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comment by johnnyFive
johnnyFive  ·  1828 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The 27th Quotes Thread - OB finally gets around to reading The Laundry

I enjoyed the first couple, but the series seems to be getting a little long in the tooth. The Apocalypse Codex was ok, but by The Rhesus Chart I was starting to get bored.

I've begun re-reading (although I didn't finish last time) Steppenwolf, and the degree to which I relate to Harry Haller is a little frightening. I broke down and bought The Folio Society's edition, which uses a better translation than the one I had been reading, and of course is beautifully put together.

    It's a fine thing, this contentment, this painlessness, these tolerable days when you keep your head down, when neither pain nor desire dare to raise their voices, when you do everything at a whisper, stealing around on the tips of your toes. But my problem, sad to say, is that precisely this kind of contentment doesn't agree with me. After a short spell, finding it insufferably detestable and sickening, I have to seek refuge in other climes, possibly by resorting to sensual pleasures, but if necessary even opting for the path of pain. For a short time I can stand to inhale the lukewarm, insipid air of the so-called good days, free of desire and pain. But, childish soul that I am, I then get so madly sore at heart and miserable that I fling my rusty thanksgiving lyre in the smug face of the drowsy god of contentment and opt for a true, devilish pain burning inside me rather than this room temperature so easy on the stomach.




OftenBen  ·  1827 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Once you lose track of Mr. Howard things do kind of go off into the weeds.

The Annihilation Score had me really torn. On the one hand I really really enjoyed all the procedural stuff. The establishment of a bureaucracy devoted to the management of superheroes/magic persons was really fun and chewy to read. Dr. O'Brien's perspective is engaging, especially all the back and forth with the evil violin.

On the other, it was pretty ham-handed about how readily demonic activity and stuff could get re-branded as superhero/supervillian stuff.

johnnyFive  ·  1827 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah, I would agree with those things. The Annihilation Score was pretty good, but I got super bored by The Nightmare Stacks. I started The Delirium Brief, but couldn't really get into it.

OftenBen  ·  1827 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Wow I just confused the Annihilation Score and The Apocalypse Codex really hard. My b.

I think Stross can keep writing in that universe but he needs something new to do with it.

orbat  ·  1826 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Have you or johnnyFive read A Colder War, the novelette that seems to have started Stross down the path to the Laundry Files? I can heartily recommend checking it out; it's much darker in tone, and I frankly like it much more than the Laundry Files series (although I really did like the first couple of books.) A Colder War is definitely one of my favorite short stories.

(As a side note, the version of the novelette that's in one of the yearly scifi anthologies edited by Gardner Dozois is slightly better than the one I linked to

johnnyFive  ·  1826 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh cool. I haven't read this, but am excited to now!

OftenBen  ·  1826 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Mama mia, that was something else.

Definitely Laundry-Like.

Thanks for the recommendation!

zebra2 I would even go so far as to recommend this for sci-fi club.

zebra2  ·  1826 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Totally down to make this the next one. Thanks both of you!

johnnyFive  ·  1827 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I agree. He seems to be trying what with the Laundry becoming public and all, but I'm not sure if it's going to work out.