The Atrocity Archives
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| Author | Charles Stross |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Steve Montiglio |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction / Lovecraftian horror |
| Publisher | Golden Gryphon Press |
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Publication date
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28 May 2004 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 295 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 53276312 |
| Followed by | The Jennifer Morgue |
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| Author | Charles Stross |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Steve Montiglio |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Golden Gryphon Press |
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Publication date
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November, 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 340 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 67239775 |
| 813/.6 22 | |
| LC Class | PR6119.T79 J46 2006 |
| Preceded by | The Atrocity Archives |
| Followed by | The Fuller Memorandum |
| Author | Charles Stross |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Ace |
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Publication date
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July 2010 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 312 pp |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Jennifer Morgue |
| Followed by | The Apocalypse Codex |
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| Author | Charles Stross |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Ace |
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Publication date
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July 2012 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 336 pp |
| Award | Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2013) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Fuller Memorandum |
| Followed by | The Rhesus Chart |
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| Author | Charles Stross |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Laundry Files |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Ace |
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Publication date
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July 2014 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 368 pp |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Apocalypse Codex |
| Followed by | The Annihilation Score |
| Author | Charles Stross |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Laundry Files |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Ace |
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Publication date
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July 2015 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 416 pp |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Rhesus Chart |
| Followed by | The Nightmare Stacks |
| Author | Charles Stross |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Laundry Files |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Orbit |
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Publication date
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June 2016 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 400 pp |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Annihilation Score |
| Followed by | The Delirium Brief |
| Author | Charles Stross |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Laundry Files |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Orbit |
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Publication date
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2017 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Nightmare Stacks |
| Followed by | The Labyrinth Index |
The Laundry Files is a series of novels by Charles Stross. They mix the genres of Lovecraftian horror, spy thriller, science fiction, and workplace humor. Their main character for the first five novels is "Bob Howard" (a pseudonym taken for security purposes), a one-time I.T. consultant turned field agent. Howard is recruited to work for the British government agency "the Laundry", which deals with occult threats. In this world, computers and mathematical equations are just as useful, and perhaps more potent, than classic spellbooks, pentagrams, and sigils for influencing unseen ancient powers and opening gates to other dimensions. These occult struggles happen largely out of view of the public, as the Laundry seeks to keep the methods for contacting such powers under wraps. There are also elements of dry humor and satirisation of bureaucracy.
While the stories are partially inspired by the Cthulhu mythos universe created by H. P. Lovecraft and others, they are not set in Lovecraft's universe. Stross also decides that in a world where "magic" works, surely the greatest magicians would be scientists who closely study the phenomena; thus his work is replete with a secret history of how various acclaimed researchers of the past also dabbled or stumbled upon occult uses of their work.
The Concrete Jungle and Equoid both won a Hugo Award for best science-fiction / fantasy novella, and Overtime was a nominee for best novelette.
The Atrocity Archives is a novel by British author Charles Stross, published in 2004. It includes the short novel The Atrocity Archive (originally serialised in Spectrum SF in Spectrum SF, #7 November 2001) and The Concrete Jungle, which won the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
The protagonist of both stories is computer expert Bob Howard, who re-discovers certain mathematical equations that contact other worlds. The Laundry detects the disturbance and swoops in to give him a mandatory job offer. ("I thought I was just generating weird new fractals; they knew I was dangerously close to landscaping Wolverhampton with alien nightmares.") From his position in the Laundry, a secret British occult intelligence organisation, Howard is allowed to learn something of the secret history of the world, as well as the various modern counter-measures the Laundry has adopted to deal with these threats. Despite the nature of the work, the Laundry is an efficient and low-key modern organization; more cubicle-jockeying than stately mansion towers and hidden volcano lairs, in other words. A tag-line used for the books by publisher Ace Books was "Saving the world is Bob Howard's job. There are a surprising number of meetings involved."
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Wikipedia