Just a short review to remind myself of why I liked this book:
Wow, Bob has come far, and is now sent to the USA with Penelope and Johnny (to him: external contractors), where they have to deal with a super-charismatic Christian Cult trying to wake the Sleeper in the Pyramid.
Stross' style seems very different in this book: a lot of things are spelled out (compared to the earlier Laundry Files), we get to actually hear some third-person action that in earlier books might have been a sentence or a paragraph of not-quite-clear descriptions, references and guesswork. It's different, not worse, though. The plot is solid and enjoyable, if a bit simple; typical double-crossing-insider-with-villanous-aspirations, but what can you do.
Of course Unicorns are terrifying when CStross himself writes about them. Short, but enjoyable, if a bit gory.
Just a review to remind myself of why I liked this book:
The Fuller Memorandum details the break-up of a cultist organization and a Laundry leak, we also get to know TEAPOT and Angleton's story. We see Mo and Bob as a married couple, and Bob on his way up. Good work, to my mind a generic Laundry book if there ever was one. Nice read nonetheless.
(This is mostly a review to remind myself of what I liked about this book.)
A book from Mo's perspective, right after the semi-break-up that concluded the Rhesus Chart! Insight into the Bone Violin, and a lot of Super Heroes.
In my opinion, the first quarter of the book was a bit rough. Mo refers to Bob a lot (probably to help the reader adjust to the new narrator?), her role as a woman is emphasized a lot, and the Invisibility foreshadowing was really a bit crude.
Once we are all settled in (plot, narrator, premise and all), things get smoother. Mo's mental state aswell as her relationships with Mhari, Ramona and Jim are shown in a credible and all too real way. Seeing Mo struggle with her professional and private life is touching and mostly very insightful (considering the fact that Mr Stross has, in fact, never been a woman).
The plot is, of course, a Laundry plot, which can't live without inside takeovers, but I think everybody who reached the Annihilation Score is well used to that and willing to live with it.
Light reading. Bob has to deal with Christmas terrors from beyond. Very Charly, Much Stross, Q'thulhu.