a sideways London where the Lovecraftian apocalypse is real to the extent that Nyarlathotep is now Prime Minister. So there's the first problem: it's another dystopia which in fact looks fairly appealing compared to our own timeline. There's one scene where a character's ward is nullified as she comes under psychic attack: "a bleak tide of depression washed over her. It felt like she'd jumped in a river of regrets, her pockets stuffed with cobblestones. It came to her distantly that she could barely muster the energy to breathe – in fact begrudged herself every successive moment of mindlessly prolonged life." At which I could only sigh enviously at the thought of a world where that mood is the result of magical aggression, rather than the day-to-day default. Hell, I was feeling a bit this way with the previous Laundry novel proper, and that was pre-lockdown. A development Stross could hardly have predicted, granted, but there's no such excuse in having the villain here be a tycoon whose political career was stymied by photos of him fucking a dead pig at university, something which is obviously no impediment in our own world. Said villain is called Rupert de Montfort Bigge, and depicted with exactly the degree of subtlety that moniker suggests, a monster of greed and depravity in a way which feels slightly old-fashioned when we know the destruction our own world's super-rich can cause while having entirely colourless private lives. Yes, having Rupert be a feudal lordling of a Channel Island called Skaro did make me chuckle at the near-anagram with a little extra bite, but there were definitely times here where I was getting a Pat Mills vibe, a sense that while I absolutely agree with the author about the evils of privatisation, deregulation and unfettered inequality, he was still hammering the point to the extent it was harming the art*.

The protagonists are a more rounded bunch. Wendy, a long way from the Barrie via Disney version we expect, is a rentacop who can magically summon items; she ends up on the trail of some Lost Boys pulling superpowered heists to fund a Peter Pan film; and then Bigge's mutinous PA also gets involved. But none of them ever quite came alive for me to the same degree as the leads in the Laundry Files proper, perhaps because there the narrators always had at least a whole novel to inveigle themselves into your sympathies, instead of having to share space like this. Still, it's not like Stross hasn't created compelling leads in shorter spaces before, and this contributes to a general sense that he's not quite operating at the peak of his powers here. Lords know he's not been having a good time of it lately, and some of the most powerful sections feel like they may be drawing on that – for all the Cthulhoid nasties, the most genuinely horrific passages are undoubtedly the ones about dealing with a parent's degenerative illness, the indignities and damage attendant on that. Elsewhere, though, there are big action sequences which feel a little too straight thriller, a bit big-budget TV, and not really what I'm after in a Laundry (or even Laundry-adjacent) book, to the extent that it can start feeling like a franchise extension by another hand. Except then you'll get a passage that's pure Stross, like the novel twist on the magical Macguffin, or in particular the tense discussion on the technicalities of its attendant curse – "ancient death spells and intellectual property laws don't always play nice together".

It all builds to a conclusion which is equal parts atmospheric and frustrating; its approach to a key SF trope feels a bit cake-and-eat-it, which I could forgive for the mood it builds, if it weren't then slightly swamped in too many factions whose motives I didn't entirely buy given they were mostly meant to be on the same side. You know Ben Wheatley's Free Fire? Imagine if, on top of the other things which made it less than entirely satisfying, the warehouse location and its immediate environs were really interesting in themselves, and the gunfight was largely getting in the way. There are some fun traps and reversals, but mostly I was left with the sense of a book which might have been happier as its own thing, or perhaps earlier in the Laundry timeline (circa Annihilation Score, for instance), but which as it stands feels like a bit of a square peg.

*It should be noted that I'm reading a Netgalley ARC, granted with a proviso that details could change before final publication, but this is not a matter of line-by-line quotes which could be checked so much as a general issue with the fabric and feel of the book. ...more

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Dec 09, 2020 Miloš Petrik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It takes a not inconsiderable effort to make accounting interesting.

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Dec 05, 2020 Alick rated it it was ok · review of another edition

it was everywhere. when government middle managers talk about offshore tax vehicles using a dutch double irish sandwich it's like yeah that's fine, but when a bunch of stoner criminals are talking like that it's like no these are a different type of people what are you doing. Mr Stross can write Bob well, but since Bob faded into the background all these new main characters end up being Bob too where it doesn't fit.

literally everyone is lgbtq somewhere except you don't feel sympathy for them, th ...more

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Oct 30, 2020 Aidan Craigwood rated it liked it · review of another edition

The third reboot / re-entry point for the long-running Laundry Files series, the least connected to the "main" plot line, and possibly the most successful in making a now-familiar setting pop again. It's weighed down by a over-busy, grungy first act, but builds steam steadily to a satisfying conclusion that leaves it just on the edge of four-star territory..

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Despite being a step away from the main series, Dead Lies Dreaming fits the formula of the recent Laundry books to a T: pick a spec-fi The third reboot / re-entry point for the long-running Laundry Files series, the least connected to the "main" plot line, and possibly the most successful in making a now-familiar setting pop again. It's weighed down by a over-busy, grungy first act, but builds steam steadily to a satisfying conclusion that leaves it just on the edge of four-star territory..

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Despite being a step away from the main series, Dead Lies Dreaming fits the formula of the recent Laundry books to a T: pick a spec-fic classic or sub-genre, strip away the frilly bits, fill back with computational demons and tentacles to taste. This really shouldn't work for Peter Pan, which is the classic in the cross-hairs on this occasion, but Barrie's work makes for a strangely solid fit to Stross' approach. It helps that the basic material of Pan is, well, pretty creepy (as we're reminded perhaps a little too overtly and often), and Stross's re-imagining doesn't just parody the original but leans hard into its themes of death, family, and the end of childhood.

It's also a relief to have a novel in the series that takes the time to flesh out the richness of the Laundry setting with (comparatively) normal characters, not least since our original protagonists have levelled up to the point of barely being human. There's also a whole host of little callbacks and Easter eggs that help make the series feel cohesive and lived in, even if thriller-genre elements like pseudo-Bonds, disposable Russian heavies and occult corporate villains have maybe been trotted out a few too many times already.

So far, so promising, but you might be forgiven for putting the book down before it really gets going. The first act is lumbered with a fairly large cast to introduce, main-series continuity to establish, plot breadcrumbs to scatter, and quite a bit of complicated back-and-forth to get all the characters together. Add in some gratuitous sleaze and grit that makes it feel like the book is trying a bit *too* hard to show that it's actually all grown up, and it's a rocky start.

However, things tighten up nicely once Stross stops trying to write a Rule 34 sequel and a certain door opens near the halfway mark. As a clever final-heist plot comes together, the gradual revelation of why our Peter Pan stand in never wants to grow up — and why his sister has grown up only too too much — develops a surprisingly large amount of pathos. The phantasmagoric Victorian set piece that ties it all together and takes up nearly the entire third act is spectacular, and it's easy to forget that all the action in Neverland is covering up some shaky setup. Still, it's a welcome change of pace for the series, and hopefully future adventures with not-Pan and his Lost Boys will be able to keep the pizzaz without the labourious setup and preening grime.

Third dying star to the right, and straight on until morning, if it ever comes... ...more

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Nov 16, 2020 Vasil Kolev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Nice, somewhat quick read.

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Nov 04, 2020 David Gross rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: cthulhu

I loved the original laundry files. As time goes on, Charles Stross has gotten more and more shrill about his political leanings, and in this one he's finally reached the point where you can't hear the story over it. I could see it coming for the last several laundry volumes, but this one was too far. I guess I'm going to be done with the laundry files universe. That's a shame because the universe is a lot of fun. ...more

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Jun 25, 2020 Moe Lane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I find the Laundry Files relaxing, in an odd sort of way. Someone once pointed out that one of the most interesting things about HP Lovecraft's "The Horror at Red Hook" is that the author put real rhetorical and emotional energy into his horrified presentation of NYC. There's genuine power and force in that story - but if you don't hate and fear the City as much as Lovecraft did, you can see that power and force without it really scaring you.

That's me with the Laundry Files. Charlie Stross has l ...more

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Sep 24, 2020 Lou Jacobs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Setting: an alternate England where the government has changed hands to the New Management run by the Mad God of Downing Street .... magic now seems commonplace as manifested by Transhumans ... strange things slither out of the shadows into everyday life ... and cults and dark churches are the norm. So starts this compelling tale starring a quartet of young adults ... some with transhuman skills, but all under direction of the Imp (born as Jerome Starkey). This is my first foray into the art The Setting: an alternate England where the government has changed hands to the New Management run by the Mad God of Downing Street .... magic now seems commonplace as manifested by Transhumans ... strange things slither out of the shadows into everyday life ... and cults and dark churches are the norm. So starts this compelling tale starring a quartet of young adults ... some with transhuman skills, but all under direction of the Imp (born as Jerome Starkey). This is my first foray into the artistry of Charles Stross ... I have never read any of the highly touted Laundry Files books ... this novel can certainly be enjoyed as a standalone.
Imp and his gender-variant crew have so far entered into low level heists to earn their keep. The Imp is charismatic and theatrical. He feels destined to become London's greatest cinematic artist by filming his version of J.M Barrie's "Peter and Wendy". His vision and version entails downloading dead kids from cyberspace by Peter - a ruthless gangleader and psychopath and hacker and resurrecting and saving them from the lawless cyborg, the Dread Space Pirate Hook ... with whom he shares a mutual homoerotic love-death relationship. ( As you can see a rather nightmarish rendering of the beloved children's fantasy) This type of relationships mirrors his own with "Doc" - another member of the crew. Game Boy was the third member ... he considered himself a transgender ... but his parents placed him into Conversion Therapy, hoping to pray-away-the gayness, Now , almost eighteen he was on a waiting list at a gender reassignment clinic. and on black market hormone supplements. And, rounding out the quartet is Del (born as Rebecca McKee, age 21) ... basically the getaway driver.. her driving skills are unsurpassed. She came out to her mother at sixteen .. and takes no shit from anyone.
Magic plays a central and driving role in this drama ... a respected and sometimes feared function of everyday life ... coming a long way from its occult roots. Both the Imp and his sister Eve (Evelyn) are from a family of oneiromancers ... able to harness dreams into some sort of reality that can be stored in Memory Palaces. With magecraft one can access the ghost roads and follow the ley lines linking both places and time to other parallel universes.
Eve Starkey is an executive assistant extraordinaire, working under a magical binding for the dastardly powerful and ruthless, Rupert de Montfort Bigge. He is an ecclesiast in the Cult of the Mute Poet .. a secret esoteric religious order .He already has a quite sizeable collection of texts on the subject of witchcraft and magic .. and, yet he tasks Eve to obtain the cursed and missing occult concordance to the true Necronomicon ... at any costs... even if wetwork is necessary. Eve enlists her brother, the Imp and his crew. And so starts the greatest heist in history following the ghost roads through time to retrieve the book in the rookery of Whitechapel, England in 1888 ... under the eyes of Jack The Ripper and other denizens and demons of the night.
Charles Stross proves to be an amazing storyteller as he weaves a convoluted tale of dread and the supernatural that escalates to a thrilling denouement. Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to delving into the oeuvre of Charles Stross .. I'm adding him to my list of Author's to Follow. ...more

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Nov 07, 2020 S.J. Higbee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I’d wanted to get right up to date with The Laundry Files series, thinking that this book was also set within that world and that I’d need to know what was going on. In the event I didn’t – but that meant I read two of Stross’ books back to back, which is something I generally avoid doing.

Therefore, I found it a tad difficult to initially get into this one – the world is a bit bleak and grungy and the protagonists, although sympathetic and well written, were clearly very much the underdogs. Whil I’d wanted to get right up to date with The Laundry Files series, thinking that this book was also set within that world and that I’d need to know what was going on. In the event I didn’t – but that meant I read two of Stross’ books back to back, which is something I generally avoid doing.

Therefore, I found it a tad difficult to initially get into this one – the world is a bit bleak and grungy and the protagonists, although sympathetic and well written, were clearly very much the underdogs. While there was humour, it came from the snark between the Imp’s ragtag band of misfits – which I didn’t initially find as appealing as Bob Howard’s magnificently dry delivery. However, they did grow on me and as the first major action scene unspooled, there were some very funny moments in amongst all the tension and danger, which I thoroughly appreciated.

Eve is a difficult character to initially bond with – she is an assistant to one of most truly horrible antagonists I’ve met for quite a while. And therefore, has to also become unpleasant – so I didn’t appreciate how much of a victim she actually was until well into the book. There was a particular bonding moment when I had a lump in my throat when reading about a scene with her parents – it was beautifully handled.

In amongst Rupert Bigge’s scramble to the top and Imp and his little gang trying to eke a living while illegally squatting in what used to be his old family home – there are also some lovely touches of magic. The time-travelling scenes back to Whitechapel Road, back in the Victorian era were genuinely creepy and vividly depicted. I loved the way the narrative played out and very much hope we get to see more of Imp, Game Boy, Del, Doc and Wendy – and of course, Eve – in future adventures. This is a cracking start to a new series that is set in contemporary Britain, where the monsters are in charge…

Highly recommended for SFF fans, who enjoy their urban fantasy with a sardonic twist and something a bit different. You don’t need to read The Laundry Files to enjoy this one. While I obtained an arc of Dead Lies Dreaming via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10 ...more

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Nov 24, 2020 Paul Calhoun rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I think I read this in maybe 2 sittings. It was so engaging, enthralling, and well paced that I couldn't help myself. The focus on people who - in other books - were on the periphery and the changes in their lives from the coming of the Black Pharaoh was a perfect decision. It didn't advance the CASE NIGHTMARE needle, unlike most others in the series, though arguably it was a setback for an elder god we hadn't seen much of before and probably won't be seeing again. The flashbacks as events from ...more

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Nov 08, 2020 Sue Chant rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sff-fantasy

Set in the Laundry Files universe, but with a bunch of petty criminals as main characters instead of Bob, Mo and the rest. It's a pacey and entertaining read as expected, but Stross has really let his love of old spy novels get the better of him with a bit too much double-cross, triple-cross, and heavily armed cannon-fodder goons in this one. I enjoyed it, but hope for the Laundry bods in the next one. ...more

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Nov 24, 2020 Julie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It's not really a spoiler that even though this is marked as book 10 of the Laundry Files, it's not really about the Laundry Files at all! It's set in the same world, well, a few years after the adventures of Bob and Company. I felt like the start was a little rough because it introduces a lot of characters but then a third of the way through, it really picks up steam and becomes very interesting. It's a world of magic and curses, but also Lovecraftian horror. I really enjoyed the story a lot an ...more

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Nov 25, 2020 William Tracy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was an entertaining read, as all Stross book are, and I love the addition of a new set of characters into the Laundry universe. The story was a fun romp, if a bit on the nose with the Peter Pan references. The only detractor for me is that I kept expecting something just a little more to happen. All the stakes here referenced the big ones we've seen in past books, but this one is for (relatively) small change. I have no problem with a small stakes book. It's just that I kept expecting this ...more

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Nov 15, 2020 Mikael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Excellent spinoff from the laundry files. No need to read them first though there are of course many cross references that benefits the reading. Mandatory for laundry readers.

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Dec 27, 2020 Chris rated it liked it

Shelves: 2020, done, ebook, scifi, from-library, suspense

Initially I was disgruntled about this being set in the Laundry Files world with a new set of characters. But then I got completely sucked in after a while, so... :shrugs:

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Dec 08, 2020 Kim rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Meh... Feels like Stross is bored with the Laundryverse or doesn't feel like getting to the end so he's keeping distracted with uninteresting and somewhat stock new characters, repeating the same throwaway jokes with more sex and violence, and overloading London with more weakly godlike beings and their oh so predictable minions... ...more

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Dec 23, 2020 Robert rated it liked it · review of another edition

It's faithful to the setting/mythos established in the previous Laundry Files novels, so that's good. The author made a bold choice to use completely new characters, and I just didn't connect with any of them. Still a good read, but below average for the series. ...more

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Aug 26, 2020 Mike rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

Thank you to the author, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and NetGalley for providing an advance copy for review.

One of the first things you'll notice if you happen to come by this book not knowing anything about The Laundry Files, is that it's seemingly the next in an ongoing series, and that you should presumably read the prior novels before jumping into this one. That's not quite true, though.

Dead Lies Dreaming is purportedly the 10th novel in a series, that in a few words, explores the details and cons Thank you to the author, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and NetGalley for providing an advance copy for review.

One of the first things you'll notice if you happen to come by this book not knowing anything about The Laundry Files, is that it's seemingly the next in an ongoing series, and that you should presumably read the prior novels before jumping into this one. That's not quite true, though.

Dead Lies Dreaming is purportedly the 10th novel in a series, that in a few words, explores the details and consequences of a magic system that's made easier by the ever-advancing computational abilities of modern computer systems but the use of which attracts extra-dimensional Lovecraftian horrors from beyond spacetime. The events within takes place at some point after the 8th book in the series, which was book-ended by a bit of a seismic shift in the larger status quo for the series.

Given that it deals with entirely new characters in situations entirely separate from (if a result of) events in the main series, this is a perfectly good jumping on point for new readers interested in the series, with the caveat that if you then go back and read the rest of the main series, you'll be in on that pretty bleak twist that marks the transition from a semblance of our current world into the state that you're introduced to pretty effectively right at the beginning of the novel.

So, for anyone that's in the middle of these two camps and not yet caught up to and finished at least The Delirium Brief (or feels like starting a 10-book series + various novellas from scratch) you may want to read up to that point before jumping in here.

With that out of the way, what can you expect to find in this latest installment? In a word, a heist story, that goes off in directions I wasn't necessarily expecting it to go relative to the rest of the series. This entry's biggest strength is just how breezy and eminently readable it is, which in my opinion stems from the fact that Stross is playing with entirely new characters here that don't have the weight of 9 previous novels behind them, which allows a lot of freedom in terms of the direction and method of approaching this story.

You can also expect a consistent flow to the novel which makes it hard to put down. Expositionary setup from multiple different viewpoints blends very nicely with deftly written action sequences, broken up here and there by interesting technical infodumps relevant to the situation at hand (but not as overblown as you might find in a Neal Stephenson novel - whether that's a positive or negative thing is entirely up to the reader). One of the things the author does that was really noticeable here is know the points in the story when it is best to switch characters or interrupt or resume an expositionary flashback. All of which is peppered here and there with timely offhand comments, sometimes in the form of footnotes, that provide a much-needed dose of comic relief, especially when taken in the context of the wider universe of these books. All of this combines to effectively tell a complete story (even though this is the first of a planned spin off trilogy) with very interesting implications for the Laundry Files wider universe.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this newest entry both as a first in a new trilogy and as the first in a side trilogy in a series that has never once actually disappointed me, which is pretty rare, all things considered. If you're acquainted with the author's other novels, don't hesitate to pick this one up, and if you're not, this is as good a place to start as any. I think it's fair to say that I'm more than looking forward to the next entry in this sub-universe. ...more

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Dec 16, 2020 Konstantinos Georgokitsos rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

As a Laundry Files completionist, you will read this book no matter what. However, as a spin off, it focuses its attentions on the "everyday" aspects of living under the new management. It's also more up close and personal than the main series, and actually not quite as humorous. I did enjoy it very much though, but you will have to have some knowledge of the Laundry Files timeline, so it isn't for everyone. ...more

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Nov 24, 2020 Mitchell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, liked-reviews, fantasy, series, ebook, library, horror, superhero

Beginning of a new sub-series in the grand laundry series. Did pretty well with all new characters, or at least I think they are all new. And then it reached the completely going off the rails part of the story and instead just fizzled. Really didn't move the larger story along at all. Quirky and interesting characters as well as distasteful and somewhat irritating characters. I wanted more though this wasn't bad. 3.5 of 5. ...more

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Oct 29, 2020 Joel Benford rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I think this series is getting long in the tooth, I've read all the jokes before. It's time Stross returned to his central storyline and finished it. ...more

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Oct 07, 2020 David Harris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance e-copy of Dead Lies Dreaming via NetGalley.

After a couple of years' hiatus it's great to see a novel by Charles Stross hitting the streets again - in this case the streets of up-market Kensington in London, home to hedge funds, shady oligarchs' property investments and minor royalty...

...And also to a gang of anarchic robbers with minor superpowers who are staging audacious daylight robberies in order to raise funds for their avant-garde film based on ...more

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Dec 29, 2020 Penny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Stross has had a few in this series that really needed another hard edit or two, at least one where I didn't buy the narrator's account of events even beyond the unreliable narrator trope (why waste that on pretending you get along perfectly with all the women your estranged husband has been involved with, when there's no setup for that?), and one where I wish he'd asked an American to go over it for cultural information and trivia. This one is back on track and quite delightful, a bit of a side Stross has had a few in this series that really needed another hard edit or two, at least one where I didn't buy the narrator's account of events even beyond the unreliable narrator trope (why waste that on pretending you get along perfectly with all the women your estranged husband has been involved with, when there's no setup for that?), and one where I wish he'd asked an American to go over it for cultural information and trivia. This one is back on track and quite delightful, a bit of a side story to the Atrocity Archives series in that it doesn't further the apocalypse but the characters are impacted by it.

It is also, as he tells us several times unsubtly, Peter Pan.

It's quite a good version of Peter Pan, an interesting interpretation that works quite well for this universe in terms of details and characters and the author's discussion of the original work through both Imp's ever-evolving media script and the book itself: James Bond as Hook, Wendy as an ex-cop with superpowers, Peter as an unwitting but highly-powered bodyguard, and the Lost Boys as superpowered children squatting in an old mansion. Neverland is a dream of history, back in a dream of time to 1888 Whitechapel portrayed (accurately) as one of the most dangerous and unsanitary places in history - I've never seen a better description of a rookery and instead of romanticizing the past Stross describes how utterly nasty it is. Stross thankfully avoids the original's racism in favor of a party of Transnistrian hired thugs, and Tinkerbell is all the creepier for being disembodied sound. The crocodile is of course Jack the Ripper, as no one writes about 1888 Whitechapel without mentioning him - why would they, since he's basically what put it on the map. The encounter with him is questionable, which is a tiny bit disappointing but if he were a larger figure here he'd take over the story.

I particularly appreciated the backstory on how Imp and Evie came into their powers, though it would have been nice getting similar on the other Lost Boys - the only one we have any background on is Game Boy, and it's not about his powers so much as his transphobic parents. Overall my biggest issue is how many times Stross unsubtly tells us that the story is Peter Pan - after introducing Wendy Deere and Imp's obsession with Peter and Wendy, it would have been more enjoyable had he just left it to the reader: given his discussions of accounting, tax havens, macroeconomics, complex trickery and the parallels between math and magic I think his readers can figure it out without too much issue and the story is quite enjoyable either way. Still, it's nice that he's back on track with something put together well and I didn't have any significant moments where it didn't work for me.

The end, somewhat charmingly, raises the question of whether this is Imp's media interpretation or the original, a better exploration of the unreliable narrator than most. That said, if it is Imp's version then Rupert's sexualization of Evie is a little grosser than it already was, but some of the characters' realizations that they're in Peter and Wendy is a bit more forgivable. ...more

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Dec 07, 2020 Olav rated it liked it · review of another edition

If we select nominations for Best Series based on a representative title being released in 2020, The Laundry Files may not make the grade. But if we are choosing nominations based on the strength of the entire series, then Charles Stross’s decades-long Laundry Files series is nearly a lock for our ballots.

This is not to say that Dead Lies Dreaming is a let-down. Rather, it’s an uneven book that doesn’t always showcase the strengths of the series, or Stross’ rich imagination.

Taking place in a Lon If we select nominations for Best Series based on a representative title being released in 2020, The Laundry Files may not make the grade. But if we are choosing nominations based on the strength of the entire series, then Charles Stross’s decades-long Laundry Files series is nearly a lock for our ballots.

This is not to say that Dead Lies Dreaming is a let-down. Rather, it’s an uneven book that doesn’t always showcase the strengths of the series, or Stross’ rich imagination.

Taking place in a London transformed by the rise of the dark and eldritch forces unleashed during the events of the previous few Laundry Files novels, Dead Lies Dreaming follows the exploits of a group of marginalized youths who support themselves through magic-based crime. Through various circumstances — and family connections — they become embroiled in a plot to travel back in time and secure a rare and dangerous tome of magic.

As always with Stross, there’s a fair degree of on-point criticism of capitalism’s excesses, much of which lands well. The sections in which he uses the point of view of the marginalized youths to examine the completely bizarre housing market in the United Kingdom, are perspicacious, witty, and sad.

One of the strongest scenes — and perhaps the most difficult to read because it hits so close to home — involves a visit to a long-term care facility. Stross writes the section with a keen eye for the real-world horrors of old age, dementia, and under-resourced nursing staff.

Where Dead Lies Dreaming falls down as a book is that it’s hard to get a handle on any of the characters as people. Several of them seem interesting at first — particularly police officer / thief taker Wendy Deere, and corporate power-broker Eve. Stross has introduced a large and diverse cast, but doesn’t develop many of them beyond sketch work.

Stross has made a clean break here from all the previous books in the series. The story barely even mentions any of the existing characters, does not tie into the overall story arc, and doesn’t even touch on the spycraft that had been the unifying theme for the series. This makes one wonder whether this book might have been better-served by being pared down, streamlined, and released as something wholly separate.

It has been almost a decade since Charles Stross penned a novel that was not a sequel to one of his previous books. Dead Lies Dreaming is still a sequel, but in some ways it is a welcome change in that it stands alone far more than most of his recent novels. Some might even find it a better entry point to the world of the Laundry Files than several of the previous books. But is this a world that is worth devoting many more books to? Only Stross can pull that off, and we think he could, but is he ready to move on? Dead Lies Dreaming leaves us hoping he might be. ...more

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About Charles Stross

Charles Stross

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Charles David George "Charlie" Stross is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy.

Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.

SF ...more

Books by Charles Stross

The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)

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Quotes from Dead Lies Dreaming

“Books bound in human skin and written in a formal propositional calculus where each axiom was a closure wrapped around eternal damnation.” — 1 likes

“She could ace the North Circular in a jacked Toyota Tercel faster than Sabine Schmitz could lap the Nürburgring in a Transit van, and the only times the plod had got on her tail she’d left them, well, plodding.” — 0 likes

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