Epeolatry Book Review: A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross
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Title: A Conventional Boy
Author: Charles Stross
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tordotcom
Date: 7th January, 2025
Synopsis: In this new Laundry Files adventure the fate of the world will literally depend on the roll of dice… twenty-sided dice, that is.
In 1984, Derek Reilly was just another spotty teenage dungeon master growing up in middle England. But then a secret government agency tasked with suppressing magical intrusions received a tip-off – and one midnight raid later, his life was turned upside down by the Satanic D&D Panic.
Decades later Derek, now middle-aged and institutionalized, is a long-term inmate at Camp Sunshine, a center for deprogramming captured Elder God cultists. He’s considered safe enough to edit the camp newsletter, and he even has postal privileges – which he uses to run a play-by-mail game. After 25 years, Derek finally has reason to escape: a nearby D&D convention. While Derek’s D&D games were full of fictional elder gods and world-ending threats, a LARP game at the con 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 magic dice bag.
Greetings, Reader! Have you ever played Dungeons & Dragons? I’ve played on and off for twenty years and have seen the transition from “a game for nerds” to part of the zeitgeist. One of the most defining periods of D&D’s history, and a pivotal moment for today’s book, is the accusations of demon worship around the 1980s. While not an actual part of our world’s understanding of the game, what if there was a world where role-playing games were used to summon demons?
Set in the world of “The Laundry Files”, A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross gives a deep look at how Dungeons and Dragons, as well as other role-playing games, interact with real magic. While this novel is the thirteenth in the series, it isn’t part of an internal story line and won’t require you to go back and read the other twelve just to understand the plot.
Integrated into each one of these novels are multiple elements that make them unique, this one being no different. There are parts that feel like a detective novel as members of Camp Sunshine piece together exactly how a prisoner could have escaped. At other times, it’s an epic fantasy as members of a role-playing group must battle their way through a temple. Still, other parts are a horror novel, as participants at a local game convention are sacrificed in a grisly ritual.
Stross’ approach to “Magic” is always well represented in his novels. When a set of dice expresses magical properties, the understanding is well engrained into the nature of the world. For those who aren’t familiar with the system, there is an explanation to bring new readers up to speed.
The scenes where the role-players encounter a real-life Dungeons and Dragons scenario were the best. Stross pulls references from the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D for those old enough to remember it) game system. Seeing characters cast spells from the system and referencing campaign guides felt nostalgic.
At times, the pacing is a little slow, especially as members of the role-playing group come together and get to know each other. At others, the well approached red tape and bureaucracy can be a little much. But that is the charm of “The Laundry Files”. Chances are most readers will be able to sympathize with having to jump through hoops to obtain the correct forms for chasing down an escapee.
A Conventional Boy is the thirteenth novel in “The Laundry Files” series by Charles Stross. Fans of the series will find this novel a welcome addition to the lore. Those familiar with Dungeons and Dragons will enjoy the references and real-life incorporation.
/5
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Joseph Pietris is a member of the United States Coast Guard by day and heavily involved in the horror community by night. His work has appeared in several anthologies. When not writing, he’s produced reviews and interviews preferring those works generally lost in the cracks. As an associate editor, Joseph has weeding through the submission piles of horror podcasts.
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