Oh really? You dropped out fairly early then, which is fair enough but you do miss out on some wild stuff a few books hence. To be fair to Stross he hasn’t exactly hidden the fact that the Laundry series would get increasingly grim as the Lovecratian singularity approaches when the stars align and the walls of reality start to thin…
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For an interesting take on other species and universe-building, I recommend The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, the first in the Wayfarers series.
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IMO both are clear, but only one makes me smile!
Seconded, excellent series. Very much enjoyed this series, somewhat short reads where I found myself really wishing there were longer to keep immersed in the world longer.
Also, Terminal Alliance by Jim C Hines was a great book/series. Told from the angle of the lowly janitorial staff on a spaceship, who of course save the day.
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You might consult “A Desolation Called Peace”, the second volume of Arkady Martine’s Teixcalaan series Read it, and find out if its addressed (one of the characters is, after all, a linguist). If my memory has failed me, and it turns out not to have been, it’s still an enjoyable series.
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Stross certainly stated that the books were going to get very dark, so I knew it was coming. But they got to the point where I was finding what the characters were going through too difficult to read. Your milage may vary and if you’re enjoying them, all power to you.
I have enough other books I want to read to force myslef to continue with a series I’ve stopped enjoying (he says avoiding looking at Mount Too-Be-Read in the library)
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I have to recommend Stanislaw Lem’s various essays in science-fiction criticism for this topic. This thread nudged me to track them down and re-read some, and it’s interesting because he’s wise, a good writer, and he was writing from a perspective from another place and time. It’s also just refreshing to read someone advocating for quality.
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I can always recommend “Only Forward” by Michael Marshall Smith, but I also refuse to tell you anything about it.
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