The Jennifer Morgue
Encyclopedia
The Jennifer Morgue is the second collection of stories by Charles Stross
featuring Bob Howard, containing the title novel The Jennifer Morgue, the short story "Pimpf", and an essay titled "The Golden Age of Spying". The collection is a sequel to the stories published in The Atrocity Archives
(2004); a third book, The Fuller Memorandum
, was released in July 2010. The stories are Lovecraftian spy thrillers involving a secret British intelligence agency known as "The Laundry", which deals with occult events and technology.
Where 2004's The Atrocity Archives is written in the idiom of Len Deighton
, The Jennifer Morgue is a pastiche
of Ian Fleming
's James Bond
novels and refers to the real-life Project Azorian (incorrectly named by the press as Project Jennifer); Stross also uses footnote
s and narrative causality, two literary devices common in the novels of Terry Pratchett
. The included short story, "Pimpf", draws heavily on the mythos of online role-playing games as well as the "Bastard Operator from Hell
" stories of Simon Travaglia
.
The Jennifer Morgue was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2007.
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross is a British writer of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror and fantasy. He was born in Leeds.Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera...
featuring Bob Howard, containing the title novel The Jennifer Morgue, the short story "Pimpf", and an essay titled "The Golden Age of Spying". The collection is a sequel to the stories published in The Atrocity Archives
The Atrocity Archives
The Atrocity Archives contains two stories by British author Charles Stross, consisting of the short novel The Atrocity Archive and The Concrete Jungle, which won the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella.The stories are Lovecraftian spy thrillers involving a secret history of the 20th century,...
(2004); a third book, The Fuller Memorandum
The Fuller Memorandum
The Fuller Memorandum is the third novel by Charles Stross in his "Laundry" series of Lovecraftian spy thrillers. The previous novels in the series were The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue...
, was released in July 2010. The stories are Lovecraftian spy thrillers involving a secret British intelligence agency known as "The Laundry", which deals with occult events and technology.
Where 2004's The Atrocity Archives is written in the idiom of Len Deighton
Len Deighton
Leonard Cyril Deighton is a British military historian, cookery writer, and novelist. He is perhaps most famous for his spy novel The IPCRESS File, which was made into a film starring Michael Caine....
, The Jennifer Morgue is a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novels and refers to the real-life Project Azorian (incorrectly named by the press as Project Jennifer); Stross also uses footnote
Footnote
A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the text, or both...
s and narrative causality, two literary devices common in the novels of Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
. The included short story, "Pimpf", draws heavily on the mythos of online role-playing games as well as the "Bastard Operator from Hell
Bastard Operator From Hell
The Bastard Operator From Hell , a fictional character created by Simon Travaglia, is a rogue system administrator who takes out his anger on users , colleagues, bosses, and anyone else who gets in his way....
" stories of Simon Travaglia
Simon Travaglia
Simon Travaglia is best known as the author of the Bastard Operator From Hell stories, about a rogue system administrator. He lives in Hautapu , New Zealand with his three cows, dog, cat and Massey Ferguson MF135...
.
The Jennifer Morgue was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2007.
See also
The following novels, games and short stories follow similar themes of espionage agents working against supernatural or alien entities.- DeclareDeclareDeclare is a supernatural spy novel by Tim Powers. It presents a secret history of the Cold War in which an agent for a secret British spy organization learns the true nature of several beings living on Mount Ararat. In this he is opposed by real-life communist traitor Kim Philby, who did travel...
by Tim PowersTim PowersTimothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare... - The Spiraling WormThe Spiraling WormThe Spiraling Worm is a science fiction and Lovecraftian horror novel written in the style of a spy thriller, by authors David Conyers and John Sunseri and published in 2007. The novel went on to receive an Honourable Mention for Best Australian Horror Novel in the 12th Annual Aurealis Award and...
by David ConyersDavid ConyersDavid Conyers writes predominantly science fiction and Lovecraftian horror.Most of his childhood was spent in the Adelaide Hills, before moving to Melbourne. There he achieved a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Melbourne in 1993...
and John SunseriJohn SunseriJohn Sunseri is a horror writer from Portland, Oregon in the United States. As well as writing traditional horror fiction he also writes Lovecraftian horror. John spent two years at Yale University studying a major in English. Today he manages a restaurant.Writing since 2001, John has published... - Delta GreenDelta GreenDelta Green is a setting for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game created by Adam Scott Glancy, Dennis Detwiller, and John Tynes, aka the Delta Green Partnership, of the Seattle gaming house Pagan Publishing...
role-playing gameRole-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
External links
- Golden Gryphon Press official site
- James Bond Vs. Cthulhu
- The Jennifer Morgue at Worlds Without End