128 pages
English language
Published Nov. 10, 2022 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
Regular readers of Charles Stross’s Laundry Files might have noticed Bob Howard’s absence from the events of The Nightmare Stacks, and his subsequent return from Tokyo at the start of The Delirium Brief.
Escape from Yokai Land explains what he was doing there.
Bob’s been assigned to work with the Miyamoto Group, checking the wards that lock down Japan’s warded sites—a task previously handled by his predecessor Dr. Angleton, the Eater of Souls. This mostly involves policing yokai: traditional magical beings, increasingly grown more annoying and energetic.
But then Bob’s simple trip turns into a deadly confrontation with the ultimate yokai. It’s massively powerful. It's pink. And it says “Hello.”
Trust Stross to get a sinister spin on seemingly child appropriate content … this parting shot (?) for the old Laundry Files is no exception, albeit not remotely as squeegorefesty as his spin-offs. If you want to cherish Neko as a picture of Japanese cuteness, stay away; otherwise highly recommended.
This was a bite sized piece of almost Laundry nostalgia.
Stross has very much moved his world away from the almost sunny days of 2014 (when this was set) and in both his fictional timeline and our real one things are just so much darker. This was a deliberate attempt to drill into the Japanese urban mythology and throws in everything from hentai to Kaiju.
A quick read, and for me, enjoyed with an almost rose tinted view.
Recommended.
