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A review by songwind
The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross
3.0
Bob Howard and the rest of the crew at the laundry are back again.
It was difficult to decide what to rate this book.
On the one hand, I enjoyed the basic story as much as ever. It's been interesting to watch Bob's progress from mostly-clueless newbie in [b:Atrocity Archives|101869|The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)|Charles Stross|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440461724s/101869.jpg|322252] to the person he is in the latest novel. His relationship with Mo continues to evolve and to be interesting.
The story focuses around vampirism. Bob's self directed project to use anomalous NHS information to to give forewarning of magical contagions stumbles across more than he bargained for, and he has to deal with the fall out along with the usual suspects.
What I Liked
Bob's sense of dry humor was on point as always. It was informative to see what life as a middle manager/trainee Eater of Souls was like. There are also a few new characters that I quite liked. They ranged from the despicable to the (tentatively) sympathetic, with some stops in between.
There are some major plot developments that I found really agreeable. Not always pleasant, but important, appropriate, and setting things up for more important things to come.
I enjoyed the digression from issues directly associated with CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, though its specter was present as was appropriate.
What Disappointed Me
I have always found Stross' prose to be functional but not particularly noteworthy. Unfortunately, a few of his habits which make for lighthearted, amusing narratives were overused in this book which made it feel clunky and unfinished. In particular, Stross leans very heavily on pop culture references rather than actual description - and many of those are already outdated. This may be in keeping with the main character's age and culture, but it didn't make for a very impressive text.
The pacing seemed a bit off, with the run up to the climax being rushed after a long drawn-out build up.
Before now, the Laundry novels have been more action oriented, with more dramatic tension/conflict throughout the story. I found this one to be sort of flat and pedestrian for much of the book. Bob's position puts him in a sort of no-man's-land between active operative, and mover-and-shaker. With him remaining the focus of the book, this left things feeling quite bland in many places.
Finally, some of the important developments (one, in particular) mentioned in the "like" section took place outside the main flow of the narrative and were reported in a dry, detached way that didn't really suit the significance of the material. This was particularly true in light of the fact that other events earlier in the story, which had no way of coming to direct light, were still covered in the normal 3rd person manner.
Summary
An enjoyable book in a very enjoyable series, but one of the weaker entries. Coming on the heels of [b:Apocalypse Codex|12393566|The Apocalypse Codex (Laundry Files, #4)|Charles Stross|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318285337s/12393566.jpg|17374689] made it particularly obvious.
It was difficult to decide what to rate this book.
On the one hand, I enjoyed the basic story as much as ever. It's been interesting to watch Bob's progress from mostly-clueless newbie in [b:Atrocity Archives|101869|The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)|Charles Stross|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440461724s/101869.jpg|322252] to the person he is in the latest novel. His relationship with Mo continues to evolve and to be interesting.
The story focuses around vampirism. Bob's self directed project to use anomalous NHS information to to give forewarning of magical contagions stumbles across more than he bargained for, and he has to deal with the fall out along with the usual suspects.
What I Liked
Bob's sense of dry humor was on point as always. It was informative to see what life as a middle manager/trainee Eater of Souls was like. There are also a few new characters that I quite liked. They ranged from the despicable to the (tentatively) sympathetic, with some stops in between.
There are some major plot developments that I found really agreeable. Not always pleasant, but important, appropriate, and setting things up for more important things to come.
I enjoyed the digression from issues directly associated with CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, though its specter was present as was appropriate.
What Disappointed Me
I have always found Stross' prose to be functional but not particularly noteworthy. Unfortunately, a few of his habits which make for lighthearted, amusing narratives were overused in this book which made it feel clunky and unfinished. In particular, Stross leans very heavily on pop culture references rather than actual description - and many of those are already outdated. This may be in keeping with the main character's age and culture, but it didn't make for a very impressive text.
The pacing seemed a bit off, with the run up to the climax being rushed after a long drawn-out build up.
Before now, the Laundry novels have been more action oriented, with more dramatic tension/conflict throughout the story. I found this one to be sort of flat and pedestrian for much of the book. Bob's position puts him in a sort of no-man's-land between active operative, and mover-and-shaker. With him remaining the focus of the book, this left things feeling quite bland in many places.
Finally, some of the important developments (one, in particular) mentioned in the "like" section took place outside the main flow of the narrative and were reported in a dry, detached way that didn't really suit the significance of the material. This was particularly true in light of the fact that other events earlier in the story, which had no way of coming to direct light, were still covered in the normal 3rd person manner.
Summary
An enjoyable book in a very enjoyable series, but one of the weaker entries. Coming on the heels of [b:Apocalypse Codex|12393566|The Apocalypse Codex (Laundry Files, #4)|Charles Stross|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318285337s/12393566.jpg|17374689] made it particularly obvious.