Lucky book thirteen of the Books 2010 project, and reviewed on the 13th as well… Not that there’s any significance to that, of course.
This is the sequel to Charles Stross’ book The Atrocity Archive, and it continues to follow the life of Bob Howard. Bob is a computer geek, a systems administrator, a civil servant and a member of a highly secret British government agency tasked with preventing incursions of brain-devouring Creatures from Beyond. Stross does a masterful job combining Lovecraftian horrors, computer geekery, spy adventure and government bureaucracy into a fun universe.
This time out, an eccentric American software billionaire has decided that he wants to take over the world. To assure his success, he draws upon an archetype that has been gathering power for years, reinforced by the minds of millions of people. He creates a device which will force reality into the shape of a James Bond movie, with him in the role of the villain. The only person who will be able to stop him is a British secret agent, and even then it’ll only happen just when he’s on the brink of victory. And since he’s not an idiot, he plans on destroying the device comfortably in advance of any such confrontation.
Unfortunately for Bob, no one has explained this to him. From his point of view, he’s been inexplicably partnered with a beautiful assassin, whisked off to exotic locations, provided with high-tech gadgetry, dressed up in an uncomfortable tuxedo instead of his usual jeans and t-shirt and generally messed with. And for some reason he’s craving vodka martinis and unfiltered Turkish cigarettes.
Page Count: 401
Total page count: 3981