I recently read Charles Stross’s The Atrocity Archives, a book that blends the spy thriller, the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft, and the techno-institutional absurdist politics of Dilbert into one magnificent novel. I recommend it very, very highly.
The Atrocity Archives — Charles Stross
Rating: 5/5
After reading Singularity Sky by Charles Stross I was willing to give the hyperbolic statements about the author the benefit of the doubt. Singularity Sky was a well-written, thought-provoking book that held my interest and delivered the goods. A couple weeks ago, my uncle sent me a copy of The Atrocity Archives, which apparently was Mr. Stross’s first published novel in the UK. Only recently has this novel been published in the US, which is flat out crazy as this is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
The Atrocity Archives is a book that blends strands from three traditional novel genres: espionage or secret service thrillers; eldritch horror a la H. P. Lovecraft; and cyberpunk-influenced science fiction. The story centers on the Laundry, a secret British government agency charged with, in Men In Black style, protecting the public from being attacked by or even knowing about the various bizarre entities that threaten our reality. The central character is Bob Howard, a computer programmer and systems administrator for the Laundry, who has recently had his application for field service approved by his supervisors. Bob immediately gets sucked in over his head on his first mission, as he exposes a conspiracy that could threaten the existence of our entire universe.
The Atrocity Archives is written in first-person, which gives the reader a greater sense of immediacy. It also encourages greater identification with the character as well as providing a rationale for not revealing information that might prematurely spoil the dramatic tension until Bob actually stumbles over it himself. I found the main character extremely easy to identify with, as he is close to my age and shares my profession and interests. Others’ mileage may vary.
The book is written in a fast, active style that reminds me of Neal Stephenson in some ways. Bob liberally salts his narrative with pop culture, hacking, and H. P. Lovecraft references, so familiarity with these subjects will greatly enhance your ability to pick up on the many in-jokes that spice the text.
One of the real triumphs of this book is that it manages to outdo or transcend most of its inspirational material. The occult and esoteric terrorism that the Laundry has to combat give a much more gut-churning feel of urgency and impending disaster than the elaborate ballet of monolithic state diplomacy that was the Cold War. The just-scientific-enough explanations of what the Great Old Ones and their kin really are make it much easier to suspend disbelief in Stross’s versions than in H. P. Lovecraft’s, with a correspondingly greater level of terror. His use of computer technology is not in itself anything groundbreaking, but he does remain remarkably true to the realities of computers and software as much as it’s possible, which adds to the verisimilitude of the stories.
Stross ties all these threads together with deft writing skills, lending humanity and personality to both his main and supporting characters. As a first-person novel, Bob obviously gets the lion’s share of the characterization effort, but there are a number of other characters that don’t necessarily get much page time that take on full three-dimensionality while they are there. In addition, he switches almost effortlessly between well-researched hard science and well-researched esoterica with ersatz-science backing. Perhaps the best example of this is when, in two adjacent paragraphs, he succintly describes both the internal structure of an implosion nuclear weapon and the construction and function of a Hand of Glory. He does this with enough confidence that the two may as well be equally grounded in known science.
My only problem with this book was that it was too short. I wanted more adventures in this setting. Fortunately, Charles Stross apparently does also. A sequel, entitled The Jennifer Morgue, will be coming out in 2006, in plenty of time to deal with the looming threat of Case Nightmare Green in September 2007 when the Great Old Ones return from beyond the stars to eat our brains. But you didn’t hear that from me.
With this book, Stross moves near the top of my list of recommended authors. I highly recommend The Atrocity Archives and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.