The Annihilation Score

"The Annihilation Score" is the 6th Laundry Files novel by Charles Stross. These stories are H.P. Lovecraft meets Dilbert meets James Bond. The first 4 Charlie was paying tribute to different spy novel styles. The 5th one, he decided to riff on vampires. This one the secret sauce is superheros. Additionally, the protagonist is Dr. Mo O'Brien, the wife of our normal protagonist Bob Howard.

Charles Stross is one of the leading lights of modern science fiction. He knows code and coders. He skewers both corporate mentality and modern political trends. There are, as usual, several LOL zingers scattered throughout the book.

But, as much as this series is a money maker for him, I think he's getting tired of it. The pacing is off in this novel, particularly through the 2nd half of the book. The ending winds up being somehow a totally foregone conclusion.

I will always read everything Charlie writes, but, I would rather he turn his energies to new universes (which he of course is). Maybe 1 or 2 more Laundry Files and I think I'll have had enough.