Science fiction guru Charles Stross "sizzles with ideas" (Denver Post) in his first major short story collection.
The Hugo Aw... read full description
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reviews
Feb 13, 2011
Steven
rated it: 
WIRELESS is brilliant from cover to cover. The first story/novella, "Missile Gap," is my favorite. The ideas! What if a vast alien intelligence, without our noticing, instantly "peeled the Earth like a grape" and transferred it to a colossal deep space disk large enough to contain a billion Earths? What's on all those other continents that came from somewhere else? Is this real, or is it a simulation? Stross has done some deep thinking here.
Jan 01, 2012
Titus
rated it: 
Stross mentions that he likes writing short stories as a way to experiment with style and format to see what works. That being said, I think the raw density of Stross' ideas make it difficult for me to get a handle on the story he is telling before it is over.
There are only two stories in this collection that I especially enjoyed.
The first is "A Colder War," which is the only duplicate with Stross' Toast, which I haven't read, and am not sure if it is a priority fo More...
There are only two stories in this collection that I especially enjoyed.
The first is "A Colder War," which is the only duplicate with Stross' Toast, which I haven't read, and am not sure if it is a priority fo More...
Mar 27, 2011
Raj
rated it: 
This is a very enjoyable collection of shorts from Stross, a writer I usually enjoy anyway. Of the two longer pieces in the book, Missile Gap and Palimpsest, I probably enjoyed the latter more than the former, with its rather interesting ideas of time travel which seemed to resonate at times with Asimov's 'Eternity' (as in The End of Eternity). Mind you, the Big Dumb Object of the former (a vast disc in space upon which the Earth was 'peeled' and deposited by unknown aliens) was pretty mind-bl
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Aug 20, 2011
Steven
rated it:
Wireless is a quality short-story collection by Stross. Quick reviews:
Missile Gap: This is the story of a late 1950s earth whose crust has been peeled off our globe and stuck on an even larger flat plate, what that means to the people who live there, and how that influences the tensions of the Cold War. It was fascinating, weird, and fun. The concept was oddly original. 4 of 5 stars.
Rogue Farm: A weird concept of extreme body modification (to the extent of creating commun More...
Missile Gap: This is the story of a late 1950s earth whose crust has been peeled off our globe and stuck on an even larger flat plate, what that means to the people who live there, and how that influences the tensions of the Cold War. It was fascinating, weird, and fun. The concept was oddly original. 4 of 5 stars.
Rogue Farm: A weird concept of extreme body modification (to the extent of creating commun More...
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Jan 04, 2011
***Dave
rated it:
I grew up reading SF short stories, mostly from the Gold and Silver Age. That was the primary form of the medium, then, fostered by a healthy SF periodical biz. Now short stories are a lot more uncommon, with novels (and, more importantly, novel series) the primary medium.
Stross demonstrates why that's unfortunate with this 2009 collection of some of his shorts (and an introduction that analyzes quite nicely why the form is so wonderful). While not every tale is a hit out of the par More...
Stross demonstrates why that's unfortunate with this 2009 collection of some of his shorts (and an introduction that analyzes quite nicely why the form is so wonderful). While not every tale is a hit out of the par More...
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Sep 02, 2010
Rob
rated it:
This was a great collection of short stories.
Stross has what very few speculative fiction authors have: an actual aptitude for prose. Rather than be like the typical speculative author, who's merely declared a truce with the English language, Stross can use the language as a tool to further his ends of tone, mood, pacing, and atmosphere. He can inhabit many different voices, something that a collection of short stories can really show to good effect. He's more than once sent me More...
Stross has what very few speculative fiction authors have: an actual aptitude for prose. Rather than be like the typical speculative author, who's merely declared a truce with the English language, Stross can use the language as a tool to further his ends of tone, mood, pacing, and atmosphere. He can inhabit many different voices, something that a collection of short stories can really show to good effect. He's more than once sent me More...
Aug 30, 2010
Peter
rated it:
The collection has some interesting stories, some fall a little flat, others are just great.
I think missle gap is one of the more interesting ideas, even though I'm not especially amazed by the idea of an alderson disk. I liked the exploration of things like the slam missle being developed to their conclusion.
Snowballs chance is a funny little aside that I also liked. A colder war is good in it's exploration of the laundry universe for another angle.
unwired, is ver More...
I think missle gap is one of the more interesting ideas, even though I'm not especially amazed by the idea of an alderson disk. I liked the exploration of things like the slam missle being developed to their conclusion.
Snowballs chance is a funny little aside that I also liked. A colder war is good in it's exploration of the laundry universe for another angle.
unwired, is ver More...
Dec 07, 2010
Amy
rated it:
All very thought provoking stories. Some of them took me a while to get my mind around, but I did enjoy every word of this book. "Missile Gap" is a particular mind-blower, with the Earth somehow being transported to a flattened disk, outside the Milky Way and in the far future. "A Colder War" has inspired me to put Lovecraft on my "to read" list. I think my favorite was the last, "Palimpsest." A palimpsest is a scroll or book that has had the text scr
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Dec 28, 2009
Sandi
rated it:
It's really hard to give a star rating to a short story collection, especially one by an author who is as hit-and-miss as Charles Stross. I've read two of his novels. I hated one and really enjoyed the other. That's kind of how I feel about the stories in Wireless.
Two of the stories, "Down on the Farm" and "Palimpsest" would have rated 5 stars. I especially liked "Down on the Farm" and will be checking out his novels featuring The Laundry, The Atrocity Archives More...
Two of the stories, "Down on the Farm" and "Palimpsest" would have rated 5 stars. I especially liked "Down on the Farm" and will be checking out his novels featuring The Laundry, The Atrocity Archives More...
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Nov 05, 2011
Landon
rated it:
I picked up this book at random at a clearance store, not recognizing the author (yes, I'm kind of out of the loop). The first few lines of the introduction I decided were entertaining enough to risk spending the three dollars on a book of short stories. I have to say I am not at all disappointed, and Charles Stross is now a name I will remember. This collection has a pretty wide variety of stories in it, especially considering it's length. There's a little science fiction, horror, alternate
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Mar 27, 2010
Chad
rated it:
The short stories were mostly good or very good, but I skipped over Trunk and Disorderly after a few pages. I found the writing style confusing and annoying. I had no idea what it was about. That story was a sort of test run for Stross' later novel Saturn's Children, which I now also know to skip, heh.
Unwirer was another story I disliked. Stross collaborated with Cory Doctorow on that one, and Doctorow's usual annoying preachiness overrode everything else.
A Colder War More...
Unwirer was another story I disliked. Stross collaborated with Cory Doctorow on that one, and Doctorow's usual annoying preachiness overrode everything else.
A Colder War More...
Oct 17, 2009
Mr. Brammer
rated it: 
Science fiction is not my favorite genre, mainly because you have to wade through a lot of mediocre writing that is in service to some imaginative concept. In other words, the writing comes second to the ideas. This is the main issue I have with Stross's stories: his ideas are often ingenious, but the way that he unspools his narrative leaves the reader confused and detached. The twisty time travel novella "Palimpsest" is a good example of this - while I liked the idea of an organi
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Aug 03, 2010
Tom
rated it:
I'm a sucker for a good short story, so it's gratifying to recommend this new collection from Science Fiction writer Charles Stross.
Stross isn't the crispest writer going, and the overall quality of the book feels a a little uneven (Missile Gap & Palimpset are brilliant, but Trunk & Disorderly is painful), the overall effect is bracing - a collection of original, interesting ideas from one of science fiction's more interesting thinkers.
I'll save it, and read it again. More...
Stross isn't the crispest writer going, and the overall quality of the book feels a a little uneven (Missile Gap & Palimpset are brilliant, but Trunk & Disorderly is painful), the overall effect is bracing - a collection of original, interesting ideas from one of science fiction's more interesting thinkers.
I'll save it, and read it again. More...
Jun 21, 2011
Zvi
rated it:
A good collection, containing two flat-out great stories ('Palimpsest': dueling timestreams and the fate of the human race [and a Hugo winner]; and 'Missile Gap', communists and capitalists fight on a structure larger than the Ringworld and learn what communism REALLY implies...) some middlin'-good ones, and a P. G. Wodehouse pastiche that doesn't really work. I'm also not all that fond of his 'Laundry' stories -- they seem to gesture at something Lovecraftian that doesn't gel for me. I'm happie
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Aug 02, 2009
Jake
rated it:
This ended up being sort of a mixed bag for me. I bought it primarily for the Laundry story in it and was not disappointed. The other Cthulhu mythos story as fantastic as well.
My problem with the rest of it is that I don't particularly enjoy Stross's brand of pure Sci-Fi. Its very inventive and very well written but really just not my bag. Most of the stories were still interesting, although I really disliked the farm story and the comedic sci fi story he did.
All that s More...
My problem with the rest of it is that I don't particularly enjoy Stross's brand of pure Sci-Fi. Its very inventive and very well written but really just not my bag. Most of the stories were still interesting, although I really disliked the farm story and the comedic sci fi story he did.
All that s More...
Feb 11, 2011
Bryan
rated it:
So what rules does Charlie follow to ensure maximum Strossness in his writing?
I think I've sussed out a couple:
1) Introduce at least one new thing every page.
2) Never explain any of these new things.
Let me elaborate on what I mean by these rules.
Ever hear of the van Vogt rule of writing? Referring to A.E. van Vogt, of course. His particular style was to introduce a new idea (or a new detail that helps unravel the plot) every 800 words. Damon Knight More...
I think I've sussed out a couple:
1) Introduce at least one new thing every page.
2) Never explain any of these new things.
Let me elaborate on what I mean by these rules.
Ever hear of the van Vogt rule of writing? Referring to A.E. van Vogt, of course. His particular style was to introduce a new idea (or a new detail that helps unravel the plot) every 800 words. Damon Knight More...
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Oct 08, 2010
Neil
rated it:
It's the worlds he creates. Layered, fascinating worlds. In stories like Missile Gap, A Colder War and Palimpsest, he creates strangely familiar yet utterly cold and different realities from our own, worlds so textured I wanted to spend more time exploring them.
This was my first Stross book and it's a mixed bag. I loved the world-building stories mentioned above, but felt left out of some others due to my utter lack of knowledge of Lovecraft. And one story, Trunk and Disorderly, nev More...
This was my first Stross book and it's a mixed bag. I loved the world-building stories mentioned above, but felt left out of some others due to my utter lack of knowledge of Lovecraft. And one story, Trunk and Disorderly, nev More...
Sep 14, 2011
Ilia
rated it:
If you haven't read any Charles Stross yet, you must. The two best places to start are either Accelerando or Wireless - this short-story collection.
Not all the stories are a hit for me, as not all of Stross's books are, since he has such a widely varied repertoire.
A few are great, though:
The first story, Missile Gap (a Locus Award–winner), is my favorite for the great Cold War setting that is really pretty well executed. It's about the US-USSR conflict trans More...
Not all the stories are a hit for me, as not all of Stross's books are, since he has such a widely varied repertoire.
A few are great, though:
The first story, Missile Gap (a Locus Award–winner), is my favorite for the great Cold War setting that is really pretty well executed. It's about the US-USSR conflict trans More...
Nov 17, 2009
Alex
rated it:
From the author of the Hugo-nominated Saturn’s Children comes a collection of short stories featuring a number of novellas and one previously unpublished work. Wireless kicks off with the strongest in the collection in “Missile Gap”: its 1962 and the Cold War is in full sway with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and then something catastrophic happens. Somehow all the continents and oceans of planet Earth are transported across the universe to the Large Magellanic Cloud where everything is situated o
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Feb 06, 2010
Terence
rated it:
I defer to my GR Friend Sandi's review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/792...
She pretty much nails it on the head in my own reactions to the stories in this collection.
"Palimpsest" was definitely my favorite (easily 4-5 stars). Finally, a time-travel story that squarely faces up to the "grandfather paradox"! I almost wish Stross could expand it into a novel as his afterward notes. It reminded me of Asimov's The End Of Eternity SFBC 50th Anniversary Collection More...
She pretty much nails it on the head in my own reactions to the stories in this collection.
"Palimpsest" was definitely my favorite (easily 4-5 stars). Finally, a time-travel story that squarely faces up to the "grandfather paradox"! I almost wish Stross could expand it into a novel as his afterward notes. It reminded me of Asimov's The End Of Eternity SFBC 50th Anniversary Collection More...
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Nov 19, 2009
James
rated it:
Wireless is a short story collection. The stories Missile Gap, A Colder War, and Palimpsest were excellent. The first two are terrific examples of Stross's ability to transmute Cold War era anxiety into darker horror territory, while the last is as good as Stross gets. Down on the Farm is another great story from Stross's Laundry (The Atrocity Archives, The Jennifer Morgue) series. With the exception of Trunk and Disorderly, a Wodehouse pastiche, the other stories are also pretty good.
Dec 31, 2011
Sueij
rated it:
All right, I'm trying here. I'm just not a fan of short stories, but do like this author and Scott recommended this book.
Actually, in the introduction, Stross describes the history of short stories in general, short stories in science fiction in particular, and discusses WHY an author might write a short story instead of a novel. It gave me new perspective, and I tried to read these with his insights in mind.
It helped.
But I still just like novels better.
Actually, in the introduction, Stross describes the history of short stories in general, short stories in science fiction in particular, and discusses WHY an author might write a short story instead of a novel. It gave me new perspective, and I tried to read these with his insights in mind.
It helped.
But I still just like novels better.
Nov 12, 2010
Kristy
rated it:
READ. THIS.
When I got this book home from the library and realized it was a book of stories rather than a novel, I was disappointed. Reading short stories is not my thing. However, Stross's work is amazing, and a couple of the stories felt like novellas and were quite satisfying in length.
I remain awestruck by Stross's plotting and writing style(s). The science in this science fiction seems plausible and is not incomprehensible to the layperson (me).
When I got this book home from the library and realized it was a book of stories rather than a novel, I was disappointed. Reading short stories is not my thing. However, Stross's work is amazing, and a couple of the stories felt like novellas and were quite satisfying in length.
I remain awestruck by Stross's plotting and writing style(s). The science in this science fiction seems plausible and is not incomprehensible to the layperson (me).
Aug 07, 2009
Ken
rated it:
Excellent collection of short stories and novellas by Charlie Stross. If you aren't particularly familiar with Stross, this would be a great set of example work; it definitely shows off his "voice". If you're already a Stross reader, there are probably a few things here you've read before online, but you may not have them bound together, and many of these are excellent choices for a collection. Recommended.
And even if you're a total fan-boy like me, and you've already read More...
And even if you're a total fan-boy like me, and you've already read More...
Oct 19, 2009
Mark
rated it:
While I used to read a lot of science fiction, I haven't much in the last decade or more; while I used to read a lot of short stories, I haven't much in the last decade or more. I seem to have stumbled across a bunch of collections lately (short stories, short novels) and at least a couple of SF. This one was quite entertaining; Stross has an impressive imagination that is sometimes projected on a grand scale. The last story, Palimpset, was one of these epics, and I mention it mainly because it
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Mar 26, 2011
Jeremy
rated it:
I really like Charlie Stross, and I really like the short story format for hard science fiction. This was a predictably successful combination. Stross's strength is the absolutely wild ideas he comes up with, and his willingness to experiment with voice and structure. Wireless was a great collection - if one idea or style didn't click with me, it was over and on to something completely different before I had time to get annoyed. Great stuff.
Aug 30, 2010
Jay
rated it:
Ehhh.
It just didn't do it for me. There were parts of the stories I liked, but none that really grabbed me and said, 'look! I saved this collection for you! Isn't that great?'
I'd say Palimpsest was my favourite. It seemed to be a twist on The Time Machine and perhaps The Time Traveler's Wife. But everything else? Eh, I'm not too sure.
That's not to say it's bad. But I just didn't find myself jizzing over it. Your miles may vary.
It just didn't do it for me. There were parts of the stories I liked, but none that really grabbed me and said, 'look! I saved this collection for you! Isn't that great?'
I'd say Palimpsest was my favourite. It seemed to be a twist on The Time Machine and perhaps The Time Traveler's Wife. But everything else? Eh, I'm not too sure.
That's not to say it's bad. But I just didn't find myself jizzing over it. Your miles may vary.
Aug 02, 2011
Paige
rated it:
My problem with Charles Stross has always been that his ideas are fantastic but he tends to fall just a little short in plot and characters. Short stories are something that really seem to suit his style, letting concepts (ridiculously awesome concepts) shine through. This collection of stories is a bit uneven at times, but there are a few real gems. I was particularly fond of Pamplinset and Missile Gap, but some of the others I can barely remember.
Apr 14, 2011
Wayne
rated it:
I am liking Stross more and more, but my favorite of this collection was On The Farm, a Laundry story, which has spurred me to want to read much more about the Laundry. A Colder War was spectacular as well, with its interesting 'what if' scenario spun off of Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness. I also liked some of the far flung timescape of Palimpsest, which could have been a more gritty version of the Time Lords of Dr. Who fame. I didn't like Trunk And Disorderly. Just not my thing mixing
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Feb 19, 2010
Fuzzy
rated it:
[auhtor: Charles Stross] seems darker in the short stories in Wireless than he is in his longer works. For example, the Lovecraft-meets-James Bond notion he explores in his humorous The Laundry books appears here in a much darker mediation on the horrors of the Cold War. That's not a bad thing, neccessarily, it's just different than what I was expecting.
