A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finally, a return to the Laundry Files! Or rather, to a novella about a minor character and his nefarious and evil backstory of loving D&D (1st edition!) back in the day.

Or rather, how the mix of math and magic will suck you right in and make you lose your freedom in way more than a few reasons. It's the chittering in the brain, I think. Or the fact that you become a sweet, sweet morsel for all those extradimensional elder gods and their tentacles.

Well, whatever. Derek the DM, who made a reputation for himself from, let's call it--a jail--as a one-of-a-kind game master has escaped.

No more spoilers. But omg I loved everything that happened. Classes, dice, magic, cultists, a great dungeon--it's everything a modern LitRPG fan might want, only flipped. It's the game mechanics thrown into the world of the Laundry Files, turning a rather meta look on Stross's own work and flipping it again to bring it full circle back to what Laundry is known for. Spy fiction with a great take on mathematical magical mayhem.


The other two stories are a bit more familiar. Bob, and wonderfully so. Very welcome, indeed.


One thing I should mention: Charlie knows his own D&D. Even better, he's the source of the original monsters and classes of Death Knights, Illithids, and Githyanki. And the Slaadi. Props are props. If you recall, Baldur's Gate 3 allows us to play as a Githyanki. This is real NERD CRED, ya'll.


If I would write a synesthesia review, it would have to be wood shavings. Specifically those after sharpening pencils. A lot of prep time has to go into a good TTRPG, after all. Such a familiar and pleasant smell.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

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