Quantum of Nightmares - Rambling Readers

Frank Burns reviewed Quantum of Nightmares by Charles Stross

Review of 'Quantum of Nightmares' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Yet more Lovecraftian urban horror and very enjoyable it was.
Stross is on a tear in this one about how the unemployed and people at the bottom of the employment pyramid are treated and it is very apt for his setting. He really doesn't have to go too far left field to create a plausible eldritch horror out of these ingredients.
This book also mixes in a funny riff on Mary Poppins but perchance spent a little too long in the children's POV for my tastes.
As this is book '11' of this run, you are either bought in now or you are not. If you are then solid entertainment is delivered and this comes with a recommend from me.

Martin Kopischke reviewed Quantum of Nightmares by Charles Stross (New Management, #2)

A whimsical gorefest

3 stars

Stross has commented in the past that the post-Brexit UK’s trajectory has a tendency to make his Laundry Files parallel universe far less outrageously “out there” than he intended. The spin-off New Management series, of which this is the second instalment, has thus dialed things up quite a bit, with the government taken over by a Lovecraftian Elder God who is slowly turning the UK into a hybrid of late capitalist dystopia and a very bloody occult domain.

All this to say: this is not for the faint of heart. As an introduction to the Laundry Files, New Management is not recommended, and this volume isn’t recommended as a starting point for the latter either. The goriness, ever lurking around in the series, attains new heights. At the same time, the characters are engaging as ever, the pacing and storytelling tight, the world-building superb, and there is an unexpected …

Stross has commented in the past that the post-Brexit UK’s trajectory has a tendency to make his Laundry Files parallel universe far less outrageously “out there” than he intended. The spin-off New Management series, of which this is the second instalment, has thus dialed things up quite a bit, with the government taken over by a Lovecraftian Elder God who is slowly turning the UK into a hybrid of late capitalist dystopia and a very bloody occult domain.

All this to say: this is not for the faint of heart. As an introduction to the Laundry Files, New Management is not recommended, and this volume isn’t recommended as a starting point for the latter either. The goriness, ever lurking around in the series, attains new heights. At the same time, the characters are engaging as ever, the pacing and storytelling tight, the world-building superb, and there is an unexpected and very welcome touch of whimsy, from the plainly telegraphed Mary Poppins reference to less obvious nods to Terry Pratchett, Jurassic Park or Blues Brothers, to name just a few I caught. If you are a longtime fan of the series, this a very worthy new instalment. If not, I suggest you start elsewhere.

Roy Adams

rated it

Jan. 22, 2022

Damien Ryan

rated it

Jan. 21, 2022