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Laundry Files #6.5
Escape from Yokai Land
Regular readers of Charles Stross's Laundry Files might have noticed Bob Howard's absence from the events of The Nightmare Stacks, and his subsequent return from Tokyo at the start of The Delirium Brief.
Escape from Puroland explains what he was doing there.
Bob's been assigned to work with the Miyamoto Group, checking the wards that lock down Japan's warded sites--a task previously handled by his predecessor Dr. Angleton, the Eater of Souls. This mostly involves policing yokai: traditional magical beings, increasingly grown more annoying and energetic.
But then Bob's simple trip turns into a deadly confrontation with the ultimate yokai. It's massively powerful. It's pink. And it says "Hello."
Escape from Puroland explains what he was doing there.
Bob's been assigned to work with the Miyamoto Group, checking the wards that lock down Japan's warded sites--a task previously handled by his predecessor Dr. Angleton, the Eater of Souls. This mostly involves policing yokai: traditional magical beings, increasingly grown more annoying and energetic.
But then Bob's simple trip turns into a deadly confrontation with the ultimate yokai. It's massively powerful. It's pink. And it says "Hello."
81 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2022
278 people are currently reading
973 people want to read
About the author
Charles Stross
158Ìýbooks5,750ÌýfollowersCharles David George "Charlie" Stross is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy.
Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.
SF Encyclopedia:
Wikipedia:
Tor:
Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.
SF Encyclopedia:
Wikipedia:
Tor:
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
March 8, 2023
“There's enough irony in my situation that a skilled blacksmith could turn it into a katana.�
In Charles Stross's Escape from Yokai Land, Bob Howard returns for another Laundry Files mission, this time in Japan. For me, there were no laugh out loud moments in this novella, but I was smiling during much of my reading. I'm not sure how strong the plot was, I mostly just felt amused as Bob interacted with non-threatening yokai, looking like cats or penguins handing out flyers. A fun read! 3.75 stars
In Charles Stross's Escape from Yokai Land, Bob Howard returns for another Laundry Files mission, this time in Japan. For me, there were no laugh out loud moments in this novella, but I was smiling during much of my reading. I'm not sure how strong the plot was, I mostly just felt amused as Bob interacted with non-threatening yokai, looking like cats or penguins handing out flyers. A fun read! 3.75 stars
March 9, 2022
BOB IS BACK! Well, not really. But kinda. You see, this little story takes place in spring of 2014 so it's a flashback for us readers. Still, BOB IS BACK!
Gods, I've missed the baby-Eater-of-Souls. I only realized just HOW MUCH I've missed him while reading this vastly amusing story of him traveling to Japan to deal with an infestation his former boss (Angleton) usually dealt with.
My great hope is that Stross will see how popular Bob still is and will get back to writing about him and the Laundry as well as the kids under the New Management. If I have to deliver the idea personally, I'm fully prepared to do so. *evil grin*
Anyway, great cultural clash with Bob getting almost hopelessly lost in translation and an assortment of Japanese folklore manifestations that are so cute, they make you shudder.
What a treat!
Gods, I've missed the baby-Eater-of-Souls. I only realized just HOW MUCH I've missed him while reading this vastly amusing story of him traveling to Japan to deal with an infestation his former boss (Angleton) usually dealt with.
My great hope is that Stross will see how popular Bob still is and will get back to writing about him and the Laundry as well as the kids under the New Management. If I have to deliver the idea personally, I'm fully prepared to do so. *evil grin*
Anyway, great cultural clash with Bob getting almost hopelessly lost in translation and an assortment of Japanese folklore manifestations that are so cute, they make you shudder.
What a treat!
March 9, 2022
I really, really needed this.
YES. Bob is Back. Mr. Eater of Souls. In Japan.
Muahahahahahaha
Okay, honestly, I'm still laughing my ass off with this short story. The cuteness factor is at level 10. AND SO IS THE EVIL.
No spoilers. But this is exactly what I've been missing in my life. Thank you, thank you, Charlie!
YES. Bob is Back. Mr. Eater of Souls. In Japan.
Muahahahahahaha
Okay, honestly, I'm still laughing my ass off with this short story. The cuteness factor is at level 10. AND SO IS THE EVIL.
No spoilers. But this is exactly what I've been missing in my life. Thank you, thank you, Charlie!
April 4, 2021
This was a rip roaring ride through government liaison work (and ). Bob Howard is such a great character with an engaging, introspective, yet wry narrative voice. And this novella is all cuteness, jet lag, and Lovecraftian horror, letting Bob be both annoyed at the bureaucracy and ruthlessly competent. the Laundry files is one of those series where my reading petered out and got swallowed by my too large to be read pile, but this story makes me want to dive back in and read them all.
**Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
**Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 10, 2022
Glad to see Bob back in action in this novella.
Stross has said that Bob has grown too powerful to be "interesting" any more, but I disagree.
I want to see more of Bob and Mo and how they are doing after the catastrophic events of The Delirium Brief.
The most recent novels appear to have skipped over our unlucky couple and as a result, I have skipped those novels.
Bob and Mo ARE the Laundry Files. Accept no substitutes
Stross has said that Bob has grown too powerful to be "interesting" any more, but I disagree.
I want to see more of Bob and Mo and how they are doing after the catastrophic events of The Delirium Brief.
The most recent novels appear to have skipped over our unlucky couple and as a result, I have skipped those novels.
Bob and Mo ARE the Laundry Files. Accept no substitutes
January 8, 2023
I've read many of Charles Stross's THE LAUNDRY FILES Series, finding each suffused with wry British (perhaps Scottish) humor, combined delightfully with Urban Fantasy in an overpopulated modern London metropolis, set into the Lovecraft Mythos . Possibly the Master himself might even approve. As good fiction often does, THE LAUNDRY FILES enables the author to examine contemporary Society and its many themes and foils. In ESCAPE FROM YOKAI LAND, author Stross takes on the hefty topics of Japanese Folklore and mythology, current Japanese society, the Japanese workplace culture, sexism, corporate profiteering at the expense of Innocence [and innocents], and the friction of Japanese-British political relations since 1931.
One needs look closely though, to discover these themes, as agent Bob Howard of the British government's Capital Laundry Service is immensely occupied with battling severe jet lag, cultural dissonance, and an intense incursion of entities previously encountered only in Japanese Folklore.
One needs look closely though, to discover these themes, as agent Bob Howard of the British government's Capital Laundry Service is immensely occupied with battling severe jet lag, cultural dissonance, and an intense incursion of entities previously encountered only in Japanese Folklore.
March 16, 2022
OK, so first out - it's the return of Bob, who is a much more endearing character than anyone in the New Management series, so there's that.
But once you get beyond that point - this is a very slight story, limited in detail and plot, not brilliantly edited, and feels like it was dashed off in a lunchtime. After waiting years for this, it was really, really substandard and very disappointing.
But once you get beyond that point - this is a very slight story, limited in detail and plot, not brilliantly edited, and feels like it was dashed off in a lunchtime. After waiting years for this, it was really, really substandard and very disappointing.
Read
March 20, 2021The long-teased Laundry novella in which Bob Howard, geek/spook/apprentice Eater of Souls for the UK government, visits Japan and finds that the colour out of space was pink all along � a joke which Stross has been doing since well before Richard Stanley realised it on screen. You can also expect riffs on the title of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, because the high concept at the heart of this is Hello Kitty as demonic entity. Although she's referred to throughout as Princess Kitty, which I initially took for legal chaff, but then Sanrio and Aggretsuko appear under their own names, so who knows? It is very much a novella � not in the modern sense of 'what would once have been considered a perfectly normal length for a novel, especially in SF', but in my own 'between 50 and 100 pages' use of the term. Also in so far as it has one central idea, and works straight through that. As such, it feels closer to stuff which in the past has been bunged up on Tor.com for free, like Equoid, than than to the Laundry novels proper. But, you know, that is quite a good central idea. In some ways it might have been better had it come out in 2014, where it's set (when Bob moans about the Coalition at one point, I almost found myself calling the Eater of Souls a sweet summer child); I suspect there's now a much greater chance of pushback regarding a story in which a Western lead visits Japan and interacts with a lot of its most stereotypical features, from very formal local contacts, through kawaii critters, to hi-tech loos. Even within that, I was a little surprised at the straightforward Laundryverse take on the yokai in the preliminary encounters, as compared to the ways Stross has hitherto turned genre staples like elves, unicorns and vampires inside out. Still, set against that, it's good to get Bob's narrative voice again after a few books where his increasing power levels meant he had to be sidelined. And did I mention terrifying, eldritch Hello Kitty?
(Netgalley ARC)
(Netgalley ARC)
May 22, 2022
First thing is to echo other reviewers delight that Bob is back. The Laundry Files have taken a significant downturn since Stross got fed up with him. Sadly this short novella is actually a call back to Book 8, acting as a prologue to that installment of the series.
At his best this author can pull off laugh out loud funny and true eldritch horror in the same paragraph, this one doesn't quite come up there with the best, but it's pretty good.
At his best this author can pull off laugh out loud funny and true eldritch horror in the same paragraph, this one doesn't quite come up there with the best, but it's pretty good.
June 20, 2022
This short novella was my first from this author. It is from his "Laundry Files" novellas. It was difficult to fully understand the plot. I suppose I should have read the first of these series.
April 8, 2021
Escape From Puroland by Charles Stross- This is a Laundry Files novella that first appeared in TOR.com, Tor Books online blog. Bob Howard is back, and now the new "Soul Eater" for the Laundry. Sent to Japan to stop an outbreak of pesky Kaiju in Tokyo at the Hello Kitty Park(Puroland) of all places. His escort is a cat-adapt with finicky feline attitude. At first, it seems to Bob to be a little ridicules, but he's soon running for his life, casting spells as he stumbles. All in all a fun time for everyone. I love the droll asides and quirky narration. It's been a while since I read a Laundry File story. Great to recommend this one.
March 6, 2022
Charles Stross generally is entertaining and smart, but this installment reads like he needed to write something, fast, and was out of good ideas...
December 4, 2022
Escape from Yokai Land (Laundry 7.5) by Charles Stross
Bob is back, and he's sent to Japan to fight Yokai and Gaiju.
This is an enjoyable quick read - slightly longer than a short story - that introduces Laundryphiles to the paranormal world of Japan. The Japanese are worried that an epidemic of Yokai (Japanese monsters) will metastasize into a single big Gaiju disaster. Bob - who is settling into his Eater of Souls role - is sent to handle the problem.
Stross is brilliant in setting his story in the cute/adorable world of Japanese culture, where the Gaiju threat comes from "Hello Kitty" and the color scheme of the Lovecraftian apocalypse is pink and white and powered by the giggles of pre-teen girls.
My complaint is that this seems to be a section of a longer book - Laundry 8, perhaps. It satisfies our Laundry addiction, but leaves us hankering for the next fix.
Bob is back, and he's sent to Japan to fight Yokai and Gaiju.
This is an enjoyable quick read - slightly longer than a short story - that introduces Laundryphiles to the paranormal world of Japan. The Japanese are worried that an epidemic of Yokai (Japanese monsters) will metastasize into a single big Gaiju disaster. Bob - who is settling into his Eater of Souls role - is sent to handle the problem.
Stross is brilliant in setting his story in the cute/adorable world of Japanese culture, where the Gaiju threat comes from "Hello Kitty" and the color scheme of the Lovecraftian apocalypse is pink and white and powered by the giggles of pre-teen girls.
My complaint is that this seems to be a section of a longer book - Laundry 8, perhaps. It satisfies our Laundry addiction, but leaves us hankering for the next fix.
January 13, 2023
Escape from Yokai Land is an ordinary day in the life of Bob Howard, aka The Eater of Souls. Japan has requested assistance with a rising tide of extraplanar entities, and whatever happened last time with Angleton in Japan pissed a whole bunch of people off.
A very jetlagged Bob has to meet with his Japanese counterpart, deal with diplomacy and minor monsters, and then face an entity which is pink and cute and has grown fat on the worship of millions of children, and if it gets just a little stronger will turn into a kaiju that'll stomp Tokyo.
And you shall have a Dread Queen
So hey, it's The Laundry, it not a top rank story, but it's better than some of the middle ones. Decent novella for completionists.
A very jetlagged Bob has to meet with his Japanese counterpart, deal with diplomacy and minor monsters, and then face an entity which is pink and cute and has grown fat on the worship of millions of children, and if it gets just a little stronger will turn into a kaiju that'll stomp Tokyo.
And you shall have a Dread Queen
So hey, it's The Laundry, it not a top rank story, but it's better than some of the middle ones. Decent novella for completionists.
May 19, 2023
Entertaining fantasy romp through a world where Cthulhulian monsters are real, but well-managed... kind of.
May 2, 2022
I loved this novella as I've loved all of Stross's Laundry books. Unlike some of the longer works, it's a fairly simple story: set before the cataclysm of the New Management, it gives us a glimpse of Bob Howard visiting Japan on "business", as teased a couple of times in other stories where this trip conveniently kept him absent from crises which, with his newly-acquired abilities as avatar of the eater of Souls, he might have bossed rather too easily.
So essentially, a supernatural crisis is brewing in Japan and its equivalent of the Laundry has called for help, expecting Angleton (though, as becomes clear, not with any great enthusiasm: he has a reputation...)
Instead they get Bob and, rather than let him loose right away, decide he needs to be tested first. There is therefore a series of interesting scenes between Bob, his liaison Yoko Suzuki, and a series of bizarre supernatural infestations, before we get to the real bad. I enjoyed this, Stross is as ever sharp and economical in summing up the social side of things - the office politics, prejudices and little quirks of corporate life - and in Yoko he creates an interesting protagonist it would be good to meet again (though as the Laundry series is moving to a close, I suspect we won't).
In short, it's nice to get a glimpse of the powered-up Bob, though the book does show why Stross has had to hold him back from the more recent Laundry novels. His new powers don't though protect him from senior management and HR. It was a shame that Mo didn't appear, though I live in hope that we will see her again soon.
You'll obviously want to read this if you are following the Laundry saga, if you aren't it probably won't mean much to you - but then you have the blessing of being able to read the series form the beginning so you should get on and do that.
So essentially, a supernatural crisis is brewing in Japan and its equivalent of the Laundry has called for help, expecting Angleton (though, as becomes clear, not with any great enthusiasm: he has a reputation...)
Instead they get Bob and, rather than let him loose right away, decide he needs to be tested first. There is therefore a series of interesting scenes between Bob, his liaison Yoko Suzuki, and a series of bizarre supernatural infestations, before we get to the real bad. I enjoyed this, Stross is as ever sharp and economical in summing up the social side of things - the office politics, prejudices and little quirks of corporate life - and in Yoko he creates an interesting protagonist it would be good to meet again (though as the Laundry series is moving to a close, I suspect we won't).
In short, it's nice to get a glimpse of the powered-up Bob, though the book does show why Stross has had to hold him back from the more recent Laundry novels. His new powers don't though protect him from senior management and HR. It was a shame that Mo didn't appear, though I live in hope that we will see her again soon.
You'll obviously want to read this if you are following the Laundry saga, if you aren't it probably won't mean much to you - but then you have the blessing of being able to read the series form the beginning so you should get on and do that.
April 14, 2022
Bob has the same problem Superman does, it's difficult to make him interesting, because he is so powerful. This would cause real issues with the current storyline, so the easiest thing to do is to shove him off-stage. In this case, Japan, on an exchange visit. He's across to help out the Japanese version of the Laundry, as they seem to be having a rash of Yokai manifestations. It does appear this may be linked to a Hellmouth his predecessor warded. A Hellmouth looked after by possibly the most scary of all Yokai.
It's a fun novelette, only running to around 80 pages, so not a long read but it is nice to see Bob again, even if he is the only one of the old crew we see. Saying that the price is a disgrace. £8 for a 80pg novelette on kindle is ridiculous. I understand it's because the Americans (of course) got it first in hbk, so it's priced in the UK at that price point, but it's still shameful
It's a fun novelette, only running to around 80 pages, so not a long read but it is nice to see Bob again, even if he is the only one of the old crew we see. Saying that the price is a disgrace. £8 for a 80pg novelette on kindle is ridiculous. I understand it's because the Americans (of course) got it first in hbk, so it's priced in the UK at that price point, but it's still shameful
March 5, 2022
A bland short story that adds nothing to the series
A short prequel to a book way back in the series arch, in the style close to the very first books. The action is repetitive of the older books, nothing is added to the depiction of the protagonist, and the writing isn't particularly inspired. Disappointing and unnecessary addition to otherwise great series.
A short prequel to a book way back in the series arch, in the style close to the very first books. The action is repetitive of the older books, nothing is added to the depiction of the protagonist, and the writing isn't particularly inspired. Disappointing and unnecessary addition to otherwise great series.
March 16, 2022
What did I do, 11 bucks for a short story! I’m totally unhappy gang, but I guess I should have read the fine print better. In that it’s only 83 pages! But, I never thought, one of my favorite authors would rip me off!
So now I’ve been schooled�..beware and forewarned. Not worth the price at all!
So now I’ve been schooled�..beware and forewarned. Not worth the price at all!
July 21, 2022
Originally posted on my blog: .
Escape from Yokai Land is a novella in the Laundry Files by . Released 1st March 2022 by Macmillan on their imprint, it's 96 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
I love the sense of gonzo out-of-control wall-to-wall hysterical madness for which the Laundry Files are well known. This is more of the same, and featuring Bob (!!! YAY!). For readers who adore paranormal bureaucratic fantasy, this is the top shelf good stuff. For fans of Aaronovitch, Doctorow, Simon Green, and the other boys in the band - this is not derivative at all, but ticks the same boxes for me as the aforementioned. It's funny, full on chaos, darkly humorous, and absolutely full of malicious compliance and government incompetence. I also love the fact that there's deep nerdiness in the form of a math/physics/programming component to magic and that the agents are really smart (and very nerdy).
For readers who are not already invested in the series, it's convoluted, and this one won't work particularly well as a standalone. The series is up to 9 books plus tie ins in the form of the New Management series, so it's a great candidate for a very long weekend's binge read.
Four and a half stars. I recommend it to humorous SF fans unreservedly.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Escape from Yokai Land is a novella in the Laundry Files by . Released 1st March 2022 by Macmillan on their imprint, it's 96 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
I love the sense of gonzo out-of-control wall-to-wall hysterical madness for which the Laundry Files are well known. This is more of the same, and featuring Bob (!!! YAY!). For readers who adore paranormal bureaucratic fantasy, this is the top shelf good stuff. For fans of Aaronovitch, Doctorow, Simon Green, and the other boys in the band - this is not derivative at all, but ticks the same boxes for me as the aforementioned. It's funny, full on chaos, darkly humorous, and absolutely full of malicious compliance and government incompetence. I also love the fact that there's deep nerdiness in the form of a math/physics/programming component to magic and that the agents are really smart (and very nerdy).
For readers who are not already invested in the series, it's convoluted, and this one won't work particularly well as a standalone. The series is up to 9 books plus tie ins in the form of the New Management series, so it's a great candidate for a very long weekend's binge read.
Four and a half stars. I recommend it to humorous SF fans unreservedly.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
October 5, 2024
Now that was a disappointment. I get the idea of Bob's lesser adventures, Equoid was a hoot and a half, but this one looks like a halfhearted, half-baked effort dropped off in a hurry because of, idk, contractual obligations? Bob goes to Japan, bumbles along badly jetlagged, bumps off a nascent kaiju, end of story. No trace of escaping the Yokai Land detected, either, so either this was intended to be twice as long (which would explain the dangling plot threads, of which there are MANY), or basically assembled from factory-floor cutoffs and shipped away as is, neither of which makes this customer happy.
April 15, 2022
4,5â�, aunque no puedo ser imparcial, la serie de la LavanderÃa de Stross es uno de mis puntos flacos, aunque haya perdido ya la mayorÃa de la premisa «matemáticas crean magia» que le daban gran parte de la gracia a los primeros libros. Pero el protagonista es Bob, que me gusta más que los protagonistas más recientes de la serie, asà que lo doy por bueno aunque no sea realmente nada del otro mundo.
October 6, 2022
What a delight to return to the Laundry characters, to read about Bob again after the last two very unfortunate books about diversity and magical perverts. Even though I found the fast jump in cutesy (kawai?) Japan a missed opportunity to play with its intricate fantasy world, I stuck with the tale and read it all, hoping for at least a sober ending. Alas, it was not to be. Perhaps this was a bit ‘phoned in�, but after two (unsuccessful) books about the ‘New Management�, I’m content with this.
April 13, 2022
Charles Stross’s latest Laundry Files novelette fills in what Bob Howard was doing in Japan before everything went to pieces. It seems there was magical being haunting a Japanese Amusement park. To save himself and Japan Bob has to Escape from Yokai Land (ebook from tordotcom). Yokai land is horribly sweet and very Japanese. He would have been better off fighting dinosaurs.
July 18, 2022
A very fun extension of the Laundry Files into the world of Japanese Hello Kitty in this novella. A quote from the story: "trying not to trip over small shouty people in the grip of sugar-fueled , sticky-fingered ecstasy of animated joy and ignoring the rude looks I receive from their parental units".
If you don't find that too twee, you should have a great read.
If you don't find that too twee, you should have a great read.
February 1, 2023
A novella, not a novel, and unfortunately not one of his best. Bob's been sent to Tokyo to help contain an outbreak of yokai - Japanese fokloric creatures - and the manifestation of a large, pink Hello Kitty. There are a few of the usual Stross-like geeky jokes and allusions, but generally it's rather flat and overpriced for its size (86 pages).
Want to read
April 3, 2023TOR novella. SLO county has the ebook. Nobody has the physical book, as of 4/3/23. Meh.
My reliable GR friend and reviewer said:
"Alas, when Charlie said Bob was no longer interesting, he was right, and this proves it.
Treat this as a bit of cotton candy and it's fun, more so if you have visited Japan."
My reliable GR friend and reviewer said:
"Alas, when Charlie said Bob was no longer interesting, he was right, and this proves it.
Treat this as a bit of cotton candy and it's fun, more so if you have visited Japan."
December 10, 2022
I was curious so I picked this up...for the most part if filled in the necessary background, as I am unfamiliar with this series. It's written in a wry, witty style...but by the end it felt a touch rushed, and it leads directly into another book...so it wasn't quite what I was hoping for...but it was entertaining enough, especially in the first half.
July 10, 2022
I picked this up because my nephew talks about yokai. Now I want to read more in this series.
November 12, 2023
A quick snack with a bit of a letdown of an ending.
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