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Description:
In the world of "The Atrocity Archive," Alan Turing, the Father of Modern Computer Science, did in fact complete his theorem on "Phase Conjugate Grammars for Extra-dimensional Summoning." Turing's work paved the way for esoteric mathematical computations that, when carried out, had side effects that would leak through the platonic realm of pure mathematics underlying the structure of the Cosmos. Out there in the multiverse there were "listeners" -- and sometimes these listeners could be coerced into opening gates. Small gates through which minds could be transferred and, occasionally, large gates through which objects could be moved.
In 1945, Nazi Germany's Ahnenerbe-SS, in an attempt to escape the Allied onslaught, performed just such a summoning on the souls of more than six million. They opened a gate to an alternate universe through which the SS could move men and matériel. But their summoning brought forth more than the SS had bargained for -- an Evil, patiently waiting for countless eons, now poised to lunch on our galaxy, on our very own Earth.
Secret intelligence agencies, esoteric theorems, Lovecraftian horrors, Mid East terrorist connections, a damsel in distress, and a final battle on the surface of a dying planet -- in "The Atrocity Archive," Charles Stross has written a high-octane thriller, and readers need to buckle up and hold on with both hands!
"The Atrocity Archive" is a 78,000 word novel, previously serialized in the U.K. magazine Spectrum SF, and now published for the first time in an archival-quality hardcover. This volume also contains a new, previously unpublished novella, "The Concrete Jungle," that features the further adventures of Bob Howard -- a wisecracking, occasionally insubordinate, computer-hacker desk jockey -- the reluctant hero in "The Atrocity Archive." Bob works for "The Laundry," a British ultra-secret intelligence organization. In "The Concrete Jungle," a power struggle erupts within the Laundry's management, and Bob is unavoidably caught in the middle.
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