Okay, this is where I have to make a confession - up to this point I have never read anything by Charles Stross. Given his meteoric rise in the ranks of acclaimed sf authors in the last few years this is a considerable oversight on my part. But thankfully I had the chance to correct this when this book arrived on my doorstep. So when it did it gave me the opportunity to find out if all the praise I had heard was accurate.

Well given what I read in this book I have to agree with everything I've heard. Despite having a considerable amount of Cthulhu style demonic nasties this is highly original, and a great deal of that originality has to lie in the setting and the style of writing.

Bob Howard works for a secret branch of the British Government that concentrates on the occult and keeping large scale invasions of demons from other dimensions from happening. But being part of the British civil service this entails a whole mass of bureaucracy and regulations. So even when fighting against some of the deadliest demonic beings agents have to account for all equipment used and fill out requisition forms in triplicate.

This total insanity in the face of such evil forces is so wonderfully British, and rings so true to anyone who has come in contact with large bureaucracies. Add some wonderfully titled training courses as "Computational Demonology for Dummies" and "Introduction to Applied Occult Computing" and this setting is wonderful, a brilliant backdrop for a story.

As for the story, I guess it would have all to easy for the author to have expended all his energies on creating this world and to have tacked on a substandard plot. He hasn't done this though, for the story is compelling. Bob Howard is an IT guy turned occult operative, he isn't a James Bond type at all - and so he stumbles his way through assignments trying to use his knowledge and intelligence to see him through.

And this seeming normality of the lead character within such a chaotic world adds greatly to this book. Having a great wizard-type lead character who instinctively knows how to solve every puzzle would have added a barrier between the reader and the action. Bob is normal, he would fit into our world - you would meet him in the pub and share a drink and not consider him anyone special.

Superb!

Synopsis
The bestselling author takes a departure from his epic science fiction to craft this cross between Len Deighton-style espionage and H.P. Lovecraftian horror.

Bob Howard is a computer-hacker desk jockey, who has more than enough trouble keeping up with the endless paperwork he has to do on a daily basis. He should never be called on to do anything remotely heroic.