R34: Not planning on reading Stross again?

[Steve]

After the relatively poor reception of Rule 34 in the forums, the thought came to me that this book may have put people off Charles Stross entirely, rather than just this one title.

I thought this would be a crying shame as Stross writes in several styles, mostly insightful and humorous, and he is one of the small handful of authors where I try to read all of their work. His writing also exists on both sides of the Sword/Laser boundary, making his work highly appropriate for this book-club.

The thought of people perhaps not giving him at least one more chance was sad, and when I came across a short story from his "Laundry" universe, that is freely available online, I felt that I had to mention it here, and see if people were willing to spend 30 minutes to see if their opinion of his work could be improved.

Overtime is a "tor.com original", and is available here: http://www.tor.com/stories/2009/12/ov... (for FREE, so no excuse!)

From my own perspective, I have to admit that I much prefer Stross' Laundry universe to his Rule 34 universe. The interesting twist to this seasonal story is also very well executed in such a small tale.

[Paul]

I'm a huge Stross fan, ever since I discovered him with Accelerando, and also love the Laundry books. i haven't read Rule 34 yet, as I wanted to read Halting State first.

[Susan]

Steve - Thank you so very much for the chance to take another look at Charles Stross. I read the short story and loved it. I did not like Rule 34, couldn't force myself to finish it, and truthfully would not have ever picked up a Stross book again. BUT I enjoyed this brief look at the "Laundry" universe and plan to search out the rest in this series.

[Steve]

@Susan, my work here is done... One conversion is enough :)

[Brad]

Thanks for this post. It was very refreshing. I was new to Stross so this was the first book reading of his. I'll have to admit I was pushed a little by the book club to push through this book.

I finally finished, but it seems like an after-thought chore. I liked what I read, but I really struggled to get in to the story until the last third of the book. I'll give his other works a chance.

[Phillip]

I have a hard time getting around the second person perspective does anybody know if Halting State is written the same way

[Otto]

Phillip wrote: "I have a hard time getting around the second person perspective does anybody know if Halting State is written the same way"

Halting State is the same, which is why I still haven't finished it after setting it down a year ago... I really want to know how it ends, but every time I pick it up I feel like I'm trapped in Zork...