A disappointing addition to a great series.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend this book to a friend. While a tolerably book in its own right, it is a disappointment when put into the context of the series. It lack the joy and irreverence of the earlier books despite the absurdist plot elements. Beyond that Mo, who had been a likable if not particularly well developed character, takes center stage and becomes both significantly less likeable and less interesting. There are also some of the cringe worth moments due to the author writing from the point of view of a woman and not quite getting it right. I would recommend reading the series but skipping this book.

If you’ve listened to books by Charles Stross before, how does this one compare?

Definitely my least favorite of this series.

11 people found this helpful

Adequate but disappointing

Adequate but disappointing. I love the Laundry series and have been anxiously waiting to get my eldritch fix for what seems like forever, but Annihilation Score didn't quite satisfy. The main reason for this is, as the other reviews here point out, is Mo, the protagonist in this story is very unlikable, especially if you are a fan of the series (and, thereby, a fan of Bob).

To be fair to the author, he has been consistent throughout the series in his portrayal of Mo and she has always been self-centered but it was never so obvious because Bob is a nice guy and doesn't dwell on it. But with Mo being the central character, it is really hard (impossible) to cheer her on to victory.

The only redeeming quality to this book, imo, is Mr Stross' continuing stellar (and humorous) job at portraying a Dilbert-esque nightmare bureaucracy in action. Masterful and the only reason I give this one any stars at all.

Having said all of the above, unfortunately, if you are a Laundry fan, you can't skip this book cuz it does advance the overall story arc dramatically. Hopefully the next one will return to Bob's viewpoint and we can see him mature as he manages to get a handle on his new "stuff"...

6 people found this helpful

Great disappointment for this Laundry Files fan

Can only imagine this was intended as a bridge to a new series, which would explain why it isn't listed as a Laundry Files novel. Major characters are flung aside with barely any explanation and virtually the entire story is devoted to cynical, if occasionally amusing, explanations of how bureaucracies operate. Painful to slog through.

4 people found this helpful

DON'T BUY THIS - TERRIBLE!!!

I had not previously purchased this because of all the negative reviews. But now, nearly four years after it came out, I decided to go ahead and fill the hole in the series. What a mistake!
I thought I could just grit my teeth and get past Mo, for the sake of the story. But, if anything, the negative rewiews soft-pedal how bad it is. If this had been my first Stross book, I would never have read another by him. I'd love to sit down with him and ask what the heck happened. Temorary insanity?
Mo is AWFUL. She talks about not wanting to be thought of as an obsessive, intransigent bitch. Well, Mo, in that case then you should stop talking and acting like that!!! And let's add "petty" to those adjectives. And I disagree with Sander completely... Bob does not get a pass as a man... he's doing nothing like this ongoing dribble of Mo's negativity.
AND the story is terrible -- at least as far as I could get -- A book has to be bad to not be adequate background for me doing mindless chores.
Blech!

3 people found this helpful

Falls apart in all the wrong ways

I am a huge Stross, and Laundry, fan, but this is the weakest entry in the series so far. I really appreciate what Stross is trying to do - introduce us to a different viewpoint, make a middle age female character the hero, and start giving us a more well-rounded view of the relationships in the book. Unfortunately, none of it really works as well as I hoped, though the reading is excellent. Mainly this is because the book seems to constantly focus on the least interesting aspects of its plot and characters.

Major things are happening in the Laundry universe, and we are missing them as listeners. For example, if the rest of the series was about hiding the terrible truth of Case Nightmare Green from the world, this book features a sudden switch where everyone is suddenly aware that supernatural stuff is happening, yet we see nothing of the implications of this. As another example, Stross introduces his own twist on superheroes, but then never does anything very interesting with it. Or the fact that the tension between Mo's violin and her love for Bob should be a big issue, but it never really feels motivated. Even the major overarching plot seems mostly to focus on minutiae (like setting up desks in an office), while giant events happen elsewhere.

It was the least satisfying Laundry book, and is a lot grimmer than previous novels. Overall, I think it is probably skippable, though I am still looking forward to the next in the series.

27 people found this helpful

Disappointing.

I have really enjoyed the series up to this book. I stuck with this one only because I read the reviews for the next book in the series and figured I would need to know what went on in this one to understand the next one. The narrator was decent, but did not have the same pizzazz as the other narrator. Also the story unfolded slowly and then just continued to plod along until the unsatisfactory ending.

2 people found this helpful

Narrator wasn't good for this book

I was willing to give her a chance, since I loved the other narrator for the rest of the series so much, but this woman spoke too slowly, and her pauses were too long, breaking the momentum. Also, there were plenty of times when the action was exciting, and she still spoke too slowly. She did do a good Lector impression. Liked that. Nice and scary. And her accent was good. But overall, I would have enjoyed the book more if she had done better.

2 people found this helpful

ugh

if the authors aim in writing this book was to make the audience dislike or even hate Mo then he did his job very well. what little sympathy i had for her (and it was already worn very thin by the end of book 5) was completely ripped away by this installment.
the narrator wasn't terrible but i couldn't differentiate any of her characters. they all had a mixed up accent that was sometimes irish, scottish or british, but none of it was consistent so it was hard to tell who was saying what. her voice put me to sleep on three different occasions and i have never fallen asleep while listening to a book before.
on another note, changing main characters when your already five novels into the series is not always the best way to go. its gives the reader mental and emotional whip-lash. we spend five novels building up an understanding and growing with the main character and then suddenly your supposed to care about someone else. and the mc you actually do care about is nowhere to be seen.
please bring back bob.
reading a laundry files novel without bob is like reading the hellequin chronicles without nathan garrett, or the tomb of bill without bill.

2 people found this helpful

Disappointing

I'm a big fan of Stross and the Laundry Files books but I found this one frustrating and boring. First of all Bob is basically gone and the novel is told from his wife Mo's perspective. She's neither very insightful, empathic, or interesting. Following her starting a new governmental office in a vast bureaucracy is as thrilling as it sounds even if it is to start a superhero office. Which also feels like a break with the Laundry Files mythos and not a welcome one. There's plenty of superhero stories out there and this doesn't need to be one of them.

I'm afraid that Stross might be traveling down a similar path to what happened in the Clan Corporate books. The first books were great and had very interesting ideas and then devolved to schlocky thrillers near the end. If he's bored writing in the world and characters of the Laundry I wish he'd leave it be and move on.

I'd suggest you leave this one be.

13 people found this helpful

Blue hades level disappointed

The story line can be summarized as the bachelorette meets agents of shield.
The attention to detail is very disappointing. The structure of the ongoing narrative changes in this book. The Female lead is not an issue. The Female narrator is great and I have enjoyed her in other works. Unfortunately, the haphazard treatment of a vital piece of narrative and the lack of consistency in the details ruined this work for me. I’ve been listening to this story line for a week and I likely won’t finish the series.

1 person found this helpful