Thursday, November 17, 2011

Яeading

(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.

6 comments:

  1. I've read a little bit of Stross, also.

    He can definitely turn a tale.

    Rule 34 is a stand-alone, but it fits in the same fictional world as Halting State.

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  2. I really enjoyed Accellerando and Glasshouse by Stross as well. The man envisions the future wholesale, with no aspect absent or unconsidered.

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  3. Small world.

    Just 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.

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  4. 43, huh? Doug Adams pops up just when you least expect him, just like the Spanish Inquisition.

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  5. Les, um, only if he got a "+1"

    The 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.

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  6. 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.

    Like the surveillance state stuff.

    Ganymede indeed.

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