The nice thing about being a Tor subscriber is I've already got it via email. And it was lovely, thank you.

WARNING: SPOILERS WILL BE DELETED.

(#1 is not quite a spoiler. Discussion of the contents ... that would be a spoiler!)

Am I allowed to say it was a CENSORED? We'll find out.

Whatever it was or wasn't, I enjoyed it. Cheers!

Dave: nope, you're not.

I got it too, but soon remembered that reading prose from screen is not my cup od tea (strange, no problems with reviews, blogs, etc) and decided to wait for mobipocket version.

But I read enough to start to wonder - are you familiar with a novel Monday Begins on Saturday by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky? [1]

I suppose the experience of being stuck in an empty government facility while everyone else is supposed to have a good time is universal, regardless of country or form of government.

The similarities would most likely disappear further on, (for one Bob probably will have much worse time, the facility in question being Laundry) but the first impression had been something like "Oh, it's like Stugatskys' Monday[2], only in Laundry! Poor Bob..."

[1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Begins_on_Saturday

[2] Or, to be exact, a part of Monday, about a short-story long. ;)

Spriggana: yes, I am familiar with "Monday begins on Saturday" :)

I'm also a Tor subscriber, and let me say that this was a very pleasant surprise, and thank you very much. And I will be sending an invoice for that hour of sleep you cost me when it turned up in my inbox at 11pm.

Can only agree with #1. Thank you!

I'm another Tor subscriber and was amply rewarded when the treat appeared in my inbox. Do what Mr. Stross says, gentlefolk!

On the subject of the Strugatsky brothers, their novel Inhabited Island (published in English as Prisoners of Power) has recently been adapted for the screen. Anyone read that one? If so, what did you think?

What is a Tor subscription? I've been all over the site and can't find any offer.

I was thinking the same, #11. Sounds like the secret society of the Stonecutters or something. Anyone have the Cthulhu shaped birthmark?

Looking forward to it though; intriguing.

OK, so you've integrated the NHS into the Laundry view of Britain. Excellent idea (and a nice touch of Iain Sinclair, I think). You've done the military (Alan Barnes) and the civil service (the core of the whole Laundry project) and the intelligence establishment.

When are you going to try the Conservative Party?

Alex: that's due to come up in THE APOCALYPSE CODEX, if I get the go-ahead to write it (book #4). I'll be pitching it at my editors in mid-2010, presumably for delivery in 2011 ...

That is awesome! Thanks, have a great Xmas

11&12, about the middle right of the home page, it says "My World." Click on Join Now and follow the directions.

This comment has been superseded by a post on my own weblog.

Further, I have committed fanfic. Pray to whatever gods you may have for mercy on my soul. Me, I don't have any gods - I'ma torture myself with remorse an guilt the old fashioned way.

Charlie - what the F* are we supposed to be looking for?

Do you mean the copy of "Down on the Farm" - under the "stories" sub-heading - or something else?

Greg: you'll know it when you see it, and it will be up before December 25th. More I shall not say, except that folks on Tor's mailing list already have it.

And it's up. Right in the middle of the home page.

Or just follow the link

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=story&id=58511

It's now up. That was fun; thanks Charlie :)

(Also, am I allowed to comment that I'm astonished at the fact that the laundry hasn't been forced to outsource their classified-document-destruction process? Surely they can see that the marketplace is the appropriate way to find the cheapestbest solution?)

The paragraph about English suburban Christmas alone was worth the price of admission. Thank you!

Great story, thanks. Happy Holidays to All.

What a wonderful Christmas present!

Awesomeness! Thanks, Charlie. Looks like I have some more reading to do. What I look back on as strange is why I haven't delved into the Laundry-verse before. I discovered your work when you published Down on the Farm on Tor last year, read your blog for a while after that before going out to find your books, forgot where I had discovered you, then remembered when I came across a story in one of your books that sounded so familiar...

Anyway, I know SOME of what I will be doing in 2010 :)

Yeah, that was rather great. So this is when the story arc of CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN really begins. Or technically with the next novel seeing as this is set a number of months later as mentioned by charlie in comments. Very exciting/terrifying. I like a genuine advance in storyline from a short that is seemingly non-essential. A shame that bob slung his trusty Palm though.

Thank you Charlie for the festive season Laundry story.

Who's had all the pies? LOL.

Great story! It made me even more eager for The Fuller Memorandum. I liked that it was seasonal. Thanks for the unexpected present.

Thanks for the appetizer. A very welcome surprise.

Thanks very much Charlie.

Great fun. To be read on a Dark and Stormy Night, obviously - so very suitable to now.

(can I though don my pedant's hat for a sec? Sections of Acts are divided into subsections, which are simply referred to as section 3(1), 3(2),...

Paragraphs are subdivisions of Schedules (which are separate parts of Acts that go at the end and usually contain the detail, or the boring definitions). Paragraphs are divided into subparagraphs, so again you could have subpara 4(1), 4(2),...

So it would be (say) "... within the meaning of section 3(4) of the Official Secrets Act..." or perhaps "... of Para 4(12) of Schedule 3 to the Official Secrets Act..."

But perhaps there is a different convention for legislation whose very existence is itself a secret?

I can't believe I've just typed all that.)

Also... Dr. Kringle? heh heh

There were moments with the descriptions of the deserted laundry on a wintery eve that were genuinely chilling. shudder

Tim @ 26

I think you'll find that Bob didn't sling his trusty Palm, it got destroyed fighting the Forces of Darkness[TM} in an unpublished (as yet) story. Hence the iPhone as Bob gets seduced by the power of advertising.

The short story is, of course, excellent (as you would expect).

Chris, (Waiting for TToQ and TFM - I will then be able to say I've Read TFM.)

Very cute, Charlie. You've made waiting for CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN enjoyable.

Chris: really? How do you know? What unpublished story?

tim@36: The next Laundry book "The Fuller Memorandum" is already listed on Amazon (though the release date is not until July 2010). Books go through a lengthy process between the time the manuscript is submitted and publication. Charlie has test readers. The obvious conclusion is left as an exercise for the reader. :)

Thanks for the story. Merry Christmas Charlie.