Check it out for Christmas: "Overtime" by Charles Stross

[Swamp]

Check out the story at Tor.com.  This is a Christmas story set in Stross' Laundry universe which Tim Pratt describes as a "universe of secret-agents / institutional government bureaucracy / Lovecraftian indifferent cosmic monsters". 

Bob, a security officer serving as night watchmen over Christmas, is all that stands to defend the world against the seven-dimensional being known as the Filler of Stockings.  Oh and it also features a visit from "the ghost of Christmases rendered-fictional-by-temporal-paradox".

[kibitzer]

I listened to that one, not realising it was set in an established universe. I liked it, it's a good story, possibly not best suited to audio format because it cuts back and forth. It's very, very English -- loved it!  Reminded me of the many happy years I lived in England. Interesting universe, too -- might look up his other stuff.

[Alasdair5000]

I listened to that one, not realising it was set in an established universe. I liked it, it's a good story, possibly not best suited to audio format because it cuts back and forth. It's very, very English -- loved it!  Reminded me of the many happy years I lived in England. Interesting universe, too -- might look up his other stuff.

The Atrocity Archive is excellent, and the first Laundry story.  I'd also recommend Glasshouse which, on the one hand Stross wrote as an elaborate parody but on the other actually works as a singularly smart, nasty novel in it's own right.  I have severe issues with pretty much all his recent pop cultural commentary but as a fiction writer there are few better.

[kibitzer]

Excellent, thanks Al. Just reserved those at my local library.

[kibitzer]

Just this moment finished read The Atrocity Archives.

Holy. Shit.

What an incredible ride! Best book I've read in a while. Loved it! Next: The Jennifer Morgue and Glasshouse.

[Scattercat]

Jennifer Morgue was pretty fun, but I think I preferred the Atrocity Archives overall; it felt a little more solid and coherent in some ways.  Plus, I'm not as huge a fan of Bond as I am of Lovecraft, and the former is definitely a larger part of that second book.