R34: Try this in Audiobook! the humor is funnier in a Scottish accent

[Arroyo0]

After listening to episode 85, I checked out the Lev Grossman article in NPR Books and decided to pick up Rule 34 by Charles Stross, then I discovered it was a loose squeal to Halting State.
Since I never read a series out of order (ever since I'm made that mistake at the age of 10 with the Lord of the Ring trilogy {Shudder!}), I got Halting State Audiobook Narrated by Robert Ian MacKenzie.
At first 3 things made it difficult to get into the book:
1) The Scottish accent of the narrator (I'm Israeli born to american parents)
2) The unusual second person narrative, made more confusing by the fact that it alternates each chapter between 3 POVs (you are not the same you in the following chapter, how weird!)
3) The author throws you head-first into a (somewhat) futuristic world with strange jargon, concepts and Scottish slang with no exposition.

I have to thank BBC World Service Radio for helping me overcome the first difficulty, as a kid listening to the BBC I got exposed to a wide variety of English accents. Once I got used to the accent, it was a perfect fit for this book.
The second person narrative is no big deal once you get used to it. It's unusual, but it works.
The 3rd difficulty is par for the course in the SF&F genres, if the book is good, it immerses you even deeper once you get over the initial learning curve.

Halting State is an excellent book. Near future SciFi/Techo-thriller, more like Daemon/Freedom(TM) then Reamde. It's a fun read for a IT/computer geek like me, plus Charles Stross's humor is a real treat!
here are to choice quotes from the book.
"self-kicking ant-hill"
"The waiter is back, with two portions of coronary artery disease and a heart attack on the side."

I finished the Halting State on January 7th and before continuing to Rule 34, was caching up on podcasts when lo and behold! Tom and Veronica picked Rule 34 as the next book in episode #87, perfect timing guys! thank you.
One of the 3 POV's in Rule 34, Edinburgh Police Inspector Liz Kavanaugh, is a secondary character in Halting State I'm looking forward to more fun.

[Anne]

Damn, my audible credit isn't due until another week or so and I already got Rule 34 as an ebook.

Maybe I'll try Halting State if it's available once I've finished.

[Arroyo0]

Michael Wrote: However to Arroyoo's comment about the futuristic world.. almost everything I've read so far in the is based on technology available today. It is a nice blend of Gaming, Augmented Reality and our Social-Networking world we find ourselves in today."

You are right, futuristic is too strong, it's all a projection of current technology and sociology, and for the most part pretty recognizable. The author is heavy on jargon, slang and takes things we don't have today, for granted, but it's by no means a dense for Sci-Fi.

[Paulo]

I had to give up on the audible version after about 1 hour listening to it. My south american ears are not used to the scottish accent, and I felt like I was rolling downhill bumping my head on every rock available. I was starting to have headaches trying to follow the story. I've started again on Kindle, and now it's going fine.

[Kate]

Save me from Americans doing bad Irish accents.

[Skip]

How did we go from Scottish, to Irish accents?

I spend a good part of each day talking to people in Dublin and Naas, and they don't sound anything like the audiobook, or any other Scot I know.

[Steff]

@Skip Dublin and Naas are in Ireland, that could be a contributing factor to the Scottish narration sounding different to the people you talk to every day ;)