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  • Quantum of Nightmares

  • The New Management, Book 2
  • By: Charles Stross
  • Narrated by: Imogen Church
  • Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (98 ratings)
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Quantum of Nightmares

By: Charles Stross
Narrated by: Imogen Church
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Summary

It's a brave new Britain under the New Management. The Prime Minister is an eldritch god of unimaginable power. Crime is plummeting as almost every offense is punishable by death. And everywhere you look, there are people with strange powers, some of which they can control, and some, not so much.

Hyperorganised and formidable, Eve Starkey defeated her boss, the louche magical adept and billionaire Rupert de Montfort Bigge, in a supernatural duel to the death. Now she's in charge of the Bigge Corporation, just in time to discover the lethal trap Rupert set for her long ago....

Wendy Deere is investigating unauthorized supernatural shenanigans. She swore to herself she wouldn't again get entangled with Eve Starkey's bohemian brother, Imp, and his crew of transhuman misfits. Yeah, right.

Mary Macandless has powers of her own. Right now she's pretending to be a nanny in order to kidnap the children of a pair of famous, Government-authorized adepts. These children have powers of their own, and Mary Macandless is in way over her head.

All of these stories will come together, with world-bending results....

©2022 Charles Stross (P)2022 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"For all of Stross's genuine ability to spook and dismay, The Laundry Files are some of the most tremendously humane books I've ever read." (Tamsyn Muir, author of Gideon the Ninth)

What listeners say about Quantum of Nightmares

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars

Can not listen all the shrieking

I really wanted to listen the new Charles Stross book but the constant yelling and shrieking by the reader makes it impossible. From very low voice to very loud yelling in an instant, there's no way to listen to this piece with or without headphones. So I can't really tell much about the story.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story spoiled by hammy narration

I love this series of books, but this narrator is terrible! Overdone and hammed up to an intrusive degree.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent on every count

This was just amazing and a perfect combination of comic horror fantasy that left me almost crying with laughter. Special note of how well the narrator voiced Mary and the Banks children

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not the right narrator

The story is good, the drama unfolds and the humour is pure stross.

Unfortunately the narration was nowhere near on point.. from the technical with levels all over the place to poor vocal characterisations that didn't seem to fit with the characters to male characterisations that were barely understandable. If I could get my money back I would.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exciting plot, superb narration

This direct sequel to Dead Lies Dreaming continues the story of Eve, her brother Imp and his housemates as they try to make sense of their family's secret fate, interwoven with two new plot strands that at first appear to be disparate but seen merge into each other as more secrets are revealed, like the sinister goings-on in a supermarket chain and the tales of a nanny trying to wrestle the kids of a superhero couple into submission without drawing attention to herself or them. The book starts off at a sprint and doesn't stop until the last paragraph of the epilogue.
I want to draw special attention to the narrator, Imogen Church. Her vocal range for the cast of characters is truly mind-boggling, from the hyperactive kids, via the out of her depth SuperNanny to the quietly sinister people in charge, she is a force to be reckoned with and I will be looking out for other books she's narrated. Her performance makes this book even more exciting than the content. Highly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dear God (Cthulhu), who thought this narrator was a good idea?

I have read/listened to all of the Laundry series and have no reason to believe that this story is anything other than excellent. However, I’ve had four goes at listening to Quantum of Nightmares and each time have given up after five minutes unable to stand the frankly bizarre narration.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator…just way too screechy !

Usual quality from Stross, but sorry Imogen, you’re talented but the voices you do for some of the characters… are just far, far too high pitched..they absolutely grated on my nerves😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 Had to turn the volume right down just to get through them. Made it to the end…because I’m determined! But not an enjoyable listen.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The final stumble off a cliff

After being a huge fan of the Laundry Files I gave some rope to Stross after a few entries to the series that feel (quite far) from the mark in what felt like a slippery slope he couldn't get his grip on again. Unfortunately Quantum of Nightmares is where the slope ended, leaving him to fly right off the cliff never to see the mark again. A real slog to get through and definitely one to miss. What a shame after having a such a successful run of fantastic books.

A special word for the narrator, whose performance managed to limbo under the very low bar set by the book itself. If the story was a slog, the constant shrieking and poor accents certainly made it a tortuous one.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Performance is nothing to.worry about

As much as I have loved the Laundry Files as a whole, I nearly gave this one a miss due to the reviews on the narrator's performance. It is no where near as bad as some reviewers would have you believe in my opinion.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

As with the first New Management book, this isn't a patch on the Laundry files books. Only the final couple of chapters the story started to improve and pick up any pace.
Also not particularly good narration in my opinion, sorry!
Bring back Bob :-)

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