The Fuller Memorandum is the third book in the Laundry or Bob Howard series by Charles Stross. The series combines hard science-fiction, spy thriller, and Lovecraftian horror. The first two books are The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue.
The book starts very strong, with a prologue titled “Losing My Religion” by Bob Howard, the main protagonist in the series. In this he writes that he started out as an atheist, and wished he could go back to the comforting certainties of atheism, but the nature of his work for the Laundry, Her Majesty’s occult secret service, as a computational demonologist have made him a believer of the One True Religion.
The Truth is that my God is coming back.
When he arrives I’ll be waiting for him with a shotgun.
And I’m keeping the last shell for myself.
The story in this book takes place a couple years after The Jennifer Morgue, the second book in the series. Bob Howard is now the manager of the Laundry’s IT-department and married to Dominique “Mo” O’Brien. Like with any hard working couple work occasionally follows them home, but when work includes zombie assassins and minions of a mad god’s cult things are rapidly spinning out of control. On top of that his boss Angleton disappears and a top-secret dossier, the Fuller Memorandum, goes missing. What’s the connection and who or what is the Eater of Souls?
Rating: 
I have some mixed feelings about this book. It’s still very good, but it’s not the same genre anymore as the first book in the series. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, the second book was already different from the first, but the differences weren’t as pronounced.
The first novel, The Atrocity Archives, is fast-paced, geeky, hard science-fiction with Lovecraftian horror and some elements from the archetypal British spy novel mixed with sarcasm, humor and satire. The third book, The Fuller Memorandum, is a Lovecraftian spy thriller. I don’t know if it can still be called science-fiction. A lot — but mind you not all — of the geekyness, wittiness, humor, satire and sarcasm have gone too. The characters have gained in depth and the storytelling has improved, but I liked the first novel of the series a lot more.
See my reviews on the The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue.
| Gene police! You! Out of the pool, now! |
| Charles Stross |
