The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Research dossier

The Laundry Files

#3294.07 in the official ranking · full ranking

Books 18 books Status Complete 2004–2026 Reading commitment High Charles Stross Last reviewed 2026-10-29

Overview

Charles Stross’s long-running series imagines that magic is a branch of applied mathematics, so that the right computation can summon horrors from beyond spacetime, and that Britain keeps a secret agency, the Laundry, to deal with the consequences. Its heroes are civil servants as much as spies, fighting Lovecraftian threats through meetings, audits and office politics as the stars come right. Bob Howard, a former IT worker turned occult field agent, narrates the early books, which began as pastiches of Len Deighton, Ian Fleming, Anthony Price and Peter O’Donnell; later novels pass to his wife Mo, the vampire Alex Schwartz and the Baroness Mhari Murphy. A spin-off trilogy, the Tales of the New Management, follows ordinary people in the Britain that emerges. Two Laundry novellas won the Hugo Award, The Apocalypse Codex won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and the series was a Hugo finalist for Best Series in 2019 and 2024. The main sequence ended in 2026 with The Regicide Report.

Urban fantasy, Dark fantasy · For Adult

Core Canon: Reading Order (18 works) counts toward ranking

The Laundry Files Charles Stross

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of The Atrocity ArchivesThe Atrocity Archives; Contains two Laundry stories: the short novel The Atrocity Archive, first serialised in a magazine in 2001-2002, and the novella The Concrete Jungle, which won the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella. The novella is not registered as a separate work because it was first published in this book.20041core3.89 (28,005 ratings)
Cover of The Jennifer MorgueThe Jennifer Morgue; Also contains the short story Pimpf and an essay; Pimpf is not registered as a separate work because it was first published in this book.20062core4.02 (15,233 ratings)
Cover of The Fuller MemorandumThe Fuller Memorandum20103core4.19 (12,849 ratings)
Cover of The Apocalypse CodexThe Apocalypse Codex20124core4.18 (11,570 ratings)
Cover of The Rhesus ChartThe Rhesus Chart20145core4.19 (9,618 ratings)
Cover of The Annihilation ScoreThe Annihilation Score20156core3.91 (7,795 ratings)
Cover of The Nightmare StacksThe Nightmare Stacks20167core4.23 (6,925 ratings)
Cover of The Delirium BriefThe Delirium Brief20178core4.26 (5,946 ratings)
Cover of The Labyrinth IndexThe Labyrinth Index20189core4.14 (4,777 ratings)
Cover of A Conventional BoyA Conventional Boy; A full-length novel set between the earlier books. The UK edition also includes the short stories Down on the Farm and Overtime, which are registered separately as Expanded works.202510core4.16 (1,448 ratings)
Cover of The Regicide ReportThe Regicide Report202611core4.23 (1,051 ratings)
Down on the Farm; Novelette first published online by Tor.com in 2008; set between The Jennifer Morgue and The Fuller Memorandum.2008N/Aexpanded3.97 (3,678 ratings)
Overtime; Novelette first published online by Tor.com in December 2009; set between The Fuller Memorandum and The Apocalypse Codex.2009N/Aexpanded3.92 (4,143 ratings)
Cover of EquoidEquoid; Novella first published online by Tor.com in September 2013; set between The Jennifer Morgue and The Fuller Memorandum. ISBN is the first print edition (Subterranean Press hardcover); the novella first appeared online, without an ISBN.2013N/Aexpanded3.96 (5,164 ratings)
Cover of Escape from Yokai LandEscape from Yokai Land; Novella (announced as Escape from Puroland), set at the same time as The Nightmare Stacks; some editions number it in the main sequence, but as a companion novella it is Expanded.2022N/Aexpanded3.91 (2,001 ratings)

The main sequence about the Laundry, Britain's secret occult intelligence agency, from Bob Howard's first field mission to the agency's end.

Tales of the New Management Charles Stross

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Dead Lies DreamingDead Lies Dreaming; Marketed in the US as the tenth Laundry Files book; the author treats it as the first of the Tales of the New Management.20201core3.96 (3,525 ratings)
Cover of Quantum of NightmaresQuantum of Nightmares20222core4.11 (2,464 ratings)
Cover of Season of SkullsSeason of Skulls20233core4.15 (2,098 ratings)

Spin-off trilogy set in the same world after the main crisis, following ordinary people in the Britain ruled by Prime Minister Fabian Everyman.

Quick answers

Why is it ranked #329?

Ranked #329 in the official ranking.

How the ranking works →

Why explore this universe?

Highly rated · 14 books · Complete · 113k ratings · Ranks #329 overall

Good choice if you want a long-running urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.

Reading order

Publication order (14 Core Canon books)

  1. The Atrocity Archives (2004)
  2. The Jennifer Morgue (2006)
  3. The Fuller Memorandum (2010)
  4. The Apocalypse Codex (2012)
  5. The Rhesus Chart (2014)
  6. The Annihilation Score (2015)
  7. The Nightmare Stacks (2016)
  8. The Delirium Brief (2017)
  9. The Labyrinth Index (2018)
  10. Dead Lies Dreaming (2020)
  11. Quantum of Nightmares (2022)
  12. Season of Skulls (2023)
  13. A Conventional Boy (2025)
  14. The Regicide Report (2026)

Documented internal/story order

  1. The Atrocity Archives (2004)
  2. Dead Lies Dreaming (2020)
  3. The Jennifer Morgue (2006)
  4. Quantum of Nightmares (2022)
  5. The Fuller Memorandum (2010)
  6. Season of Skulls (2023)
  7. The Apocalypse Codex (2012)
  8. The Rhesus Chart (2014)
  9. The Annihilation Score (2015)
  10. The Nightmare Stacks (2016)
  11. The Delirium Brief (2017)
  12. The Labyrinth Index (2018)
  13. A Conventional Boy (2025)
  14. The Regicide Report (2026)

Awards (verified)

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Suggestions computed from what The Laundry Files and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.

Official resources

Research details

Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.07 across 113,304 ratings on 14 Core Canon books. 4 additional Core Canon books haven't been rated yet, so they aren't counted here. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.

How do we know this?

Admission: Canon extension: The Laundry Files (Charles Stross) accepted 2026-10-28

Sources: (see source tier definitions)

Last reviewed: 2026-10-28

Rule: Core Canon = the 14 novels set in the Laundry world: the 11 books of the main sequence (The Atrocity Archives, 2004, to The Regicide Report, 2026, including the interstitial novel A Conventional Boy) and the 3 Tales of the New Management (2020-2023). The stories bundled inside The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue are read as part of those books. Expanded = the standalone shorter works Down on the Farm, Overtime, Equoid and Escape from Yokai Land.

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