The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue / Charles Stross

The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross (books 1 and 2 of the Laundry Files series). 345 p. and 313 p.

Since I just read the new entry in this series, I wanted to revisit the earlier books--I couldn't remember many details about Mo, for instance. AA features a plot involving terrorists, Nazis and extradimensional horrors. JM riffs very specifically on James Bond adventures and Deep Ones. In both, our narrator Bob tries to keep his geeky self alive by using his computer expertise to hack Dho-Na summoning curves and suchlike. A fun mashup of spies, lovecraftian horror, and interoffice politics in civil service jobs.

The Fuller Memorandum / Charles Stross

The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross (a Laundry Files novel #3). 312 p.

The Laundry is a British government agency that deals with espionage and national security. What they're trying to keep Britain safe from is eldritch horrors intent on destroying the human race. It turns out that using computers to do magic can make magic more powerful and easily controllable, so computer geeks like Bob Howard end up on the front lines. The Laundry books are a mashup of spy thrillers and lovecraftian weirdness, and they're a lot of fun. This one is a bit darker than the earlier ones--Bob's not in very good shape at the end--but still a lot of fun. And quite funny.