A Conventional Boy
Charles Stross
- In
- A
- Conventional
- Boy,
- the
- fate
- of
- the
- world
- will
- depend
- on
- a
- roll
- of
- the
- dice...
- twenty-sided
- dice,
- that
- is.In
- 1984,
- Derek
- Reilly
- was
- just
- another
- teenage
- nerd
- growing
- up
- in
- middle
- England.
- But
- his
- love
- of
- D&D
- caused
- him
- to
- fall
- afoul
- of
- the
- Laundry,
- a
- government
- agency
- tasked
- with
- suppressing
- supernatural
- threats.
- It
- turns
- out
- that
- sometimes
- ninth
- level
- wizard
- spells
- drawn
- on
- the
- back
- of
- your
- maths
- textbook
- can
- look
- suspiciously
- like
- actual
- magic...Decades
- later,
- Derek
- is
- a
- long-term
- inmate
- at
- Camp
- Sunshine,
- a
- centre
- for
- deprogramming
- captured
- cultists.
- But
- Derek
- finally
- has
- reason
- to
- escape,
- and
- an
- escape
- plan
- to
- out
- into
- action:
- he
- wants
- to
- attend
- his
- first
- gaming
- convention.
- While
- Derek's
- D&D
- games
- were
- fictional,
- a
- game
- at
- the
- con
- really
- is
- a
- dread
- ritual
- designed
- to
- summon
- a
- great
- evil
- into
- our
- world,
- and
- it's
- up
- to
- Derek
- and
- his
- players
- to
- stop
- them.The
- fate
- of
- the
- world
- may
- depend
- on
- the
- contents
- of
- Derek's
- dice
- bag.The
- Laundry
- Files
- series
- follows
- an
- agency
- of
- British
- spies
- who
- deal
- with
- supernatural
- threats;
- they
- also
- have
- to
- deal
- with
- chronic
- underfunding,
- government
- ministers,
- rival
- agencies
- and
- worst
- of
- all,
- each
- other.
- Think
- Slow
- Horses
- crossed
- with
- the
- monsters
- from
- Stranger
- Things,
- this
- series
- is
- funny,
- nerdy,
- and
- a
- cult
- classic.***Publishing
- just
- ahead
- of
- the
- final
- Laundry
- Files
- novel
- (The
- Regicide
- Report),
- this
- new
- collection
- includes
- the
- never
- before
- published
- Laundry
- Files
- novel
- A
- Conventional
- Boy
- -
- inspired
- by
- the
- 1980s
- Satanic
- Panic
- -
- and
- two
- other
- short
- stories
- in
- this
- joyous
- celebration
- of
- all
- things
- Laundry
- Files.***In
- this
- collection:
*A
- CONVENTIONAL
- BOY
- (53.3k
- words)
*DOWN
- ON
- THE
- FARM
- (12.7k
- words)
*OVERTIME
- (8.7k
- words)
also
- includes
- exclusive
- afterword
- from
- Charles Stross
pro-mbooks3 : libris
