The Annihilation Score takes a bit of a different take from the previous five books, shifting the viewpoint from the previous hero* Bob to his wife Mo.

Previously, Mo had been one of my favorite characters in the series. She’s just mysterious enough that she’s interesting, coming in to save the day with a truly terrifying violin. Unfortunately, the more I know about her, the less I care.

The basic idea is interesting enough. Basically, as the world careens towards madness, magic is becoming more prevalent. But people don’t believe in magic anymore, they believe in superheroes. One thing leads to another and Mo ends up leading a mostly publicly known super-hero task force. Much as The Rhesus Chart, despite the incoming danger, this feels like a de-escalation from the first four books.

One problem that annoyed me throughout the book was the relationship between Bob and Mo. I get it, they’ve been through Hell (literally) and they’re each dealing with their own demons (again, literally), but I don’t really understand their reactions to it. It feels more like Stross needed to get Bob out of the picture. So it goes.

Overall, I miss Bob. I miss Mo as a secondary character. I still enjoyed this more than enough to continue the series when the next comes out.

• For some definitions of hero.