(Yes, I know that for anyone even vaguely literate in Cyrillic, the post title reads "Yeading.")
I finished Rule 34 by Charles Stross last night and recommended it to Tamara. Alas, I turned the last page right before my usual sleepytime, so what I said was--
RX: "Tam, as much as you like William Gibson, I think you would really like this Stross novel, Rule 43."
Tam: [Very quizzical look] "Rule 43? 43? 'The reason dyslexics can't find pr0n on the Internet?'"
RX: [blushes] "Um, 34, 34. It's a sort of cyberdectective novel, but very different. And it's set in Scotland, so it might as well be on Ganymede...." [starts giggling] "Egad. I really said '43.'
Tam: [snickers] "Yup."
[Players exit, laughing]
...Withal, it is a good book; a bit twisty and "for mature audiences," but in a manner that is integral to the plot. I'd only previously read one of his Lovecraftian/spy yarns, fun but nothing to yank the rug out from under the reader, so my expectations proved rather lower than the book. Guy can write.
I've read a little bit of Stross, also.
ReplyDeleteHe can definitely turn a tale.
Rule 34 is a stand-alone, but it fits in the same fictional world as Halting State.
I really enjoyed Accellerando and Glasshouse by Stross as well. The man envisions the future wholesale, with no aspect absent or unconsidered.
ReplyDeleteSmall world.
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading it a couple days ago myself.
I though ti was a bit too... similar to Halting State and "paint by numbers", until the ending and a bunch of it clicked.
Also the world it paints... brrrr.. very Europhilic, security-state, and nationalized "ethical" corporations.
Also it does show how you can still have insanely strict gun control while also having 3D printing common and every day.
43, huh? Doug Adams pops up just when you least expect him, just like the Spanish Inquisition.
ReplyDeleteLes, um, only if he got a "+1"
ReplyDeleteThe Jack, it's a dark and manky future indeed -- but it's Scotland. The firearms laws Stross mentions are only a small step from what they've got now and if the fellow at "Scot Goes Pop" is anywhere near the average, they're well on their way there.
Oh yeah. As I mention on my own blog (I get a bit rambly) the whole thing isn't that far off from the present.
ReplyDeleteLike the surveillance state stuff.
Ganymede indeed.