Charles Stross
Charles Stross at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow
Born:	October 18, 1964 (age 42) Edinburgh, Scotland
Occupation:	Writer, former Programmer
Nationality:	British
Writing period:	1990s-present
Genres:	Science fiction, fantasy, horror
Influences:	H. P. Lovecraft, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, John LeCarre
Website:	antipope.org/charlie/

Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born Leeds, October 18, 1964) is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (740x698, 275 KB) en: Charles Stross at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow, August 2005. ... It has been suggested that World Science Fiction Society be merged into this article or section. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78,772 km... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ... Horror can mean several things: Horror (emotion) Horror fiction Horror film This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy, horror and science fiction. ... Bruce Sterling at the Ars Electronica Festival Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which defined the cyberpunk genre. ... There are a number of people who have been (or are) named William Gibson. ... Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer, known primarily for his science fiction works in the postcyberpunk genre with a penchant for explorations of society, mathematics, currency, and the history of science. ... ... Leeds is a major city in West Yorkshire, England. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78,772 km... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Lovecraftian horror. ... Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ...

Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod and Liz Williams. Obvious inspirations include Vernor Vinge, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and Bruce Sterling, among other cyberpunk and postcyberpunk writers. Hard science fiction, or hard SF, is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific detail and/or accuracy. ... Classic pulp space opera cover, with the usual cliché elements. ... Alastair Reynolds is a Welsh science fiction author. ... Ken MacLeod (born August 2, 1954), an award-winning Scottish science fiction writer, lives near Edinburgh. ... Liz Williams is a British science fiction writer. ... Vernor Steffen Vinge (IPA: ) (born February 10, 1944) is a mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author who is best known for his Hugo award-winning novels A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky, as well as for his 1993 essay The Technological Singularity, in which... Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer, known primarily for his science fiction works in the postcyberpunk genre with a penchant for explorations of society, mathematics, currency, and the history of science. ... William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948, Conway, South Carolina) is an American-born science fiction author resident in Canada since 1968. ... Bruce Sterling at the Ars Electronica Festival Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which defined the cyberpunk genre. ... Berlins Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz reflects the global reach of a Japanese corporation. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...

His first published short story, "The Boys", appeared in Interzone in 1987: his first novel, Singularity Sky was published by Ace in 2003 and was nominated for the Hugo Award. A collection of his short stories, Toast: And Other Rusted Futures appeared in 2002. Subsequent short stories have been nominated for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and other awards. His novella "The Concrete Jungle" (available online) won the Hugo award for its category in 2005. Most recently, Accelerando (also available online) won the 2006 Locus Award for best science fiction novel, was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the year's best science fiction novel, and was on the final ballot for the Hugo Award in the best novel category. Interzone is a British science fiction and fantasy magazine, published since 1982. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Singularity Sky (ISBN 0441010725) is a hard science fiction novel by author Charles Stross. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 2005 Hugo Award with base designed by Deb Kosiba. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... The 2005 Hugo Award with base designed by Deb Kosiba. ... The Nebula is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years (see rolling eligibility below). ... The Atrocity Archives (2004, ISBN 1930846258) is a collection of two stories by British author Charles Stross, consisting of the short novel The Atrocity Archive (originally serialized in Spectrum SF) and The Concrete Jungle, which won the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella. ... The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works. ... Accelerando (ISBN 0441012841) is a 2005 science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross. ... The Locus Awards are presented to winners of Locus Magazines annual readers poll, which was established in the early 70s specifically to provide recommendations and suggestions to Hugo Awards voters. ... The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel has been awarded every year since 1973, except in 1994. ...

In the 1970s and 1980s, Stross published some role-playing game articles for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the White Dwarf magazine. Some of his creatures, such as the death knight, githyanki (borrowed from George R. R. Martin's book, Dying of the Light), githzerai, and slaad were later published in the Fiend Folio expansion and are still popular among gamers. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... For other uses, see Dungeons & Dragons (disambiguation). ... Cover of White Dwarf issue 90, June 1987. ... In fantasy literature and role-playing games, a death knight (sometimes referred to as a shadow knight or dread knight) is an undead corruption of a righteous warrior who broke his or her code of honor and embraced evil. ... Githyanki on the cover of the Fiend Folio The githyanki are a fictional humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. ... George Raymond Richard Martin (sometimes called GRRM, born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American author and screenwriter of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, githzerai are extraplanar humanoid creatures, native to the Plane of Limbo. ... In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the slaad (sometimes pluralized as slaadi) are a fictional race of chaotic neutral creatures native to the Outer Plane of Limbo, a place of pure chaos where everything is in constant motion and change, especially the landscape, which can shift unpredictably and randomly... Fiend Folio was a source book of monsters intended for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. ...

In addition to working as a writer of fiction he has worked as a technical author, freelance journalist, programmer, and pharmacist at different times. He holds degrees in Pharmacy and Computer Science.

Rogue Farm, a machinima film based on his 2003 short story of the same title, debuted in August 2004. A scene from the popular machinima series Red vs. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He is one of the Guests of Honour at Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) in March 2008. Eastercon is the common name for the British National Science Fiction Convention, which since the 1960s has been held over the four-day Easter holiday weekend although the traditional numbering of the conventions goes back to 1948, when the national convention was held over the three-day Whitsun bank holiday...

Books

Standalones

• Scratch Monkey, unpublished, 1993
• The Web Architect's Handbook (Non-fiction), published 1996, ISBN 0-201-87735-X
• Toast: And Other Rusted Futures, published 2002, ISBN 1-58715-413-7
• Accelerando, published 2005, ISBN 0-441-01284-1
• Glasshouse, published 2006, ISBN 0-441-01403-8
• Missile Gap, published 2007, ISBN 1-59606-058-1
• Halting State, forthcoming 2007
• Saturn's Children (provisional title), forthcoming 2008

Accelerando (ISBN 0441012841) is a 2005 science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross. ... Accelerando is a 2005 science fiction novel consisting of a series of interconnected short stories by British author Charles Stross. ... Halting State is a novel by Charles Stross, set to be published in the United States on October 1, 2007; Stross has said ([1] that it is a thriller set in the software houses that write multiplayer games. Categories: | | ...

Eschaton series

This series is "a post-singularity space opera." When plotted on a logarithmic graph, 15 separate lists of paradigm shifts for key events in human history show an exponential trend. ... Classic pulp space opera cover, with the usual cliché elements. ...

• Singularity Sky, published 2003, ISBN 0-441-01072-5
• Iron Sunrise, published 2004, ISBN 1-84149-335-X

Singularity Sky (ISBN 0441010725) is a hard science fiction novel by author Charles Stross. ... Iron Sunrise is a hard science fiction novel by author Charles Stross, which follows the events in Singularity Sky. ...

The "Bob Howard - Laundry" series

This series is "cross-genre... combining aspects of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror, and the classic British spy thriller."

• The Atrocity Archives, published 2004, ISBN 1-930846-25-8 (contains the Hugo Award-winning novella "The Concrete Jungle")
• The Jennifer Morgue, published 2006, ISBN 1-930846-44-4 (also contains the extra story "Pimpf")

The Atrocity Archives (2004, ISBN 1-930846-25-8) is a collection of two stories by British author Charles Stross, consisting of the short novel The Atrocity Archive (originally serialized in Spectrum SF) and The Concrete Jungle, which won the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella. ... The Jennifer Morgue (2006, ISBN 1-930846-45-2) is the second collection of stories by Charles Stross featuring Bob Howard, containing the title novel The Jennifer Morgue, the short story Pimpf, and an essay titled The Golden Age of Spying. The collection is a sequel to the stories published...

Merchant Princes series

This series is fantasy, with jumpers between alternate, modern & pre-industrial, Earths. The Merchant Princes is a science fantasy series by Charles Stross. ...

• The Family Trade, published 2004, ISBN 0-7653-0929-7
• The Hidden Family, published 2005, ISBN 0-7653-1347-2
• The Clan Corporate, published 2006, ISBN 0-7653-0930-0
• The Merchants' War, forthcoming 2007
• (title to be announced), forthcoming 2008

The Family Trade is the first book of Charles Stross science fantasy series The Merchant Princes. ... The Hidden Family is the second book of Charles Stross science fantasy series The Merchant Princes. ... The Clan Corporate is the third book of Charles Stross science fantasy series The Merchant Princes. ...

External links

Fiction

• Accelerando The complete text of Stross' novel, released as a free ebook under a Creative Commons license.
• "A Colder War" is available online at Infinity Plus
• Charles Stross's online fiction at Free Speculative Fiction Online

An eBook (also: e-book, ebook) is an electronic (or digital) version of a book. ... The Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative work available for others legally to build upon and share. ...

Interviews

• Interview conducted by Lou Anders at Infinity Plus
• Interview conducted by Nick Gevers at Science Fiction Weekly (2003)
• Interview extract from an interview in Locus (2003)
• Interview conducted by Jay Tomio for Fantasybookspot.com
• Interview conducted by Martin Empson for Socialist Review, full text here. (2005)
• Mini Inverview conducted by John Joseph Adams for SCI FI WIRE (2006)
• Interview moderated by Cory Doctorow at The Well (2003)
• Interview conducted by Roger Deforest at HardSF.net (2006)

Nick Gevers is a South African science fiction editor and critic, whose work has appeared in Locus, The New York Review of Science Fiction and Nova Express. ... Science Fiction Weekly (1995-), a component of SciFi. ... Locus Magazine is subtitled The Magazine Of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field. It reports on the science fiction writing industry, including comprehensive listings of new books published in the field. ... The Socialist Review is the monthly magazine of the Socialist Workers Party (UK). ... Cory Doctorow (born July 17, 1971) is a blogger, journalist and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. ... Look up well in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Misc

• Official Homepage and blog
• Charles Stross at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The Family Trade has been coded by StoryCode
• Golden Gryphon Press official site - About The Atrocity Archives
• Golden Gryphon Press official site - About The Jennifer Morgue
• A FAQ, mainly listing his published novels. The descriptions for the series came from this.