Rhesus Chart (Laundry Files #5)[May 8, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross starting May 8, 2023.

[Choko]

Spot!

[Nirkatze]

Starting! So folks, do Vampires exist?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Starting! So folks, do Vampires exist?"

The title is a hint... if you remember your blood parts from science classes...

This one is actually 1/2 about Mhari Murphy, Bob's crazy/clingy ex-girlfriend from the first book, before he met Mo...

I actually didn't realize that until I was re-reading the first book this year... she's such a minor character, before she's revisited here...

I'll be re-reading tomorrow, probably...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

As is usual in the Laundryverse, all fantasy elements have sci-fi explanations... (view spoiler)[vampirism is a parasitic connection across the multiverse, requiring hosts to drain life energy from other people to maintain their own life energy at sustainable levels... I believe they call it K Syndrome?

EDIT: never mind... K Syndrome is the made up syndrome/risk factor for people that use magic in the Laundryverse, where extradimensional aliens slowly eat parts of their brain and leave them with dementia... first mentioned in the Down on the Farm novella... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

LOL Thank you for that head's up about Mhari... I was trying to figure out who the (view spoiler)[Vampire gang were.... (hide spoiler)]

Into Chapter 4. I'm finding the whole "start-up" and scientific approach to their new situation to be pretty funny... but also--(view spoiler)[why is no one being like "we need to figure out how to reverse this"? Seriously, who wants to be a vampire? Blood is gross! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "LOL Thank you for that head's up about Mhari... I was trying to figure out who the [spoilers removed]

Into Chapter 4. I'm finding the whole "start-up" and scientific approach to their new situatio..."

I think it's a symptom... and a joke/parody on office culture?...

[Nirkatze]

LOL I read that as Vampirism being a symptom of office culture, and I was like: Okay, yeah.

I do like how I'm starting to see flashes of Bob being more powerful/have a bigger reputation than he realizes, like (view spoiler)[when he gives The Look to some lackeys and they scramble to do his bidding... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Was mostly referencing office drones & soul sucking workplaces :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'd forgotten how shit hits the fan in this one, until I was about halfway through (not done yet, but I'm getting there)...

This one is a bit heavier on the bureaucratic minutiae than the past few have been...

The most important new/"new" characters are (view spoiler)[Mhari & the nerdy vampire that started the whole mess (Andrew?)...

The main characters for the books for the rest of the series to date, are (view spoiler)[

6) Mo & the violin
7) Andrew & and a new character
8) Bob
9) Mhari & maybe another character I'm forgetting

For unreleased books, I think it's supposed to be:

10) Senior Auditor
11) Bob

The New Management series takes place after the end of the Laundry Files series, apparently, but Dead Lies Dreaming released after #8, I think, 2nd entry released last year and 3rd and I think final entry releases this Christmas... I'm still not 100% sure if the series is set in the same universe, or a parallel universe, given the events in the New Management series... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "LOL Thank you for that head's up about Mhari... I was trying to figure out who the [spoilers removed]

Into Chapter 4. I'm finding the whole "start-up" and scientific approach to their new situatio..."

Their session reminds me of the convo we had in Let the Right One In lol

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I'd forgotten how shit hits the fan in this one, until I was about halfway through (not done yet, but I'm getting there)...

This one is a bit heavier on the bureaucratic minutiae than the past few..."

I think the newbie is Alex

[Tonari no Emily]

And yeah I always find anything to do with blood banking in media hilarious because its always very unrealistic... I'm not sure how big the hospital two of the gang went to (and this is a different country I guess, but I don't think there would be that big of difference), but they would definitely have some blood on hand. They most likely wouldn't have whole blood because no one uses that nowadays really, but they would have packed red blood cells and other components (platelets, plasma, cryoprecipitate). And a lot of the time in media it just shows doctors grabbing random blood out of the fridge and... yeah that's not how that works. Its pretty highly regulated and the blood bank has ALOT of control of where the blood goes and who is let into the lab...

And the whole Rhesus thing is funny because the people who discovered the "Rh" group named it Rhesus after the monkey in error (what they thought was the same antibody reacting to the monkey as to the same part of the human red blood cell was not in fact the same antibody). But its still called Rh today :D--that's the "pos" or "neg" part after the ABO in someone's blood type. There are dozens more blood groups besides those two, but those are the most important ones...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "And yeah I always find anything to do with blood banking in media hilarious because its always very unrealistic... I'm not sure how big the hospital two of the gang went to (and this is a different..."

Everyone knows the solution to vampirism isn't buying a hospital, it's buying a blood bank... that's what they do in the Argeneaux Vampires series... they have their own blood banks and some don't send any blood to hospitals/etc...

In some emergency situations, they just order food delivery and drink the driver :D

That series started like 20 years ago...

[Tonari no Emily]

Ah like a donor center blood bank? That makes more sense than trying to get it from a hospital blood bank :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Ah like a donor center blood bank? That makes more sense than trying to get it from a hospital blood bank :D"

Exactly... the mythology of that series is that vampires were created in Atlantis, on accident, due to the nature of medical nanobots never running out of things to fix in a human body (cell degeneration/etc)... after the fall of Atlantis, some people developed vampire-like traits to get the blood needed for the nanobots to work... things were rough for a millennia, then science / technological advancement made things easier... the series has gotten a bit weirder in later entries, with mad science experiments and evil defective vampire groups, but that's the gist... paranormal romance that reads like contemporary romance most of the time...

[Nirkatze]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Their session reminds me of the convo we had in Let the Right One In lol..."

LOL--hah, yeah! I remember that... and they even mention that movie/book in there too... have a whole conversation about it...

I really loved all the pop culture references throughout--though I was a little sad that the Jesus phone was downgraded to just regular "smart phone" now. My favorite reference was the "Some are born to ???, some have ??? thrust upon them" quote... I can't remember what the ??? was... Vampirism? But that Malvolio quote is one of my favorite Shakespeare pieces, favorite scenes, favorite play...

Finished the book today and just really enjoyed it. I laughed a ton... (view spoiler)[I was expecting Mhari to be even more malevolent than she was... more than just trying to use Bob in various ways--so I was glad when she was pretty much thwarted... though I wouldn't take my eyes off her, Bob... she's still Up To Something...

Man, sad to see Bob's boss kick it... interested to see what this means for Bob though. And bummed at the violin situation.... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

In Ch. 2... I am constantly amazed how the Laundry guys continue doing things that everyone else knows will lead to no good! But this is how they are wired, isn't it...

Alex, are there vampires? Can you see yourself in the mirror:)))

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "Their session reminds me of the convo we had in Let the Right One In lol..."

LOL--hah, yeah! I remember that... and they even mention that movie/book in there too... have a..."

Yeah, I'm also leery about (view spoiler)[ Mhari. And I was like why would you even invite her into your home, Bob, Hmmmmmm??? Glad he "resisted" her at the end, but still...
Am also very sad Bob and Mo are going to live apart for a while. I hope its not permanent. Fuck that evil violin lol

I'm also sad about Angleton. Am guessing that will only make Bob more in with the big leagues... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

This book was awesome!!! I loved it and I agree, (view spoiler)[ Mhari is bad news no matter what! I don't trust her even a little bit! I don't understand why Bob is even trying to protect her, let alone invite her in his home as a houseguest...

I was extremely surprised that Angleton died! I just can't believe it! Now I am wondering what exactly happened and is there a possibility of him ever coming back... How did this Big Bad get killed so relatively easily? I realize George was a Big Bad too, but I just didn't expect that...

I hated the old vampire keeping that kid in stasis to feed off of... It's a great idea, but despicable nonetheless... Of course, the kid's mother is even worse...

The vampire slayer was very traumatizing to read... She was obviously a psycho, but I was kind of happy when she killed the banker baby vamp - he was horrible...

Bob and Mo! That last paragraph was horrible! Now I want to find out what happens and I am really rooting for them to be able to work things out!

I wonder what is happening with Pete... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

So many questions still... really nice summary Choko... and @Emily, I totally had the same bit of a double-take--(view spoiler)[BOB! You INVITED a VAMPIRE into your HOME!!! WAAAT??? (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I mean… Mhari was an emotional vampire back in book 1, right? ;)

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I mean… Mhari was an emotional vampire back in book 1, right? ;)"

LOL good call...