He’s also come up with one of the weirdest heists in literary history, a tale that kicks off in Scotland circa 2017, when police sergeant Sue Smith is called in to investigate a robbery at Hayek Associates, a company overseeing a gigantic online roleplaying game called Avalon Four. Proving there really isn’t a genre he can’t bend to his own ends, he’s taken the potentially creaky world of the near-future thriller and given it a combined injection of reality and attitude.

SF literature is already scattered with alternate tomorrows that have resolutely failed to happen, and it’s understandable why many authors now aim their stories into the far distant future – partly for creative freedom, and partly so they’ll be centuries dead before anyone’s likely to say, “Blimey! They really got the year 3278 wrong, didn’t they?”Īs a result, one of the riskiest things a modern SF author can attempt is writing about the immediate future, especially with the difficult-to-predict way technology is evolving around us… which makes what Charles Stross has achieved with Halting State even more remarkable. So how do some bizarre domestic fatalities, dodgy downloads and an international spamming network fit together? The more DI Kavanaugh learns, the less she wants to find out:- Review(s): 'Savvy, funny, viciously inventive - a grotesque and gripping page-turner' - Cory Doctorow / 'Stross is a grandmaster' - Vernor Vinge / 'Cracking near-future crime laced with humour that's exquisitely wrong' - Chris Brookmyre:- (original cost £12.99).If there’s one thing that science fiction doesn’t do very well, it’s predict the future. But you do wonder who's killing off your potential recruits. But that's OK, because as a distraction, you're project manager of a sophisticated criminal operation. The Toymaker: Your meds are wearing off and people are stalking you through Edinburgh's undergrowth. Although now that you're Consul for a shiny new Eastern European Republic, you've no idea what comes next. Especially as you've landed a legit job (through a shady mate). Anwar: As an ex-con, you'd like to think your identity fraud days are over. But when a fetishist dies on your watch, the Rule 34 Squad moves from low priority to worryingly high profile. DI Liz Kavanaugh: You realise policing internet porn is your life and your career went down the pan five years ago. 1st UK edition, 4th printing:- Synopsis: Rule 34: If you can think of it, there's porn of it.

Condition: Fine: Very small signs of wear.

Halting State by Charles Stross