So you're saying I ought to give this Stross guy a go? THE ATROCITY ARCHIVES you say...?
have i not pimped this series at you yet or were you just not paying attention?
Yes. Charlie Stross. ATROCITY ARCHIVES, JENNIFER MORGUE, FULLER MEMORANDUM and google the short stories OVERTIME and ON THE FARM they're online free. Nerdspies vs Cthulu. brilliant fun.
Then read A COLDER WAR, also free, just for good measure. And MISSILE GAP but that's more unreleated.
Go. Go read. All of it. Go now. Thank us later.
I think I was sick that day or didn't see your recycling of the thread. Nonetheless, understood. I will add these volumes to the ever growing list of stuff I've got planned for 2011.
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
“Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone.” ~Ursula Vernon
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Posted 22 December 2010 - 08:56 PM
Both Missile Gap and A Colder War are in Stross' last short story collection, Wireless. Which has a bunch of other stories that are also well worth reading; including the novella Palimpsest (which iirc. won the 2010 Hugo Award)
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
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Posted 27 December 2010 - 10:43 AM
Accelerando will do things to your brain. Trust me on that. Saturn's Children is okay but really nothing special. If I were you, I'd have a look at Halting State which contains one of the cleverest ideas I've seen in fiction for a very long time; and is due a sequel, called Rule 34, in 2011...
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
Haha, I just got The Fuller Memorandum in hardcover the other day (Books a million had HC copies of TFM and Reynolds Terminal World for 5$ a pop. Yeah. I couldn't turn that shit down).
While I enjoy Stross, some of his stuff is ... better than the others. For instance, I enjoyed the hell out of the Eschaton series. Accelerando? Not so much. He reads strongly of Transhumanism/Singularity beardery, so if you can stomach that, good on ya, but if ya can't . . .
It's similar to Vernor Vinge for me: A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are both great books (and I just saw he has a third in that series coming out! fuck yeah!), as well as Marooned in Realtime (haven't read The Peace War, can't find a copy of it). Rainbows End? Not so much.
I think it's a simple matter: when Singularity nerds go far-future, they can be pretty damned entertaining. Trying to describe closer-future, 'the singularity! it is happening!'?
It reads too much like self-hating geek-angst.
Oh, btw. Any book of Stross' where he talks derogatorily of the characters meatform? Yeah. It reads more like the author speaking than the character, in my opinion.
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
whilst I enjoyed it quite a lot, there was one thing that irked me.
spoilered, obviously
Spoiler
just how many evil female managers in a row is Bob gonna get? I mean, it was great the first time, kind of funny the second time, but the third time.... from the second I read "mummy" referring to head cultist I knew it was Iris. Stross really needs to mix it up a bit
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Jump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:
And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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Posted 14 July 2012 - 07:25 PM
I've been on holiday for the past week so my book buying has been somewhat curtailed (not my book reading, however - I got through literally several books on the beach - Railsea for one was absolutely outstanding) And I'd forgotten it was out this week. The Amazon Fairy has now received my instructions...
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
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Posted 17 July 2012 - 09:57 PM
Well I have a copy of The Apocalypse Codex in my sweaty little hands now. I'm about 200 pages in and it's great so far and probably about to get better as all hell's broken loose (figuratively, I hasten to add - although, as usual, the promise seems to be that it may literally happen later in the book unless Bob gets his arse in gear...) I also get the feeling that this book isn't going to play at all well amongst certain sections of the US community...
There's a lovely piece of UK Civil Service insider detail that Stross may not have known about, or simply decided was far too cheesy to include, in that when Bob goes on his management training everyone has to do the introductory thing where everyone says who they are and where they're from, what their job is and what kind of things they're hoping to take away from the course/meeting. This process has a rather gloriously apropos (for The Laundry Series at least) nickname within the UK Civil Service; and possibly elsewhere too, although I've not heard anyone else but us use it. We call it: The Creeping Death...
This post has been edited by stone monkey: 17 July 2012 - 10:07 PM
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
Location:The call is coming from inside the house!!!!
Interests:Interesting.
Posted 04 September 2012 - 03:51 PM
THE APOCALYPSE CODEX. Just Finished It.
And it was good.
Not quite as brilliant as the prior three, but an enjoyable entry in the series nontheless.
The main strength of this book is Stross' development of Bob Howard as a character on multiple fronts. He's seconded to 'external assets', essentially working with mercenaries, which necessitates him to push certain skills but also challenges certain beliefs. It works and it works well. If you've enjoyed the previous entries in the LAUNDRY series, this will not dissappoint.
SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS
THE SPOILERS AWAKEN AND THEY
WANT TO SPOILER YOU
Spoiler
I'll get the negatives out of the way first... there is action, but it doesn't quite match the sheer holyfuck of Mo riding a firetruck to the rescue blasting wagner's Ride of the Valkyries on her dead-baby-violinator. There is humour, but nothing as brilliant as the necronomIPhone. And there are some great supporting cast members but Persephone Hazard and Jonny McTavish aren't quite as interesting as succubus fish girl from JENNIFER, tho Stross tries hard to make them so.
On the positive side, more than anything, this book gave serious development to the overarching plotlines of the series. There is some major explanation of what the laundry is and how it operates, notably that it's essentially government makework for the vast majority of practicioners and a recruiting/tracking program, while the External Assets people do all the serious work with related risk. which is pretty funny when you consider the crazy shit that Bob and co have gone up against in the 'ordinary' Laundry work, but it's pretty clear from the start that Hazard and McTavish are in another league entirely. And Bob is moving up to that level, which was hystericaly funny and cool.
I realy enjoyed Bob'd develoment in this book. First, in that he's been recognized and being competent and worth moving up the chain. Second, his lack of panic and hesitation in dealing with crazy shit. third, his power-up from the merger with Angleton in FULLER. that more than anything was brilliant... he's a SOUL EATER now, ffs, and while reluctant, he's pretty good at it.
I enjoyed the revisiting of the Sleeper and the pyramid from the earlier books, tho the vague resolution ... it's awake, maybe... Shiler is dead, possibly.. we failed, not really.... was unsatisfying...
The badguy cult was unsurprising, but suitably sinister in a Catholicism-gone-horribly wrong way. I liked the tongue-leeches, which were suitably Lovecraftian touch. The Nazgul/Black Chamer twist was nicely worked in but vague as fuck and given no resolution, which may be typical of the spy world but was irritating on a reader level.
I did find the tension nicely amped up between the blockades, storm, com shutdown and wards. That said Bob and co spent entirely too much time in cars moving from point A to B.
Finally, Persephone and Jonny. I liked the switch Stross worked in... Bob, and the reader, is led to think Hazard is the important one, but in the end its Jonny who actually matters. Both had nice details, her mysterious past and magic that costs her lifetime, the more powerful the magic the more she loses, and his blooddrinking knives were pure genre candy. His apprent death and ressurection were utterly handwaved tho and i didn't like that.
So, solid entry, great build on things to come, not the best book in the series, possibly even the weakest, but enjoyable.
- Abyss, still doesn't trust prawns.
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Posted 04 September 2012 - 07:58 PM
BASHFUL INCENDIARY.... Sneaky
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
Location:The call is coming from inside the house!!!!
Interests:Interesting.
Posted 04 September 2012 - 08:13 PM
That too.
I can't claim familiarity with Modesty Blaise tho'. From what wikipedia tells me the references were pretty abundant in Hazard's backstory at least. And the shift in focus to Johnny was a nice touch moving beyond the usual sidekick roll Blase's guy had.
Still, it was a funny choice for Stross to go with. It seems unlikely the majority of his readers would know it.
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Posted 04 September 2012 - 09:55 PM
I would disagree. Especially given Lovecraftian/Spy mashup thing he's been doing with these. Modesty Blaise at least has name recognition going for her - she does get name checked all over the place. And I, for one, am actually far more familiar with her adventures than I was with the Ludlum references from the previous one.
If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell
Help
Abyss, on 22 December 2010 - 04:55 PM, said:
