Equoid: A Laundry Novella
A Tor.Com Original
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Charles Stross's "Equoid" is a dark fantasy tale from the Hugo-winning author of Rule 34, Halting State, The Atrocity Archives, and many others.
The "Laundry" is Britain's super-secret agency devoted to protecting the realm from the supernatural horrors that menace it. Now Bob Howard, Laundry agent, must travel to the quiet English countryside to deal with an outbreak of one of the worst horrors imaginable. For, as it turns out, unicorns are real. They're also ravenous killers from beyond spacetime...
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Stross's Hugo-nominated Laundry Files novella, first published in Tor.com in 2013, is an entertaining mash-up of Lovecraftian mythology and an extremely twisted take on a fantasy trope. Bob Howard, bureaucrat and agent for the Laundry a secret British agency that fights extradimensional terrors has been called into the field to fight a possible manifestation of unicorns, the evil spawn of Shub-Niggurath. There's not a whole lot of plot beyond a brief mystery as to how Shub-Niggurath is getting away with hiding its tracks, but Stross does a great job with the truly nasty backstory. Lovecraft's "lost" letters add a nice secret history element, explaining the cause of his nervous breakdown, and contain some truly ghastly imagery. Laundry Files fans accustomed to more action-oriented spy riffs might be a little disturbed by the horror elements, but if they can stomach it, there's plenty of traditional action (including a car chase and a close-quarters zombie fight) and Stross's trademark wit.
Customer Reviews
Hugo Award Winning Laundry Files Novella
"Equoid" is a 2014 Hugo Award winning novella set in the Laundry Files series created by author Charlie Stross. It was my first foray into this series, and I think it was a good way to try out the Laundry Files. First, a word on the series. The "Laundry" is a branch of the British secret service which is designed to protect the U.K., and in fact the world, from occult horrors that seem to be Lovecraftian in nature. In a way this reminds me of "Torchwood." Bob Howard is our protagonist, and he is a cross between a bureaucrat, a computer programmer, and one of Lovecraft's researchers. In this novella, he is sent to check on a potential equine problem in the countryside.
This is where things begin to get really dark, we are introduced to the horror behind the legends of unicorns. Howard Phillips Lovecraft's himself makes an appearance in the form of narratives from his unpublished letters which tell of his encounter with such an eldritch beast. This treatment of unicorns is deeply disturbing, and ties the modern trend of little girls to be attracted to pony-related things firmly to the legend. It is definitely a well-done narrative, and very suited to novella length.
It's Laundry time!
More eldritch horror fun with Bob Howard! Sure hope Stross doesn't run out of assorted evils from other dimensions for The Laundry to hold at bay.
Bronies beware
Stross is an old hand at writing Laundry stories, and this once again proves his ability to explore that world. For too many writers, the idea of a Lovecraftian, Dilbertian James Bond would be a one-trick pony, but Charles Stross finds new ways to entertain, educate, and freak us out every time.