Delirium Brief (Laundry Files #8) & Escape from Yokai Land (Laundry Files #7.5)[August 8, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for The Delirium Brief and Escape from Yokai Land by Charles Stross starting August 8, 2023.

[Nirkatze]

Looks like there's accidentally two of these--this one, and [this one]

22388028 and 29.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Looks like a GR error... site running so slow Yanique clicked the create button multiple times and it made both?...

EDIT: This is the one with the spreadsheet URL link, so this is the one that stays, I guess...

[Nirkatze]

TY!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Read Yokai Land awhile back... it's a quick short story... can't remember if I mentioned it in the previous thread...

It's really atmospheric and short, but gives me some Silent Hill vibes, for some reason, with the church/cult scenes...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started Delirium Brief today, and really looking forward to everyone getting here...

This is a real culmination book, of so many elements from previous books + Brexit insanity...

The book starts so tame, like a Dresden book (thinking Larry Fowler intro), and then just goes off the rails...

Also has some real squick moments, like that limo scene...

[Nirkatze]

Is Yokai land before or after Delirium brief, or does it matter?

Will be here soon, tomorrow or Thurs at latest.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

It's before... it's why Bob was missing for the Elf Invasion... doing Eater of Souls duty, after the death of Angleton in the Vampire Book...

[Nirkatze]

Ah, good to know. Well, I started Delirium Brief already. I'll either pause and go back to it at some point or I'll just circle around afterwards. ^^

Up to chapter 4 and having fun. Can't say I follow everything that's going on but I think I get the gist of it... (view spoiler)[I remember these cult folks, from the last Bob book, in America... and yeah squicky icky limo scene... *shudder* I don't know which is worse, the icky sex part or the pure brainwashing part...

And it seems like there's an internal coup going on, taking the Laundry down by bureaucracy... kind of makes me think of Captain America Civil War...

I like that we've gotten some Mo and a teeny bit of Alex too. (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "Ah, good to know. Well, I started Delirium Brief already. I'll either pause and go back to it at some point or I'll just circle around afterwards. ^^

Up to chapter 4 and having fun. Can't say I fo..."

Enjoying it as well so far. I really hated these cult fuckers from that one entry, not exactly pleased to see them back lol (view spoiler)[ OMG that limo scene was big squick *shudders*
I'm listening at work, I can't even tell you what my face was doing during that bit. lol

It's nice getting Bob's POV again! I really hope Bob and Mo can work something out, but based on Iains comments in the last couple I don't have a lot of hope... Him having to deal with press if very funny though :D (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

re: Cultists--I'm kind of glad to have them back, but only if it means we finally get to see them brought down. It was very frustrating that they got away in that previous book... I want Schiller to have his pieces cut up and fed to him. I don't want Bob to have to eat his soul, it probably tastes nasty.

In Chapter 8--(view spoiler)[Oh dear, is the dude in the cage the upcoming nationalist movement book? Trumpesque/Boris Johnson?

I still have fingers crossed for Mo & Bob... I hope the necromantic shield thingamabob works...

Kind of liking the new power play in the cult. Infighting can only help Bob's group... (hide spoiler)]

Also wondering--Iain, you keep saying this is the Brexit book... right? Or is that an upcoming one? Is it because the government is throwing something that works out the window just because Reasons? And fear of immigrants?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "re: Cultists--I'm kind of glad to have them back, but only if it means we finally get to see them brought down. It was very frustrating that they got away in that previous book... I want Schiller t..."

re:Brexit: Basically yea... in the original draft of the book, (view spoiler)[The Laundry was never shut down... it was alot more bureaucracy and dealing with the fallout of the new interview/etc... but Stross wasn't happy with it, and was struggling with getting it to where he liked it...

Then, Brexit happened, and he was like "this isn't crazy enough, the real world is crazier", and scrapped the 2nd half of the book, and shutdown the Laundry, and led to all the plotting with Continuity Operations/etc... (hide spoiler)]

I think it's better for the rewrite, and bonkers where it ends up, and where it goes from here in the next book(s), but I'm curious what the original plan for the series was, or if he just slightly reworked the original plans and made them work with the changes here or what...

[Nirkatze]

Oh cool, I always love hearing the history of how the book came about...

Quick Q: who was Iris? I feel like I should remember her from something previous, but don't.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Oh cool, I always love hearing the history of how the book came about...

Quick Q: who was Iris? I feel like I should remember her from something previous, but don't."

Iris was his boss in the early books, in his fake job title, while his real job was working for Angleton...

If I remember correctly, (view spoiler)[she was his replacement boss, after his boss from the first book (that didn't like him, and assigned him to that training class where the clueless guy was eaten by a summoning circle gone wrong), went rogue in the 2nd short story and tried to overthrow the leadership of the Laundry, but was eaten by zombie security personnel?...

Anyway, Iris replaced the first boss, was more nice and accommodating, but was revealed to be a cultist in the Apocalypse Codex, I believe, where cultists were out to kidnap Bob & take him to another dimension... I don't BELIEVE that was the book where Bob became the mini Eater of Souls, but it might have been...

Iris was arrested and shipped off to Laundry Prison/Exile... and here we are...

We're at a point in the series where a surprising amount of early characters are relevant... Pinky & the Brain still cameo... Mhari Murphy is back (Bob's original crazy girlfriend, as discussed before)... Schiller... (view spoiler)[Fabian Everyman (hide spoiler)]... Persephone Danger & her partner keep popping in... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Oh! I kinda remember that... I remember being very upset that Iris turned out to be evil because I liked her...

I feel like I need a character list... LOL

Finished! Had a lot of fun. Can't remember a thing that happened now. Probably had my memory wiped.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Oh! I kinda remember that... I remember being very upset that Iris turned out to be evil because I liked her...

I feel like I need a character list... LOL

Finished! Had a lot of fun. Can't rememb..."

(view spoiler)[Nyarlathotep, The Black Pharaoh, the Crawling Chaos, just became Prime Minister of the UK, through his avatar Fabian Everyman, The Mandate...

And with Schiller thwarted, I think the Sleeper in the Pyramid's takeover of BLUE HADES might have been thwarted, but things in the US have been so jumbled up, that they just make use of his plans to take over America, and make Cthulhu President... agents of Nyarlathotep (Mhari Murphy et, al) delaying that inevitability is the gist of the next book... jumping off the warning Bob got from the Postman that died early in Delirium Brief...

Also, I completely forgot about what happened to Mo at the end of this book before re-reading it... whatever happened there has the potential to save Mo & Bob's marriage, maybe?... hard to say, honestly... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

To cover another thing from the end, I did a Google, and (view spoiler)[aw der hal amedn aset was previously mentioned in the book where Mo went to Iran to exorcise some prisoners, and was said to mean He Is Coming... whatever that means... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

I am up to the last chapter! This one has been insane! I can't put it down. As Emily said, I hated those Colorado cult assholes from their first book and was really hoping we took care of them, but apparently (view spoiler)[ not only are they not done, they have subverted and taken over the American ops, and now are doing the same to the Laundry! I have been freaking out through the whole book about how easily they have been doing that, just by brainwashing or plain bribing heads of the government. I have had all those thoughts about privatisation of governmental agencies for ever! It's like the author is playing with my worst nightmares in this scenario.

I can't believe that in order to combat whatever these cultists are doing, Anderson is getting in bed with The Mandate!!! This is not going anywhere good!

I want Anika dead and all of those creatures dead too! And I want all of our guys to survive! Let's see what happens! (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Ok. Finished. (view spoiler)[ So, we have no idea if Mo is still Mo. The Mandate is taking over. Iris is his high priestess and I am sure she will want some revenge. Mhari Murphy is still alive, just fed on Shuler and I am hoping hasn't been taken over by The Sleeper in the Piramid. The whole thing is another crazy situation. I am really, really hoping that we get to take down The Mandate somehow in the next book and get back to human run government and organization.. Although, I have no idea how that might happen... Really looking forward to it though! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Ok. Finished. [spoilers removed]"

Given the fact that New Management takes place after the end of Laundry Files (despite 2 books still needing to be written)... and the name of the spinoff, it's pretty safe to say, without too big of a spoiler, that (view spoiler)[Nyarlathotep is the new normal for UK/Earth...

I think the endgame of Laundry Files is getting Earth / this dimension back to a stalemate with Bob/etc, to where Nyarlathotep rules, but isn't actively destroying everything over time, just nibbling I guess... kinda like the Elf Dimension, only better...

From what I've heard, the 2 books left to write are a largely Senior Auditor book, where he gives a jailcell confession to Bob about what he tried and failed to do, to overthrow Nyarlathotep, and then a book about what Bob & Mo and everyone else accomplish to establish a final detente...

Mhari Murphy comes out of the current book pretty unscathed, and is a senior problem-solver in the next book, and main POV character... Iris is less vengeful than you think, and largely a go-between for Nyarlathotep and humanity/Laundry personnel... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I needed all of those comments and reminders... totally forgot the end of the book right after I listened to it...

[Nirkatze]

Read Yokai Land! Really enjoyed it--especially because I recognized most of the Japanese yokai references. LOL It was a pretty cute little short.

[Tonari no Emily]

So Mo at the end of this one (view spoiler)[ apparently suspiciously survived when someone blew up Anika right? Was that The Mandate? I think it was him or one of his agents... She thinks it was a ward on her phone, but the SA thinks she might not be as unscathed as she seems...

Also Bob and Mo reunited and Mo gave Bob a warded necklace for him to sleep in so maybe they can live together again? Although now that Bob has suspicions of Mo, and if she really is herself that could put more strain on the relationship...

I'm rather apprehensive about The Black Pharaoh becoming frickin Prime Minister, that's insane! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "So Mo at the end of this one..."

(view spoiler)[I think the Senior Auditor implied Mo is Mo, at the end of this one, as much as Bob has been Bob, since he took in some Eater of Souls, back in whatever book he died and came back to life Eatery...

Also, everything's fine, story worrying ;)

I think the joke/commentary of this one is "if your politician was replaced with an Eldritch God, how many people would even notice/care?... so much stuff just gets normalized in modern politics"... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "So Mo at the end of this one..."

I read that as "everything's fine, start worrying." (view spoiler)[LOL considering how many friends I have who literally believe Trump is the antichrist... apparently not many people....

I'm not sure if the Black Pharaoh is the lesser evil, or just the evil that isn't going to kill you right now... (hide spoiler)]