Labyrinth Index (Laundry Files #9)[September 8, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for The Labyrinth Index by Charles Stross starting September 8, 2023.

[Tonari no Emily]

Will be getting to this pretty soon!

[Tonari no Emily]

I guess by pretty soon I meant a few hours because I'm through Chapter 4 now lol
Shit is realllly starting to hit the fan in this one it seems! I wasn't sure what was trying to take over what at first, but the way this one is written, I'm really glued to it so far. (view spoiler)[ Honestly, it was the powerpoint of all things that got my mind around what supernatural force was trying to take over what country/entity LOL
I thought it was the Sleeper at first for the US government, and while it is a sleeping god, it's actually freakin Cthulu!! I love this so much :D

I can kinda see Stross's thinking with his original plan not being crazy enough, because this is kind of the conspiracy theory version of events that happened in our real world...

Man, a geas for the entire country to forget the entire concept of the presidency, wow that's a doozy. I feel so bad for that radio station I assume got murdered, I really liked those segments.... I hope I'm wrong about my initial assumption and we can come back to them and they are actually some other secret government agency thats a bit apart from the rest of the government that was taken over.. (it almost seems like that when they were redirecting talk of actual alien/magicky stuff to more of the wackjob conspiracists, so here's hoping!)
The whole setup of the book is heisty as well which is a lot of fun, trying to kidnap the president and all and the flashbacks of getting the gang together and the reveal of what all's at stake. (hide spoiler)]
I wish I had a project going on so I have something to do while listening besides playing a stupid phone game. Maybe I'll dig up some easy embroidery project or something hmm...

[Tonari no Emily]

Through chapter 6 now (view spoiler)[ Well I was wrong about who the radio station could be, but I'm glad it seems at least one of them will survive!
It's very amusing Mhari calls superheroguy fuckboy lol (I forgot his name because she refers to him as that so much)
And I just realized that "JaJa" nickname was actually "Jar Jar" due to the English accent... Now that is mean lol (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Now we're at the newest Laundry Files, it's crazy to think how far the series has come from book one... and how hard it is, to recommend this series, without spoiling SO MUCH...

[Tonari no Emily]

Finished. Wow I wasn't expecting to like a Mhari book so much, but this is probably my favorite yet! (view spoiler)[ The world is going down hill fast, but seems like there are little pockets of resistance. I'm hoping the humans make it out on top and can kick the Pharoah out of the UK government and the President can overcome Cthulu... Wow what a sentence lol

Mhari has really grown on me. She's still very abrasive, but she's competent and she does actually have a conscience. She'll be an important one in the days to come placed so highly in the hierarchy and whatnot... And is she still in control of the other Phangs back in the US? Not quite sure about that. (hide spoiler)]

I am looking forward to hopefully getting back to Bob and Mo though!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Your guess is as good as mine... there's only 2 books left, I think... and neither have been written yet...

The next book is a Senior Auditor book... Stross should be writing it now, I think, or soon...

Next up, in the released pile, is the New Management trilogy, which follows a new cast of characters... takes place after the unreleased Laundry Files books... and I'm unclear if it takes place in the same world or a parallel dimension... we're reading the first 2, just in time for the 3rd one to come out in December...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I loaded up his blog, and he just wrote a post last week about why New Management started before Laundry Files ended, and what's taking so long...

Sounds like life got in the way, and then while writing the New Management books, Covid ruined his original planned ending to Laundry Files... so he had to start over...

EDIT: I thought New Management was a trilogy... but a 4th and maybe 5th book are on the way...

And apparently there's only 1 Laundry Files book left, so it probably skips over the original Senior Auditor book idea and jumps right to a Bob/ensemble book...

EDIT EDIT: Stross is taking questions in the comments of that blog post, for anything he might have forgotten in writing the series over the past 25 years, that you'd like answered in the final Laundry Files book / New Management series... dangling plot threads, forgotten characters, etc...

There's also a small print footnote that this book won't see the light of day before 2026 at the earliest, with his current commitment, and no ironclad publishing deal set...

[Tonari no Emily]

Man, I'm rather bummed about that... I'm hoping the New Management books are at least related! I didn't realize this was the last one published so far.. ANd based on Covid changing his plans, I don't feel like the ending is good for the humans lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The more I read that blog, the more I learned... Season of Skulls, New Management #3, takes place 18 months after the end of the Laundry Files, and Persephone Danger and her partner make a cameo... so it's the same world and indicative of how the series must end... (view spoiler)[Nyarlathotep is here to stay... he's kinda the best option for Eldritch Overlords, since he isn't out to exterminate the world as much as most of the other options... the goal is to create a scenario that makes this dimension protected/repellent to future Eldritch Invasion, I think... (hide spoiler)]

The New Management books are quite different, but I really liked them, so far...

Labyrinth Index came out in 2018... the series has been in a bit of a holding pattern for awhile now, other than the Yokai Land release...

[Tonari no Emily]

Oh right, I still need to get to Yokai Land.. I'll get to that one in the next couple days hopefully.

Re your New Management spoiler... I guess that's the best we can really expect from the hellscape he's created so far lol

[Nirkatze]

I started! I'm only in chapter 2 but I thought I was in chapter 4 and read your spoiler, Emily. ^^; I'm also feeling "Shit is realllly starting to hit the fan in this one it seems! I wasn't sure what was trying to take over what at first, but the way this one is written, I'm really glued to it so far."--I find it interesting how I've loved the non-Bob books even more than the Bob books so far in the series, and I wasn't expecting a (view spoiler)[Mhari (hide spoiler)] viewpoint, even though I think y'all mentioned it before.

Definitely getting the political vibes, both with (view spoiler)[ the slow takeover on the GB side, bringing back the death penalty of all things! and the sense of the Mandate being evil, but the evil that is fighting to save the world from Case Nightmare Green.... and then on the other side, you have Make America Great Again...

I just hope, like y'all are theorizing, kinda.... that the hell-hole does get climbed out of....yikes. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Finished! Totally agree with Emily--I wasn't expecting to like Mhari as much as I did. (view spoiler)[And also find her "fuckboi" relationship very amusing... though I feel really bad for him being caught between a rock and a hard place--K syndrome or Phang syndrome or death... Hopefully Mhari will be able to keep him focused, as she does the rest of her Phangs...

I really liked the President's address--attempt at riling the country... and was completely unsurprised when it just fizzled. That's how I feel about a lot of the things in America recently... or worldwide... I miss the days of hope... (hide spoiler)]