I recently read Charles Stross’s The Atrocity Archives, a book that blends the spy thriller, the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft, and the techno-institutional absurdist politics of Dilbert into one magnificent novel. I recommend it very, very highly.

The Atrocity Archives — Charles Stross

Rating: 5/5

After reading Singularity Sky by Charles Stross I was willing to give the hyperbolic statements about the author the benefit of the doubt. Singularity Sky was a well-written, thought-provoking book that held my interest and delivered the goods. A couple weeks ago, my uncle sent me a copy of The Atrocity Archives, which apparently was Mr. Stross’s first published novel in the UK. Only recently has this novel been published in the US, which is flat out crazy as this is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

The Atrocity Archives is a book that blends strands from three traditional novel genres: espionage or secret service thrillers; eldritch horror a la H. P. Lovecraft; and cyberpunk-influenced science fiction. The story centers on the Laundry, a secret British government agency charged with, in Men In Black style, protecting the public from being attacked by or even knowing about the various bizarre entities that threaten our reality. The central character is Bob Howard, a computer programmer and systems administrator for the Laundry, who has recently had his application for field service approved by his supervisors. Bob immediately gets sucked in over his head on his first mission, as he exposes a conspiracy that could threaten the existence of our entire universe.

The Atrocity Archives is written in first-person, which gives the reader a greater sense of immediacy. It also encourages greater identification with the character as well as providing a rationale for not revealing information that might prematurely spoil the dramatic tension until Bob actually stumbles over it himself. I found the main character extremely easy to identify with, as he is close to my age and shares my profession and interests. Others’ mileage may vary.

The book is written in a fast, active style that reminds me of Neal Stephenson in some ways. Bob liberally salts his narrative with pop culture, hacking, and H. P. Lovecraft references, so familiarity with these subjects will greatly enhance your ability to pick up on the many in-jokes that spice the text.

One of the real triumphs of this book is that it manages to outdo or transcend most of its inspirational material. The occult and esoteric terrorism that the Laundry has to combat give a much more gut-churning feel of urgency and impending disaster than the elaborate ballet of monolithic state diplomacy that was the Cold War. The just-scientific-enough explanations of what the Great Old Ones and their kin really are make it much easier to suspend disbelief in Stross’s versions than in H. P. Lovecraft’s, with a correspondingly greater level of terror. His use of computer technology is not in itself anything groundbreaking, but he does remain remarkably true to the realities of computers and software as much as it’s possible, which adds to the verisimilitude of the stories.

Stross ties all these threads together with deft writing skills, lending humanity and personality to both his main and supporting characters. As a first-person novel, Bob obviously gets the lion’s share of the characterization effort, but there are a number of other characters that don’t necessarily get much page time that take on full three-dimensionality while they are there. In addition, he switches almost effortlessly between well-researched hard science and well-researched esoterica with ersatz-science backing. Perhaps the best example of this is when, in two adjacent paragraphs, he succintly describes both the internal structure of an implosion nuclear weapon and the construction and function of a Hand of Glory. He does this with enough confidence that the two may as well be equally grounded in known science.

My only problem with this book was that it was too short. I wanted more adventures in this setting. Fortunately, Charles Stross apparently does also. A sequel, entitled The Jennifer Morgue, will be coming out in 2006, in plenty of time to deal with the looming threat of Case Nightmare Green in September 2007 when the Great Old Ones return from beyond the stars to eat our brains. But you didn’t hear that from me.

With this book, Stross moves near the top of my list of recommended authors. I highly recommend The Atrocity Archives and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Singularity Sky — Charles Stross

Rating: 4/5

Charles Stross’s Singularity Sky is an interesting novel. Combining concepts from both hard and soft science fiction, and plot formulas from old-time space opera to the modern concept of Singularity (as originated by Vernor Vinge), the result provides an interesting look at the consequences of almost unimaginable future shock from the perspective of both the totally clueless and those that understand what is happening.

In science fiction, the term “Singularity” refers to a period of extremely rapid, unpredictable technological and societal change: the ultimate future shock. The word “Singularity” is meant to conjure up the image of an undefined point on a graph of a mathematical function. For example, the simple function y = abs(1/x), when graphed, is undefined where x is equal to zero, since division by zero is illegal. When graphed, this function rapidly shoots off to infinity on the y axis as x gets closer and closer to zero. This particular function, once x passes zero and goes negative, comes back from infinity equally rapidly, behaving normally from then on. That point on the graph where x is equal to zero is a singularity: a point where the behavior of the function is undefined and the rates of change are enormous.

In some respects, the term “Singularity” is a bit misleading. There are actually several possible ways of looking at a Singularity and its aftermath. If the Singularity reflects a point of unimagninably rapid change, it’s unrealistic to expect that everything would just go right back to the way it was before. If the society experiencing a Singularity doesn’t return to its initial conditions, the term “Discontinuity” might be better. Everything changes in one moment and nothing is ever the same again.

Another possible type of Singularity event is as a period of unimaginably rapid change, followed by a return to relative normalcy afterwards. If the Singularity was caused by external forces, and once those forces are removed the changes are unable to persist on their own, you might have this second type.

Charles Stross incorporates both versions of Singularity in this novel. At some time in the novel’s past, humanity managed to perfect instantaneous transmission of information via quantum entanglement. According to special relativity, this is (mostly) equivalent to time travel. Once humanity built a computer capable of transmitting information into its own past, it quickly bootstrapped to near-godhood, declared itself the “Eschaton”, and instantaneously shipped nine-tenths of the population of Earth off to myriads of new worlds within a radius of about 1000 LY. Obviously, Earth would never be the same. This is the first type of Singularity, and the ongoing ramifications of the Eschaton’s existence serve to set the constraints of Stross’s milieu.

The novel revolves around the effects of the second type of Singularity, as invoked by the Festival, as it blossoms for a short period of time on Rochard’s World, one of the most backwards colony worlds inhabited by humankind. It starts as the planet experiences a rain of telephones from the sky, heralding the arrival of the enigmatic “Festival”. The telephones promise to grant wishes in exchange for entertainment. As the oppressed underclass of Rochard’s World get some of their more grandiose wishes granted, it becomes obvious to the power structure in the colony that the Festival, and more specifically the Singularity that the Festival is inducing on the planet, is a threat to the very structure of their society. They immediately call for help to their capitol world, and a fleet is dispatched to attack the Festival. Of course, the admirals and ministers at the capitol have no idea what they are dealing with. They hatch a risky and extremely dangerous plan to hit the Festival at a point of weakness, a plan that other forces are determined to undermine.

One of the difficulties of writing — at least somewhat believably — about Singularity events is that almost by definition there’s no way to adequately imagine all of what might happen during one. And indeed, much of the hyper-advanced technology Stross includes is described metaphorically or functionally, as a primitive might explain a chainsaw or a helicopter. Technology closer to current levels of understanding is described much more completely, in as hard a fashion as possible.

Another problem with Singularity fiction is that as individual humans experience exponential growth of their cognitive abilities and perceptions, it becomes harder and harder for the author to describe their motivations and thought processes adequately, let alone make the readers care deeply about the characters. Stross avoids this problem through the deus ex machina of the Eschaton, which forbids certain types of causality violations and thereby keeps humanity from completely transcending. In addition, setting the novel in the New Republic, which is reactionary with technology to the point of Luddism, ensures that the major characters will be approachable by merely human readers.

Stross’s characters are believable and sympathetic, with motivations that are unclear enough to be interesting but alluded to enough to avoid irrelevancy. His space travel and combat scenes are well-written, with extensive detail and dramatic tension. Some of the combat scenes seemed a bit long, but this is a minor issue. The high-tech espionage aspects were exceptionally well done and provided the main focus for the latter half of the novel.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. It’s very refreshing to see an author write thoughtful science fiction that deals with the full potential hinted at by the most modern scientific research. As all Singularity authors seem to have to do, he uses a plot device to shield readers from the full impact of the extreme future shock of the setting, but as plot devices go, the Eschaton is outstanding. I recommend this book without reservation to anyone that likes hard science fiction.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves — Lynne Truss

Rating: 4/5

This is a short, fun, improbably successful book that manages to be both informative and hilarious at the same time. And amazingly enough, it does so on the subject of English punctuation. Lynne Truss is a British author who has been a punctuation stickler all her life. She addresses the use and abuse of all the common punctuation symbols, from the comma and apostrophe through the subtleties of the dash and ellipsis. Although I’m not perfect at punctuation, I tend to have a pretty good eye for spotting gross errors. Ms. Truss liberally salts her text with examples of the most hideous punctuation misuses, and usually adds on a sarcastic comment or two that pretty closely mirrors what I was thinking when I saw it.

This book actually does accomplish a purpose other than ridicule and humor, however. It is full of useful information on the subtleties of using punctuation symbols effectively. In addition to the lists of rules for using punctuation symbols such as the comma and apostrophe, there are many examples of both effective and ineffective use of punctuation. There are many places in the text where she shows a snippet of text punctuated two different ways. Sometimes the effect is a stark distortion of meaning; sometimes it’s a very slight change of emphasis. Often the resulting differences are hard to actually put into words, but they are there.

I had purchased this book for my Mom as a birthday present. I have fond memories of helping my Mom grade her college English papers when I was in junior high, and sharing a good laugh over the best examples of the horrific illiteracy of the students. I remember being somewhat scandalized that these college students — almost godlike creatures to an eighth-grader — wrote such pitiful English. After Mom finished reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves, she was kind enough to lend it back to me. I had originally expected to read this book and solely be entertained, and was pleasantly surprised to also learn many rules I never knew about the proper use of punctuation.

The book takes only about three hours or so to read, as it is written in a very conversational style that makes even the driest minutiae go down fairly easily. I greatly enjoyed it, although I do think that the subject matter is not going to be of true general appeal.

The Baroque Cycle — Neal Stephenson
Quicksilver
The Confusion
The System Of The World

Rating: 4/5

Quite a few people dislike these books, as they are “neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.” (John Heywood, 1546) Personally, I thought the series, taken as a whole, was magnificent.

Quicksilver introduces readers to Daniel Waterhouse, a Fellow of the Royal Society. He’s also the son of Drake Waterhouse, a notorious smuggler and Puritan stalwart who was on intimate terms with Oliver Cromwell. Daniel’s roommate at Oxford is Isaac Newton, in whom Daniel immediately recognizes an unequalled genius. Plague, fire, war, and intrigue affect the lives of Daniel, Isaac, and the other members of the Royal Society as they pursue their researches into new fields of Natural Philosophy. We are also introduced to Jack Shaftoe, a syphilitic Vagabond and opportunist, and Eliza, a Qwghlian girl abducted into a Turkish seraglio. Jack rescues Eliza during the sack of Vienna and together they pursue opportunity and profit across Continental Europe.

The Confusion follows Jack as he criscrosses the world on one misadventure after another, and Eliza as she continues to grow in power and influence in European society. Massive plots, schemes, and conspiracies are launched, mostly to go wildly astray. Political and economic struggles dominate this book, as Louis XIV, the Sun King, tries to achieve dominance over England, Holland, and Spain, opposed by William of Orange. Gottfried von Leibniz, the House of Hanover, and even Tsar Peter the Great are drawn into the machinations as well.

The System of the World rejoins Daniel as he returns from America at the request of Princess Caroline of Hanover. Isaac Newton is running the English Mint, and English coinage is acknowledged as the best in the world. He is opposed, however, by Jack Shaftoe, now known as Jack the Coiner, who has his own motives for trying to subvert the English currency. Daniel has a full agenda, from helping to reconcile Newton and Leibniz to constructing a “Logic Mill” for Peter the Great to figuring out who is trying to kill him with phosphorus bombs.

Some of the reason that many people are ambivalent about these books stems from the fact that Neal Stephenson is well-known and has an extensive fan base for his over-the-top writing style and his corpus of science fiction works. Some of those established fans were not interested in a long series of novels that were set in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, with heavy emphasis on the sociology, politics, and economics of the period, and no futuristic technology. Some other readers whose preferred genre is historical fiction were not enamored of the liberties he took with historical characters and his gonzo, “sugar cocoa puffs” writing style (as my friend Garrett puts it), not to mention the science-fictional sensibilities he brought to his portrayal of the emerging technologies of he 18th century.

If you look for things to dislike about this series, you can certainly find them, whether you are focusing on style or substance. The books are both long and long-winded; Neal Stephenson has striven to adopt at least some of the styles of writing contemporaneous with his setting, and this can be hard to follow at times. The first book meanders quite a bit, setting up the backstory and characterization while not seeming to make much progress in terms of plot, while the second book jumps to an entirely new set of characters as they partake in some highly improbable adventures. A lot of history gets bent throughout the series to allow the protagonists to appear in and influence, “Forrest Gump”-style, many of the major world events of the time. The ending to the series is somewhat abrupt, with some significant questions unanswered.

But, like a goldsmith assaying the fineness of a well-minted guinea, I find that the gold in the Baroque Cycle far outweighs the base metal. Every facet of this novel series is extensively-, almost obsessively-researched. The setting is very immersive, even if the plot events are often over-the-top. The central characters are fully-rendered in full human detail. His primary three fictional protagonists are the most fleshed out, but he also invests a lot of effort into plausibly portraying the human thoughts and goals of his ancillary fictional characters and the myriad of historical figures that pass through his work. Much of the length and wordiness of the series is devoted to establishing the setting and characters so that the reader is fully submerged into the author’s vision of Enlightenment-era Europe, and I believe he succeeds completely.

As far as content, Stephenson cooks a very eclectic stew, as he often does. Science, alchemy, propaganda, sex, war, squalor, philosophy, piracy, mathematics, disease, counterfeiting, baksheesh, religion, slavery, the stock market, politics, insurance, coffee, dueling, mystery and love are only some of the ingredients he uses. If it happened between 1680 and 1710, it’s pretty sure to be in the series somewhere.

One of the most frequent complaints about Neal Stephenson is that his endings are unsatisfactory. While I won’t claim I was completely happy with the way the Baroque Cycle concluded — there were several things I was still curious about that the various epilogues did not cover — I would rate this the most satisfying ending to a Stephenson work to date. There was an actual denoument, although shorter than in most non-Stephenson novels, and the explanations of what many of the characters were doing or were going to do after the pivotal events were believable and true to their personalities.

All in all, I highly recommend this series, although you will spend a lot of time with it.