This is Charlie Stross's second short story collection, and collects a number of short stories previously published elsewhere, as well as the new "Palimsest". I'd read a few of these before - "A Colder War" is in TOAST, and I'd read both "Palimsest" and and "Trunk and Disorderly" in beta, so I didn't re-read those.

"Missile Gap" offers an interesting take on a number of old themes, SF and otherwise: the Cold War, humanity faced with superior god-like something, collectivism vs. individualism. Suffice to say the roaches win. I was amused.

I liked "Rogue Farm", though I find it difficult to describe. A post-Singularity take on country life maybe? The ending is both sad and creepy as hell.

"MAXOS" first appeared as one of the back page short SF pieces in Nature magazine. It is... delightful.

"Down on the Farm" re-unites us with the character of Bob Howard in the Laundry universe. It's entertaining enough, but I'm glad it wasn't my fist exposure to the Laundry series - for me that universe tends to work better at novel length, partly because the short story format doesn't leave neough room for world building, and world building for me is one of the key strengths of that setting.

"Unwirer" (written in collaboration with Cory Doctorow) is brilliant. For a start it makes a lot more sense if you read it in the right order. ;-) It's very dark, with a fair amount of political commentary, and unfortunately I don't think we're quite safe from that particular alternate reality yet. Which is probably why it had so much impact on me.

"Snowball's Chance" has its moments, but I like the supernatural characters in it more than I like the humans. (This may well be the point. ;-)

"Trunk and Disorderly" is a hilarious Wodehouse meets the Singularity pastiche - I will actually re-read it at some point.

And I guess I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of "Palimpsest". Partly, I think Charlie, in his afterword, is right and the story really, really wants to be a novel. Partly, a lot of it feels like a re-telling of Asimov's "The End of Eternity", which is possibly the only Asimov book I like, and it doesn't quite work for me.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the anthology, and in no way regret buying it in hardback. I've read enough of Charlie's work for free either in beta or just generally on the Internet, that I'm very happy to find opportunities to give him money for it.

Which leaves me with, umm..., Bechdel: Not 100% sure but I think we might have Bechdel fail here. Pretty much all of the stories have strong female characters, but they rarely talk to each other. Although we may have a pass in Trunk and Disorderly - I don't remember. ( )

An extremely fine collection, with a 3.83 average. An interesting range of material both in length, going from vignette to long novella, and content, from humorous science fiction and fantasy to cold war paranoia and horror. Down on the Farm, being one of the Laundry stories is perhaps a combination of both.

It contains a story new to this book as the final entry, a twisty Time Police (Stasis Agent) scenario, but with a cosmological element, as well, to make it a little different. The object of this agency is to keep humans alive after the inevitable extinctions.

I'll still happily read anything he writes, and look forward to more. An excellent book.

Wireless : Missile Gap - Charles Stross
Wireless : Rogue Farm - Charles Stross
Wireless : A Colder War - Charles Stross
Wireless : Maxos - Charles Stross
Wireless : Down on the Farm - Charles Stross
Wireless : Unwirer - Charles Stross and Cory Doctorow
Wireless : Snowball's Chance - Charles Stross
Wireless : Trunk and Disorderly - Charles Stross
Wireless : Palimpsest - Charles Stross

Discworld detour detente dramatically different.

4 out of 5

Pastoral life breakdown.

3.5 out of 5

The US works on highly advanced nuclear weapons programs to stop something far worse that the Soviets have available : 'What exactly are these weapons systems?'' demands the third inquisitor, a quiet, hawk-faced man sitting on the left of the panel.

The shoggot'im, they're called: servitors. There are several kinds of advanced robotic systems made out of molecular components: they can change shape, restructure material at the atomic level -- '

3.5 out of 5

Interstellar spam.

3 out of 5

DSS = Deeply Scary Sorcerers. No chess at the Funny Farm please.

4 out of 5

Big network bypass fascist evidence breakthrough.

4.5 out of 5

Global warming Devil deal destruction wish banking.

4 out of 5

Dwarf mammoths are heavy. Supreme planetary overlords have bloody big houses. Multigendered metalflesh relations are jolly complex, old chap.

4 out of 5

Stasis self-inflicted senior self slaying separation self-Opposition.

4 out of 5

4.5 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/08... ( )

A good collection of Stross’ work, most of which was previously only available in anthologies and magazines. The tales range from chilling evocations of the spectre of annihilation in the Cold War (“Missile Gap”, “A Colder War”) to humorous (“MAXOs”, “Trunk and Disorderly”). “Palimpsest”, an original for this book, is an interesting tale of time-travel conflict that I rank highly for originality, next to Fritz Leiber’s The Big Time and Richard Garfinkel’s All of an Instant. ( )