Halting State

This is very odd to read as it's written entirely in the second person, despite switching between a few main characters. Interesting experiment but for an entire novel it's a bit tiring. It was written in 2007 and deals with a heist involving online computer games; and while Stross evidently had some experience with computer games at the time, and while I have seen far worse mistakes made by the likes of Gibson and Stephenson, nonetheless even with the most generous suspension of disbelief I really struggled with some of the "technical details" (since I personally have worked making online computer games since 2007, and know exactly why some of these things don't, or couldn't possibly, work that way). Still, if you aren't personally bothered by those details it's a decent plot - as long as you can wrap your head around the second person. Overall it was quite a struggle for me, YMMV.

I had previously read Charles Stross' Accelerando which I had a mixed reaction to. Halting State comes across much, much stronger.

I should start with the negative (at least for many people. The second person narrative is distracting. I'm not sure what the purpose of it really was from Stross' perspective, but it took me quite a while to filter it out and get on with enjoying the story.

And there is a lot to enjoy with this story. The setting seems to have been picked specifically to appeal to my interests and background.

The notion of a robbery in an MMORPG affecting real life is a fascinating one as are Stross' speculations of how both corporations and the government might start to interact in a much more fluid online space than the traditional world wide web.

The real world setting of Edinburgh of course appealed to me hugely. Stross has a more description heavy style than I usually enjoy but he used it to great effect bring to mind the streets of Edinburgh and of course I got a personal satisfaction from picking up a lot of his smaller geographical references.

I do wonder how well a book like this translates outside of even Scotland. The language is authentic and most of England doesn't entirely get Scottish slang. Similarly how many people who haven't regularly frequented Edinburgh would get a reference to LRT (Lothian Regional Transport) as being bus related? It's nice though and I'm glad he didn't tone down the language for other markets because the result is a story that absolutely exists physically and culturally in Edinburgh.

Set in 2018 and written 2008 there are of course already areas where the story has dated. Not least it's assumption of Scottish independence (well we may get there soon). But I did find the references to something that is remarkably close to Google's "glasses" product amusing.

The story really only focuses on three characters, although others make an appearance. And of those only two get what you would call a satisfying character arc. The third seems to exist at least in part just to give story perspective since as a police officer she is aware of things the other two are not.

But the romance element between Elaine and Jack is very nicely handled in a way that is both understated and more realistic than you generally see. The characters remain at times irritated and confused by each other even after they get together.

I'm calling this one a must read (but brace for the annoying POV) and I'm going to get my hands on Rule 34 to read soon.

Every once in a while I get the idea I'm not reading brainy enough SF, and that all the other SF readers will sneer at me for not reading enough Hugo winners. [b:Halting State|222472|Halting State (Halting State, #1)|Charles Stross|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442097389s/222472.jpg|930563] hasn't won a Hugo, but it says "Hugo Award-winning author of" on the front, so it probably count for half points.

Sue Smith is a tough, no-nonsense cop who takes occasional flack for being the only out lesbian in her department. And that was the last time the book gave me something I liked.

The entire book (well, let me be honest: right up until I stopped reading it, which was not far in at all) is written in the second person. This is the sort of show-off-y trick you had damn well better prove you're good enough to use. Sue (you) speak(s) with a brogue, and occasionally the narration from her (your) POV borrows it. The future we are in is signalled by heavy use of acronyms, abbreviations, and neologisms:

You shake your head and get out of the car, tapping your ear-piece to tell your phone to listen up: "Arriving on SOC, time-stamp now. Start evidence log." It's logging anyway--everything you do on duty goes into the black box--but the voice marker is searchable. It saves the event from getting lost in your lifelog.

Gives you the general gist. We are in the future! Surveillance is pervasive and inescapable! We have fun new acronyms! And then the crazy, are you ready for it, no really, make sure you are sitting down because this will Blow. Your. Mind. crime? Someone has knocked over a bank in Second Life Avalon Four.

I couldn't keep reading, it was like listening to my parents try to use teenage slang. In Stross's defense, this was written in 2007, which is probably a decade in internet-years, but he has somehow posited a future were people have just discovered virtual economies, which ought to be just as much speculative fiction as stories where Hannibal crosses the Alps in zeppelins, and yet really isn't.

So, anyway. Presumably lots of fun stuff happens after page twelve, but you'll have to ask someone else about that.