The Rapture of the Nerds

Last updated

The Rapture of the Nerds
The Rapture of the Nerds, cover.jpg
First US edition cover
Author Cory Doctorow & Charles Stross
CountryUS
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Published Tor Books
Publication date
2012
Media typePrint (Hardcover), ebook
Pages349
ISBN 978-0-765-32910-3

The Rapture of the Nerds is a 2012 novel by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross. [1] It was released on September 4, 2012 through Tor Books and as an ebook, DRM free, under the CC BY-NC-ND. [2] The book can also be downloaded for free. [3]

Contents

Synopsis

The novel is a fixup of two novellas, "Jury Duty" and "Appeals Court", along with a new third section, "Parole Board". The book, set in the late 21st century, takes a generally comic look at the technological singularity through the eyes of Huw, a technophobic member of a "Tech Jury Service" tasked with determining the value of various technological innovations and deciding whether to release them. [4]

Reception

Stross and Doctorow read from the book at Makerbot's former Brooklyn factory on Dean street in 2012. Stross and Doctorow at Makerbot.jpg
Stross and Doctorow read from the book at Makerbot's former Brooklyn factory on Dean street in 2012.

Critical reception for The Rapture of the Nerds was mixed to positive, [5] with the book gaining a positive review from Quill & Quire . [6] NPR and Kirkus Reviews both gave mixed reviews, with NPR stating that the conclusion, when it "finally comes, feels like a simulation of a satisfying conclusion rather than the real thing". [7] [8]

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.

<i>Singularity Sky</i> 2003 science fiction novel by Charles Stross

Singularity Sky is a science fiction novel by British writer Charles Stross, published in 2003. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2004. A sequel, Iron Sunrise, was published that same year. Together the two are referred to as the Eschaton novels, after a near-godlike intelligence that exists in both.

Anita Rau Badami is a Canadian writer of Indian descent.

Post-scarcity is a theoretical economic situation in which most goods can be produced in great abundance with minimal human labor needed, so that they become available to all very cheaply or even freely.

<i>Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present</i>

Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present is a collection of previously published science fiction short stories and novellas by Canadian writer Cory Doctorow. This is Doctorow's second published collection, following A Place So Foreign and Eight More. Each story includes an introduction by the author.

<i>Little Brother</i> (Doctorow novel) 2008 novel by Cory Doctorow

Little Brother is a novel by Cory Doctorow, published by Tor Books. It was released on April 29, 2008. The novel is about four teenagers in San Francisco who, in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and BART system, defend themselves against the Department of Homeland Security's attacks on the Bill of Rights. The novel is available for free on the author's website under a Creative Commons license, keeping it accessible and remixable to all.

<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>Rule 34</i> (novel) 2011 science fiction novel by Charles Stross

Rule 34 is a near-future science fiction novel by Charles Stross. 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. The title is a reference to the Internet meme Rule 34, which states that "If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions." Rule 34 was nominated for the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

<i>Pirate Cinema</i> (novel) 2012 novel by Cory Doctorow

Pirate Cinema is a 2012 novel by Canadian-British writer Cory Doctorow. The novel is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license and is available free on the author's website.

<i>My Real Children</i> 2014 novel by Jo Walton

My Real Children is a 2014 alternate history novel by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, published by Tor Books. It was released on May 20, 2014.

<i>Shadow Scale</i>

Shadow Scale is a 2015 fantasy novel by Rachel Hartman. It is the sequel and conclusion to her first novel, Seraphina (2012). It was released in hardcover, ebook, and audio book format on March 10, 2015.

Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author for children, adolescent and young adults. She received the 2012 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature and the 2013 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award for her young adult novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.

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

<i>The Woman Upstairs</i> (novel) 2013 novel by Claire Messud

The Woman Upstairs is a novel by Claire Messud that was published in 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf. Set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the novel is told from the point of view of Nora Elridge, an elementary school teacher reflecting back on her life in 2004 when she became enchanted with the Shahids, a family of intellectuals she met while teaching their young son Reza.

Terry Fan and Eric Fan are American-born Canadian children's book writers and illustrators, known collectively as the Fan Brothers. They made their picture book debut with The Night Gardener (2016), which was named an ALA Notable Children's Book.

<i>The Barren Grounds</i> 2020 book by David A. Robertson

The Barren Grounds is a middle-grade children's book by David A. Robertson, published September 8, 2020 by Puffin Books. The publisher has named it a juxtaposition between traditional Indigenous stories and C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.

<i>Hench</i> (novel) 2020 superhero novel by Natalie Zina Walschots

Hench is a 2020 superhero fiction novel by Natalie Zina Walschots.

Linda Little is an author from Nova Scotia, Canada. Her third work of fiction has been praised as a "darkly beautiful novel".

References

  1. "Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross team up for "Rapture of the Nerds"". io9. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  2. "Rapture of the Nerds". craphound.com. Cory Doctorow. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  3. "Rapture of the Nerds" (PDF). craphound.com. Cory Doctorow. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  4. "Stross and Doctorow Collaborate on Singularity Novel". Forbes. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  5. "Stross fans happy, Doctorow fans less so in collaboration". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  6. "Review: The Rapture of the Nerds". Quill & Quire. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  7. "You Don't Have To Be A 'Nerd,' But It Helps". NPR. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  8. "Review: Rapture of the Nerds". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 20 January 2013.