Empire Games (Charlie Stross, Merchant Princes series) out in 2017.

This should be… entertaining. As I recall, the first series got kinda shut down at the end partially for stuff beyond Charlie Stross’s control – and partially for stuff that was, such as a fundamental misunderstanding of… well.  Let’s not skate too close to the edge there, huh?Anyway, the Merchant Princes series started well and I actually wouldn’t mind him trying to salvage the good bits for something new.

Guess we’ll see?

Moe Lane

 

Book of the Week: The Nightmare Stacks

I just finished it, and I’m comfortable with naming The Nightmare Stacks my Book of the Week. It’s about elves, and vampires, and (for a British Lefty, at least) a surprising amount of military porn. I mean, it was weird. I’d have totally expected it from an American author, but from Charlie Stross? Guess that’ll teach me to assume.

And so, adieu to The Thousand Names. I read the next two books in the series, by the way. They were good! Continue reading Book of the Week: The Nightmare Stacks

An entertaining Laundry competition that I can’t participate in.

Well, I can participate in it, only it won’t do me any good: the prizes are for UK/EU/Australasians only.  Which is cool. I imagine that there’s any number of American-based contests that are just for Americans, only I haven’t noticed because I’m an American so why would it register?

It’s still a fun idea, though. Basically, Charlie Stross’s British publisher (Orbit) is running a contest where people send in occult gear that’s suitable for the Laundry, which is of course the UK’s bureaucratic institution dedicated to fighting the Mythos and preparing England for CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN (a cosmic horror apocalypse coming soon to a reality near you!). Anyway: just because I can’t win it doesn’t mean that I can’t write something up anyway. If only because it amuses me to do so. Continue reading An entertaining Laundry competition that I can’t participate in.

‘The Rapture of the Nerds.’

That’s what Charlie Stross called the Singularity in this interview, and damned if I can’t see his point. Privately, I’ve always thought that a lot of believers in the concept are effectively treating it as Magic For People Who Thought That ‘Psionics’ Was Too Much A Science-Fiction Cop-Out For Magic: but then, I’m a gamer geek.  Read the whole thing; it’s pretty interesting.

See also here, here, and here for the Singularity Backlash. Which would be one heck of a band name.