Rule 34 (novel)

Last updated

Rule 34
Rule 34 us 200px-front cover.jpg
Front cover 1st edition (hardcover, US), 2011
Author Charles Stross
Cover artistAlberto Seveso
CountryUS/UK
LanguageEnglish
SeriesHalting State series
Genrescience fiction
Publisher Ace (US) / Orbit (UK)
Publication date
July 2011
Pages368
ISBN 978-0-441-02034-8
Preceded by Halting State  
Followed byThe Lambda Functionary (cancelled) 

Rule 34 is a near-future science fiction novel by Charles Stross. [1] [2] It is a loose sequel to Halting State and was published on 5 July 2011 in the US and 7 July 2011 in the UK. [1] [3] The title is a reference to the Internet meme Rule 34, which states that "If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions." [1] [4] Rule 34 was nominated for the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award [5] and the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. [6]

Contents

Plot summary

The novel is told in second-person narrative but primarily from three points of view. Inspector Kavanaugh of the Edinburgh police investigates spammers murdered in gruesome and inventive ways, and learns about similar cases in other parts of Europe. Anwar, a former identity thief who becomes Scottish honorary consul for a fictional state in central Asia, and "The Toymaker", an enforcer and organizer for the criminal "Operation". Their interactions and conflicts drive the story.

Critical reception

Reviews have been favorable, with Cory Doctorow calling the novel, "savvy, funny, viciously inventive". [7] Kirkus Reviews gives it a star, saying, "Dazzling, chilling and brilliant". [8] Publishers Weekly calls "the whole more than the sum of its parts". [9] There was a generally positive review in The Guardian . [10]

Sequel cancellation

Following the revelations by Edward Snowden, Stross announced that there would be no third book in the planned trilogy. "Halting State wasn't intended to be predictive when I started writing it in 2006. Trouble is, about the only parts that haven't happened yet are Scottish Independence and the use of actual quantum computers for cracking public key encryption (and there's a big fat question mark over the latter—what else are the NSA up to?)." [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken MacLeod</span> Scottish science fiction writer

Kenneth Macrae MacLeod is a Scottish science fiction writer. His novels The Sky Road and The Night Sessions won the BSFA Award. MacLeod's novels have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Campbell Memorial awards for best novel on multiple occasions. A techno-utopianist, MacLeod's work makes frequent use of libertarian socialist themes; he is a three-time winner of the libertarian Prometheus Award. Prior to becoming a novelist, MacLeod studied biology and worked as a computer programmer. He sits on the advisory board of the Edinburgh Science Festival. MacLeod has been chosen as a Guest of Honor at the 82nd Worldcon, Glasgow 2024

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory Doctorow</span> Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author

Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of its licences for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Stross</span> British science fiction, horror, and fantasy writer and blogger

Charles David George "Charlie" Stross is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine Computer Shopper and was responsible for its monthly Linux column. He stopped writing for the magazine to devote more time to novels. However, he continues to publish freelance articles on the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian McDonald (British author)</span> British science fiction novelist

Ian McDonald is a British science fiction novelist, living in Belfast. His themes include nanotechnology, postcyberpunk settings, and the impact of rapid social and technological change on non-Western societies.

<i>Accelerando</i> 2005 science fiction novel by Charles Stross

Accelerando is a 2005 science fiction novel consisting of a series of interconnected short stories written by British author Charles Stross. As well as normal hardback and paperback editions, it was released as a free e-book under the CC BY-NC-ND license. Accelerando won the Locus Award in 2006, and was nominated for several other awards in 2005 and 2006, including the Hugo, Campbell, Clarke, and British Science Fiction Association Awards.

The Laundry Files is a series of novels by British writer Charles Stross. They mix the genres of Lovecraftian horror, spy thriller, science fiction, and workplace humour. Their main character for the first five novels is "Bob Howard", a one-time I.T. consultant turned occult field agent. Howard is recruited to work for the Q-Division of SOE, otherwise known as "the Laundry", the British government agency which deals with occult threats. "Magic" is described as being a branch of applied computation (mathematics), therefore computers and equations are just as useful, and perhaps more potent, than classic spellbooks, pentagrams, and sigils for the purpose of influencing ancient powers and opening gates to other dimensions. These occult struggles happen largely out of view of the public, as the Laundry seeks to keep the methods for contacting such powers under wraps. There are also elements of dry humour and satirisation of bureaucracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Westerfeld</span> American writer of young adult fiction (born 1963)

Scott David Westerfeld is an American writer of young adult fiction, best known as the author of the Uglies and the Leviathan series.

<i>Halting State</i> 2007 novel by Charles Stross

Halting State is a novel by Charles Stross, published in the United States on 2 October 2007 and in the United Kingdom in January 2008. Stross has said that it is "a thriller set in the software houses that write multiplayer games". The plot centres on a bank robbery in a virtual world. It features speculative technologies, including Specs and virtual server networks over mobile phones. The book is on its second printing in the United States. The novel was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 2008.

<i>Random Acts of Senseless Violence</i> 1993 novel by Jack Womack

Random Acts of Senseless Violence is a dystopian and speculative fiction novel by Jack Womack.

<i>Flurb</i>

Flurb was an American science fiction webzine, edited by author Rudy Rucker and launched in August 2006. In addition to short stories, Flurb featured paintings and photography by Rucker. It was released biannually. The author of an accepted story retained full copyright, including the right to have the story published elsewhere, and to request that it be taken down at any time.

<i>Saturns Children</i> (novel) 2008 novel by Charles Stross

Saturn's Children is a 2008 science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross. Stross called it "a space opera and late-period [Robert A.] Heinlein tribute", specifically to Heinlein's 1982 novel Friday.

<i>The Rapture of the Nerds</i> Novel by Doctorow and Charles Stross

The Rapture of the Nerds is a 2012 novel by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross. It was released on September 4, 2012 through Tor Books and as an ebook, DRM free, under the CC BY-NC-ND. The book can also be downloaded for free.

<i>Troubletwisters</i> (book series)

Troubletwisters is an ongoing series of young adult fantasy novels by Garth Nix and Sean Williams. The first novel in the series, Troubletwisters was released on May 1, 2011 through Scholastic Press and Allen & Unwin. Williams and Nix have stated that the series will comprise five novels.

<i>Neptunes Brood</i> Book by Charles Stross

Neptune's Brood is a science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross, set in the same universe as Saturn's Children, but thousands of years later and with all new characters.

<i>Intrusion</i> (novel) 2012 novel by Ken MacLeod

Intrusion is a 2012 science fiction novel by British writer Ken MacLeod.

"Magic for Beginners" is a fantasy novella by American writer Kelly Link. It was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in September 2005. It was subsequently published in Link's collection of the same name, as well as in her collection Pretty Monsters, in the 2007 Nebula Award Showcase, and in the John Joseph Adams-edited anthology "Other Worlds Than These".

"The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon" is a science fiction/magical realism novella by the American writer Elizabeth Hand. It was first published in the Neil Gaiman/Al Sarrantonio-edited anthology Stories: All-New Tales, in 2010, and subsequently republished in Hand's 2012 anthology Errantry: Strange Stories from Small Beer Press.

This is a list of books by British hard science fiction, Lovecraftian horror, and space opera author Charles Stross.

List of works by or about the British author Ian McDonald.

<i>Magic for Liars</i> 2019 fantasy and mystery novel by Sarah Gailey

Magic for Liars is a 2019 murder mystery/fantasy novel, by Sarah Gailey. It was first published by Tor Books.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rule 34 – Charlie's Diary", Antipope. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Stross, Charles (9 September 2009) "Rule 34 (9780441020348): Charles Stross: Books", Amazon. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Apropos Nothing ... – Charlie's Diary", Antipope. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Chivers, Tom (23 October 2009). "Internet rules and laws: the top 10, from Godwin to Poe". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Shortlist for the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award Announced". SFWA. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  6. ↑ "2012 Locus Award Finalists". Locus. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  7. ↑ Doctorow, Cory (6 July 2011). "Stross's Rule 34: pervy technothriller about the future of policing". Boing Boing . Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "RULE 34 by Charles Stross". Kirkus Book Reviews. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "Fiction Review: Rule 34 by Charles Stross. Ace, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-441-02034-8". Publishers Weekly . 9 May 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Walter, Damien G. (11 August 2011). "What is Rule 34, you ask. Let Charles Stross explain". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  11. ↑ Stross, Charlie (9 December 2013). "PSA: Why there won't be a third book in the Halting State trilogy". Charlie's Diary.



Sfbook.png

This article about a 2010s science fiction novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.