Questions tagged [charles-stross]
For questions about Charles Stross, a British writer of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror and fantasy, as well as copious short fiction and a few standalone novels. Only use for questions about the author himself, for questions about his works use a more specific work tag.
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What H.P. Lovecraft stories do Charles Stross's Laundry series reference?
I've recently read a few of Charles Stross's Laundry series of books. These obviously reference Lovecraft in many ways but-- since I've never read any Lovecraft -- I don't know which stories are most ...
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Was Bob Howard always intended to be BOFH?
In The Jennifer Morgue, Bob Howard's middle names are revealed to be Oliver and Francis, making his full name Robert "Bob" Oliver Francis Howard. If we take Bob as the first name, his initials become ...
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What is the relationship between A Colder War and the Laundry Series?
The novella A Colder War by Charles Stross seems thematically quite similar to his Laundry series (cold war + Cthulhu and Lovecraftian spy thriller, respectively). Are they supposed to belong to the ...
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In Singularity Sky, why did Eschaton kidnap majority of the Earth's population?
Was a simple warning not enough? Or was it a demonstration of power?
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What does the title of Charlie Stross's "Halting State" refer to?
Someone I know recently enrolled in an introductory computer science course that introduced her to the halting problem. She also recently read Charles Stross's book Halting State, and was curious if ...
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Reading Charles Stross Laundry Series out of order
I have just bought the The Fuller Memorandum and realized that it is the 3rd book in a series.
Is it OK to read just this one, or should I read the other 2 first?
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Whose buttocks are these?
In Charlie Stross' Overtime, Bob Howard finds himself stuck in the office at Christmas, having 'volunteered' as Night Duty Officer. He begins to settle in for a boring couple of nights, when he finds ...
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What's the deal with the Old Enochian language?
In the Laundry Series by Charles Stross, the Old Enochian language:
Is used to command the feeders in the night which animate zombies Residual Human Resources.
Is used to "invoke a macro" (set off a ...
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Why does BLUE HADES tolerate humans?
In Charles Stross's Laundry Files there is a peace treaty between each territorial government with a coast, and the entities covered by the codename BLUE HADES.
This comes up in "The Jennifer Morgue" ...
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Are there any other stories set in Charles Stross Palimpsest universe?
I enjoyed Palimpsest by Charles Stross. It seems to be a one-off novella, I was wondering if any of his other short stories, etc. are set in that universe? Wikipedia was of no help...
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What happens at the end of "Rule 34"?
I've just been rereading Rule 34 by Charles Stross, but I don't quite understand the end.
I know that we see
Can someone explain exactly what is going on here?
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How Herman could ignore the motive of the ReMastered?
Warning: The following paragraphs contain a large number of spoilers, so stop right now if you don't want to be spoiled.
At different points in Charles Stross's Iron Sunrise, Herman explains to ...
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In Neptune's Brood, how does slow money work?
New member here.
I'm reading Charles Stross' Neptune's Brood and I can't wrap my mind around the slow money concept. I just don't understand how it works.
From the description, it looks like a bond ...
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Why did the Laundry allow Lovecraft to publish the truth about Cthulu, etc?
In Stross's Laundry Files world, occult government agencies are serious about suppressing the truth regarding eldritch tentacled horrors from another universe.
So why did the USA equivalent of The ...
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Why is Heroin being smuggled in A Colder War?
In A Colder War by Charles Stross, it is stated several times that the Gates are being used by the protagonists to smuggle heroin.
The Colonel has "diverted their payload capacity to another purpose",...
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Where does the Kettenkrad engine come from?
In The Atrocity Archives, part of the Laundry Files series by Charles Stross, the protagonist, Bob Howard finds a Kettenkrad on the other end of a portal.
Some kind of small vehicle, like a weird ...
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What's the connection between the deep ones and the Cult of the Sleeper in the Pyramid?
Minor spoilers for Stross' Laundry Series follow.
In The Jennifer Morgue, we are introduced to the Deep Ones. In The Apocalypse Codex they are mentioned multiple times to be somehow connected to one ...
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Locating Charles Stross quote about the state, non-repudiable identity, and time
What's the location in Charles Stross's works where it says we need a state only for non-repudiable identity, a shared basis for time, and "something I forgot"?
Is it somewhere in Glasshouse? I've ...
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How do the "spectacles" in Accelerando work?
When Jack steals Manfred's glasses and puts them on, he somehow "becomes" Manfred from an "information dump" that comes.
But that doesn't make any sense because unless I'm mistaken, the glasses just ...
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Accelerando, Stross: Why did the Queen care about that law suit?
In Charles Stross' Accelerando, the Queen of the Ring Imperium has successfully created a sovereign "country" that spans the proximity of Jupiter.
Her mom sues her (?!), but she isn't a citizen of ...
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Are the Scammer Aliens from Bender's Big Score references to Singularity Sky?
I recently read Charles Stross' Singularity Sky (2003). Within, there are a group of creatures known as the Critics, who resemble large naked mole rats. Likewise, in the Futurama film Bender's Big ...
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Did Vernor Vinge originate the euphemism "you-gotta-believe-me"?
Charles Stross's latest "Laundry series" novel, The Rhesus Chart, uses the phrase "you-gotta-believe-me" to refer to mind control powers. The first time I came across this was in Vinge's Rainbow's End,...
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What are Bob Howard's academic credentials?
I read all of the Laundry Files books, and I vaguely recall that Bob insists on being called Doctor at some point, implying he has a PhD, probably in Computer Science.
Is this ever confirmed in any ...
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Where's the New Annex?
In The Laundry Files, while the actual HQ of the Laundry — Dansey House — is perpetually under (re-)construction, the Laundry's temporary HQ is "the New Annex".
According to the author, Charles Stross,...
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Where's Dansey House?
In The Laundry Files, the actual HQ of The Laundry is the perpetually under (re-)construction Dansey House. According to the author, Charles Stross, it's located
[...] hypothetically, somewhere ...
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What was Persephone Hazard doing at the time of "The Nightmare Stacks"
In The Laundry Files book 7: "The Nightmare Stacks",
CASE NIGHTMARE RED occurs.
I am trying to recall what Persephone Hazard doing during that time.
She occurs in previous and subsequent books, and I ...
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Identity of Officer Green in Apocalypse Codex
Who was Officer Green in the Apocalypse Codex? It seemed that he and one of the Auditors had a prior relationship.
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What caused Earth's disaster?
In the novel Saturn's Children, what happened to cause the runaway greenhouse effect that killed all the "pink goo" (humanity) on Earth? Was it something humanity did to ourselves, or was it something ...
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