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Missile Gap
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It's 1976 again. Abba are on the charts, the Cold War is in full swing -- and the Earth is flat. It's been flat ever since the eve of the Cuban war of 1962; and the constellations overhead are all wrong. Beyond the Boreal ocean, strange new continents loom above tropical seas, offering a new start to colonists like newly-weds Maddy and Bob, and the hope of further glory to
...more
Hardcover, 99 pages
Published
January 1st 2007
by Subterranean Press
(first published December 31st 2006)
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Charles Stross's "Missile Gap" is Yet Another Stross replay of the Cold War, set on a Very Big Dumb Object.... I can't say much more without spoiling the fun (which has a dismal outcome, for us Old Humans), except to say that "Missile Gap" will leave you scratching your head, wondering what the hell really happened. Who was that CIA 'man'? Veterans of rec.arts.sf.science will see the results of Charlie's past inquiries about ekranoplans. Stross is an astonishingly inventive author who's giving s
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Neznama entita sa rozhodla olupat Zem v roku 1962 a natiahnut ju na Aldersonov disk. Alebo urobila jej kopiu. Kazdopadne, ktokolvek alebo cokolvek co dokaze vytvorit Aldersonov disk a presunut svet nejakych milion rokov neskor je zaujimave a ma zjavne svoje plany.
Ked sa z gule stane doska s rovnakou lokalnou gravitaciou, vedlajsim efektom je ze medzikontinentalne rakety prestanu fungovat (resp. vzhladom na to, ze gravitacia sa nezmensuje podobne ako na sferoide s pribudajucou vyskou, ich dolet r ...more
Ked sa z gule stane doska s rovnakou lokalnou gravitaciou, vedlajsim efektom je ze medzikontinentalne rakety prestanu fungovat (resp. vzhladom na to, ze gravitacia sa nezmensuje podobne ako na sferoide s pribudajucou vyskou, ich dolet r ...more
’Brecha nuclear’ es una recopilación que la editorial Grupo AJEC compiló especialmente para el mercado español. Se trata tres relatos de ciencia ficción que mezclan sabiamente la ucronía con el hard y ciertos toques lovecraftianos, todo ello impregnado de una fina ironía. Esta mezcla puede parecer arriesgada, y hasta cierto punto absurda, pero Stross sale airoso al no explicar los fenómenos hasta la saciedad, sino dándolos por hechos, para de esta manera centrarse en las historias.
Estos son los ...more
Estos son los ...more
Wow, just wow. I read it in one sitting. It's not very long, and I admit, it has some 'not as interesting as the rest' parts, but the style was clever, and the ending was the the greatest Grand Finale I've read in some time.
Someone, or something, has moved the whole surface of the Earth and placed it on a solar-system-sized disk. Is this a superinteligent race experiment, or a simulation? What are the implications?
Humanity is deprived of spaceflight, but given endless territory to explore and c ...more
Someone, or something, has moved the whole surface of the Earth and placed it on a solar-system-sized disk. Is this a superinteligent race experiment, or a simulation? What are the implications?
Humanity is deprived of spaceflight, but given endless territory to explore and c ...more
My second novella this year after Connie Willis's Fire Watch (which was just above average kind of a read).
This novella served as an introduction to Charles Stross's works to me and I think it was not a bad place to start. The amount of detail Stross crammed into this less than 100 pages novella was really amazing. With characters like Yuri Gagarin and Carl Sagan, Stross successfully managed to held my attention throughout. And the illustrations were funny too.
The staggering dimensions of the f ...more
This novella served as an introduction to Charles Stross's works to me and I think it was not a bad place to start. The amount of detail Stross crammed into this less than 100 pages novella was really amazing. With characters like Yuri Gagarin and Carl Sagan, Stross successfully managed to held my attention throughout. And the illustrations were funny too.
The staggering dimensions of the f ...more
This was a frustrating story because it could be a great novel and instead it just kept almost being great. I kept getting lost which seemed completely unnecessary. There were great ideas but 1) a novel was probably called for to do the ideas justice, and 2) great ideas tank if the writing and editing confuse the reader.
Stross wrote a blurb at the end in his "Wireless" collection where he expressed his discomfort at far future sci-fi writing. It really is too bad he feels that discomfort, becaus ...more
Stross wrote a blurb at the end in his "Wireless" collection where he expressed his discomfort at far future sci-fi writing. It really is too bad he feels that discomfort, becaus ...more
Mundo Anillo + Mundodisco + 4 cervezas + 4 chupitos whisky + unos cuantos cigarrillos aromáticos + noche de cine clásico: Dr Strangelove + Cuando ruge la Marabunta + La invasión de los ultracuerpos = Brecha de Misiles
Se queda corta, demasiados personajes y demasiadas tramas para tan pocas páginas.
Se queda corta, demasiados personajes y demasiadas tramas para tan pocas páginas.
Madre mía ... si tomo distancia, a lo mejor hasta soy capaz de ver que efectivamente debajo de todo hay una historia de ficcgión, pero, ¡demonios! me ha costado 7 días leerlo y no es ná ...
Mucho Premio Locus, pero os aseguro que me ha parecido un tostón ... y al final, encima, me he quedado con cara de ¿ cómo ... ? ¿ que ya ... ? ¿ no hay más ... ? ¡ p'os vaya !
Mucho Premio Locus, pero os aseguro que me ha parecido un tostón ... y al final, encima, me he quedado con cara de ¿ cómo ... ? ¿ que ya ... ? ¿ no hay más ... ? ¡ p'os vaya !
Missile Gap is a mere novella by Charles Stross, which frustrates the reader when the story ends. The universe the author describes is so interesting and full of potential, but it is only used once, for a short story that ends suddenly and depressingly.
Well, imagine the world of 1976, suddenly finding itself transplanted on a huge artificial disk that spans enough to provide space for millions of planets Earth. Nobody explains how or why it happened and the few realities that the world has come ...more
Well, imagine the world of 1976, suddenly finding itself transplanted on a huge artificial disk that spans enough to provide space for millions of planets Earth. Nobody explains how or why it happened and the few realities that the world has come ...more
This novella was originally written for an anthology, One Million A.D., whose theme was stories set more than a million years in the future. Stross essentially punts on that, instead creating a replica of the past (60's and 70's) that's been transported and/or replicated in that deep future. Within that context, he creates a mystery for an alternate history mankind of the half-century ago. It's entertaining and thoughtful, as I usually find Stross, following three barely-related storylines invol
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https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3078994.html
It's 1976, and fourteen years ago, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the entire planet Earth and all its inhabitants were transported to a huge flat surface, extending for many millions of mile/kilometres in all directions. New worlds can be found further out by adventurous explorers. The story separately follows Yuri Gagarin, Carl Sagan, and a young woman colonist of the new worlds trying to make sense of the new universe. The path is dark and so is the ...more
It's 1976, and fourteen years ago, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the entire planet Earth and all its inhabitants were transported to a huge flat surface, extending for many millions of mile/kilometres in all directions. New worlds can be found further out by adventurous explorers. The story separately follows Yuri Gagarin, Carl Sagan, and a young woman colonist of the new worlds trying to make sense of the new universe. The path is dark and so is the ...more
This creepy WTF alternative history(but not really..so there is hint)treads similiar ground to Stross's "Colder War" with another take on the cold war, but this one is very different and filled with a wider sense of wonder and dread also. Hints of Invasion of Body Snatchers, George R.R. Martin's Sandkings, and Kafka. Plus it has Carl Sagan as a Character.P.S. get it from a library it is expensive..or find the cheaper Gardner Dozois edited collection it is in.
Another excellent Stross riff on the cold war-era and super beings, this one dark and intensely disturbing. To describe too much of the story would be to ruin the experience of having it unfold for you over the brief arc of this novella, but it was like no other science fiction (other than Stross) that I've read, despite some vague reminisences of Robert Charles Wilson's "Protocols of Consumption" and the creepy Twilight Zone feeling I was left with at the end (and it's an awesome ending).
Bello questo romanzo breve di Stross. Una rutilante serie di eventi della più classica SF lega il lettore alla pagina, che l'autore solletica inserendo di volta in volta tematiche modernissime. Un testo che meriterebbe una dimensione più importante, se non una serie di novellette ambientate nello stesso "universo". Grande SF.
Lee toda la reseña aquí: https://goo.gl/X7gG7q
En Brecha de Misiles, Stross plantea una distopía de ciencia ficción en la que la Tierra, en plena Guerra Fría, es trasladada a un disco. No se sabe absolutamente nada más. Ni quién o qué lo ha hecho, ni los motivos. Narrada de forma coral por tres protagonistas (lado USA, lado URSS y una civil) vemos como todos intentan comprender qué ha ocurrido, de forma racional, mientras intentan seguir con sus vidas y con el conflicto bélico en ciernes. Una hi ...more
En Brecha de Misiles, Stross plantea una distopía de ciencia ficción en la que la Tierra, en plena Guerra Fría, es trasladada a un disco. No se sabe absolutamente nada más. Ni quién o qué lo ha hecho, ni los motivos. Narrada de forma coral por tres protagonistas (lado USA, lado URSS y una civil) vemos como todos intentan comprender qué ha ocurrido, de forma racional, mientras intentan seguir con sus vidas y con el conflicto bélico en ciernes. Una hi ...more
Una premisa interesante y una narración entretenida. Me ha tenido enganchada durante sus escasas cien páginas. Lo único que le echo en cara es su duración, qué estupenda novela (larga) podría haber sido si hubiera desarrollado más sus tramas.
Sciapo insulso banalotto
The Cuba crisis is overshadowed by the destruction of Earth and the relocation of all of its continents and inhabitants to an impossible cosmic construct. Both superpowers of the time are trying to cope with the sudden redrawing of the strategic situation and the unsettling discoveries that they are making on the nearby newfound continents.
A little bit sketchy for my taste. A common people's story was added to provide human perspective but feels unrelated to the plot and is as if put there jus ...more
A little bit sketchy for my taste. A common people's story was added to provide human perspective but feels unrelated to the plot and is as if put there jus ...more
Iba a escribir la reseña de otra novela y me he encontrado con que no había puesto esta como leída.
Después de leer tantos tochazos, viene bien leer una novelita corta. No es una gran maravilla pero el planteamiento es bastante curioso interesante.
Después de leer tantos tochazos, viene bien leer una novelita corta. No es una gran maravilla pero el planteamiento es bastante curioso interesante.
I found this book in spanish and didn't like the translation, kind of lost the narrative and made it more complex, its short and kind of let me the feeling of being left in the middle of something, read if you like conspiracy theories spies and a very different end to the cold war.
Peccato sia così breve...
Es novedosa pero creo que su problema es que es demasiado corta. El final viene de sopetón como si el escritor dijera : “ya he escrito bastante”
3,5/3,0
Corto, pero entretenido. Pequeña reflexión sobre el espíritu humano.
Corto, pero entretenido. Pequeña reflexión sobre el espíritu humano.
one of the more disturbing science fiction novellas ive read. its short, yet packed with lots of story, almost to a fault. I would recommend reading this twice.
Transplanted to a disc world, 60's-era US and Russia struggle to adapt and overcome. Excellent story, highly amusing.
No me he enterado absolutamente de nada, he captado la idea pero muy superficialmente, no me ha terminado de convencer
Nov 27, 2010
Giovanni Dall'Orto
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantascienza,
finished
Questo (non-)racconto lungo è un pastone senza capo né coda, scritto in modo straordinario.
Si tratta d'uno scritto "postmoderno", uno di quelli, cioè, in cui l'autore non scrive per il lettore, ma per se stesso, e per dimostrare quanto è bravo sia a scrivere, sia a dominare le convenzioni e i generi letterari.
In quanto scrittore postmoderno, l'autore non è capace di trovare alcun senso nell'atto di scrivere, e infatti senso questo scritto non ne ha. Si tratta di un centone nel quale convivono p ...more
Si tratta d'uno scritto "postmoderno", uno di quelli, cioè, in cui l'autore non scrive per il lettore, ma per se stesso, e per dimostrare quanto è bravo sia a scrivere, sia a dominare le convenzioni e i generi letterari.
In quanto scrittore postmoderno, l'autore non è capace di trovare alcun senso nell'atto di scrivere, e infatti senso questo scritto non ne ha. Si tratta di un centone nel quale convivono p ...more
Sono ben lieto di andare contro tendenza, nel ritenere questo lungo racconto (o breve romanzo) un piccolo gioiello della narrativa sci-fi.
I pochi commenti che si trovano sono tutti negativi: la trama è confusionaria, si dice, affollata di troppe idee, e il finale è brutto e inutile.
Io non condivido né la prima né la seconda delle affermazioni.
Innanzitutto, la grande varietà di idee non è affatto un punto debole, anzi. Ciò che risulta assolutamente originale è proprio la contaminazione di generi ...more
I pochi commenti che si trovano sono tutti negativi: la trama è confusionaria, si dice, affollata di troppe idee, e il finale è brutto e inutile.
Io non condivido né la prima né la seconda delle affermazioni.
Innanzitutto, la grande varietà di idee non è affatto un punto debole, anzi. Ciò che risulta assolutamente originale è proprio la contaminazione di generi ...more
May 02, 2011
La Stamberga dei Lettori
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
tancredi
Sono ben lieto di andare contro tendenza, nel ritenere questo lungo racconto (o breve romanzo) un piccolo gioiello della narrativa sci-fi.
I pochi commenti che si trovano sono tutti negativi: la trama è confusionaria, si dice, affollata di troppe idee, e il finale è brutto e inutile.
Io non condivido né la prima né la seconda delle affermazioni.
Innanzitutto, la grande varietà di idee non è affatto un punto debole, anzi. Ciò che risulta assolutamente originale è proprio la contaminazione di gene ...more
I pochi commenti che si trovano sono tutti negativi: la trama è confusionaria, si dice, affollata di troppe idee, e il finale è brutto e inutile.
Io non condivido né la prima né la seconda delle affermazioni.
Innanzitutto, la grande varietà di idee non è affatto un punto debole, anzi. Ciò che risulta assolutamente originale è proprio la contaminazione di gene ...more
This is a thoughtful novella that presents some incredibly gonzo ideas. The alternate history includes characters such as Carl Sagan and Yuri Gagarin set in a 1970s cold war, with the added twist of aliens and their mind-boggling cosmic constructions. The story is told in a series of episodic slices featuring a fairly large cast of characters. If I had a suggestion for improvement, it would be for Stross to expand the story so that we could get a fuller picture of each character. The story also
...more
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Charles David George "Charlie" Stross is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy.
Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.
SF ...more
Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.
SF ...more
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