A Conventional Boy

Laundry Files, Book 13

By: Charles Stross

Narrated by: Ciaran Saward

In A Conventional Boy, the fate of the world will depend on a roll of the dice... twenty-sided dice, that is.

In 1984, Derek Reilly was just another teenage nerd growing up in middle England. But his love of D&D caused him to fall afoul of the Laundry, a government agency tasked with suppressing supernatural threats. It turns out that sometimes ninth level wizard spells drawn on the back of your maths textbook can look suspiciously like actual magic...

Decades later, Derek is a long-term inmate at Camp Sunshine, a centre for deprogramming captured cultists. But Derek finally has reason to escape, and an escape plan to out into action: he wants to attend his first gaming convention. While Derek's D&D games were fictional, a game at the con really 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 dice bag.

The Laundry Files series follows an agency of British spies who deal with supernatural threats; they also have to deal with chronic underfunding, government ministers, rival agencies and worst of all, each other. Think Slow Horses crossed with the monsters from Stranger Things, this series is funny, nerdy, and a cult classic.

***Publishing ahead of the final Laundry Files novel (The Regicide Report), this new collection includes the never before published Laundry Files novel A Conventional Boy - inspired by the 1980s Satanic Panic - and two other short stories in this joyous celebration of all things Laundry Files.***

In this collection:
*A CONVENTIONAL BOY (53.3k words)
*DOWN ON THE FARM (12.7k words)
*OVERTIME (8.7k words)
also includes exclusive afterword from Charles Stross©2025 Charles Stross (P)2025 Hachette Audio UK

Almost a return to form. Almost.

The story is simple, predictable, pre-new management, but enjoyable with 2 extra Bob short stories for added fanservice. It doesn't feel as politically charged as some of the previous few Laundry books, but the author can't help himself and put all that in the afterword to get it out his systen