As with The Atrocity Archives, this is a novel and short combination. The novel features the eponymous Jennifer Morgue while the short Pimpf introduces Bob’s first subordinate. Bob’s middle names are introduced in the Jennifer Morgue but I must shamefully admit I didn’t get the joke until the title of thoe short and name of Bob’s subordinate hit me over the head with a mallet. Stross had clearly been planning that little joke from the start. It even works in-character since Bob is an acknowledged pseudonym for the memoir writer.

Having done Len Deighton for The Atrocity Archive, Stross takes on Fleming for the Jennifer Morgue. Well, actually it’s a bit more Broccoli than Fleming, for obvious in-story reasons. Stross isn’t content just to riff off Mr Bond, though. He take the Bond mythos well through its paces while subverting most of its tropes on the way through. This is a little more lighthearted than the Atrocity Archive, due mostly to the emulated style and approach. It’s still firmly embedded in the Chulthu Mythos as well, though.

Pimpf, in addition to the Travaglia pun, is a nice little tale of internal ambition and MMORPG danger in a world in which the right (or is that wrong) sort of computation is actually applied demonology. A nice little addition to the series.