Escape From Yokai Land

Escape From Yokai Land by Charles Stross (2021 TOR.com hardcover 82pp)

 

I’ve found Charles Stross one of the most consistently reliable writers I’ve read over the last couple of decades. He mixes a sharp view of the current zeitgeist with abundant speculation, wit and humour.

His “Laundry Files” series has been entertaining me more or less for most of that time. The Laundry is the unofficial name for a (initially) secret UK agency that guards the nation from Lovecraftian eldritch horrors from beyond the stars and other dimensions. Magic in this universe is just an advanced application of mathematics and with the proliferation of computational devices since the late 20^th century the threat of invasion by or the summoning of nameless terrors is becoming near crisis level.

The original main viewpoint character in the series is Bob Howard, a self-effacing, mild mannered Laundry agent who frequently gets in way over his head. The original few books in the series are partially pastiches of popular espionage works albeit with original plots. Things then started to get more complicated, Stross ended up writing himself into something of a corner. Bob’s abilities and powers increased massively and things like vampires, superheroes and an invasion of fantasy-style elves started to be added to the mix. Bob soon was sidelined from his own series as other characters took over as our main viewpoints. Stross has now written 3 novels in a sub-series which adds even more characters in the “New Management” era which follows the failure of the Laundry to prevent an ancient evil taking control of the nation.

So, it was with some relief when I read this slim but expensive volume, I found it to be a stripped-down, simple old Bob Howard adventure, yay!

Not entirely unlike the Fleming James Bond tale “You Only Live Twice” this book finds a poorly-briefed Bob arriving in Japan and being assigned locally handlers who seem to dislike him and what he represents. He finds himself doing what seems to be menial work banishing Yokai (the weird and wonderful spirit beings from Japanese folklore) from temples, convenience stores and broom-closets.

Soon he’s wondering what they really want and he discovers something big and unwelcome is happening at Puroland, the Disney-style theme park populated by the creations of the Sanrio corporation – most famously Hello Kitty (called Princess Kitty in the text for some reason). All hell breaks loose and Bob must use his skills and a bit of luck to reverse the evil incursion and save himself.

It’s a lot of fun, a return to what this series used to be but at 81 pages way too short.

I understand that the author wanted to publish all the Laundry-related short fiction in one volume but his publisher refused and wants him to finish the series first. So, we have to buy these over-priced hardcover books instead, at least for another few years.

If you’re fan of the Laundry books, you’ll want to read this, you might feel ripped off but you’ll enjoy yourself.