My Goodreads review: The Delirium Brief

The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Stross pulls out all the stops -- & many of his previous story arcs -- for this eighth entry in the Laundry Files series. Bob Howard is back as the main protagonist at last, & he has Serious Eldritch Problems. In fact, the entire UK has Serious Eldritch Problems, and the United States isn't doing too well either. (Yes, there did seem to be a few sideways political comments -- but they never got in the way of Stross's storytelling.)

The Delirium Brief suffers from a few too many characters to keep track of, but otherwise delivers the most satisfying Laundry experience I can remember having for at least the past few novels. Plot descriptions would be too much of a spoiler, here, but suffice it to say that you really should read #1-7 before even thinking about trying this one.

This is a "stars turn right" apocalypse tale that pushes its Lovecraft/le Carre flavor to the limit -- with an ending that left me wondering exactly what Stross intends to do with his Laundry universe next. And, of course, determined to preorder Laundry Files #9, because I really have to find out.








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