The Labyrinth Index

The Labyrinth Index is the 9th book in the Laundry Files series by Charles Stross. Released 30th Oct 2018 by Tor, it's 384 pages and available in hardback, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a Lovecraftian horror SF wrapped in biting social commentary on our current political dystopia. Stross is at his most acerbically sarcastic and if there's an author with more raw talent at fusing political satire with fantasy, I am not familiar with them. In a lot of ways, these books remind me of Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and there are some interesting parallels: farcical tragedy, theodicy (in fact, the Old Gods in charge are only marginally the lesser of the evils), as well as a subtle sense of impending doom no matter what the characters do or what their motivations. The dichotomy of real and creeping horror combined with literally laugh out loud humour is brilliant and kept me enthralled.

This book works well as a standalone, though it would take some effort to come up to speed with what's going on, it's not an insurmountable hurdle. I felt like I needed an illustrated guide even though I've read from the first book forwards. The main protagonist in this entry is Mhari (Bob from the first book's ex-girlfriend). There is a fair bit of sexism, treated humorously, as well as broadsides against nationalism, patriotism, universal government incompetence and malfeasance, gender relations, and humanoid society as a whole.

The language is rough, the violence graphic, the humour (mostly) bitingly sarcastic. I winced every time Mhari referred to her 'strictly physical' sexual partner (superhero/DCS Jim Grey) as f*ckboy. It just doesn't scan well to me and yanked me out of my suspension of disbelief every time. Stross is -so- talented with nicknames and sarcastic characterizations that I'm absolutely sure he -meant- to call him that for some reason, but it was a poke in the eyeball every one of the 28 times it happened. I believe it was precisely because it was objectifying and distancing that Stross wrote it that way (to show that Mhari, despite being a soulless creature of the night, etc etc, really cared much more than she wanted to admit).  I also love the acronyms; one of my fave bits of the series.

Four stars, well worth a read, even as a standalone.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.