Review of The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross

After a two-book hiatus, Bob Howard returns as the narrator and main character (albeit as more of an ensemble, with Mo in a prominent role) to the Laundry Files. The Delirium Brief deals with the fallout from The Nightmare Stacks in a satisfying way as Charles Stross emphasizes that there is no going back for these characters: the world as we know it has changed, forever. The climax of the story and the fallout from this book are so deliciously twisted.

We pick up a few weeks after the events of The Nightmare Stacks. Bob has been called upon to do damage-control PR for the Laundry, whose existence is now public knowledge. The British government scrambles to do damage control of its own, which gives certain forces an opportunity to shutter the Laundry—effectively immediately. Bob and some other allies manage to launch an unauthorized spin-off to continue the good fight, but it is an uphill battle in more ways than one. Eventually, they realize that their only hope is to do the unthinkable: a bargain that would have made even Faust tremble.

This entry in the series is so rewarding for longtime readers with the way it brings back so many threads. Persephone! Raymond Schiller! Nylarahotep and its connection to a minor character from The Annihilation Score! Not to mention the fascinating return of a character from the very first book, and an extraordinary retcon. I love how Stross carefully pulls at these threads as he explores what might naturally (and supernaturally) happen when an occult black ops organization gets exposed by an invasion from another universe.

Everything one loves about the Laundry Files is on display here, from the uninspired blockheadedness of the British government to the twisty-turny covert dealings of the Laundry’s members. In particular, we get much closer to understanding the nature and role of the Auditors, especially with Mo’s elevation to their ranks. In earlier books, the Auditors (and Mahogany Row in general) were near-phantoms, mythological in the threat they posed to ordinary line employees like Bob was back then. As always, when such people become humanized, they seem much less threatening. Yet this change in no way diminishes the enjoyment of seeing Bob and Mo navigate their responsibilities as senior members of the organization. It’s a very realistic, ironically for the genre, depiction of how one often climbs the ladder even when one hasn’t intended to.

The plot is your standard Laundry Files fare. If you loved previous books, you’ll like or love this one. That’s all I’ve got to say about it.