Charles Stross Books

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Charles Stross is an English author who writes science fiction. Though, Stross hates being categorized as a pure science fiction writer because he has dabbled in fantasy and Lovecraftian Horror. His determination to experiment has always made Stross’ books difficult to market.

The author started writing in 1999. While his first published novel was ‘Singularity Sky’, he had written a novella called ‘Atrocity Archive’ some years earlier that his newly acquired agent loved but also rejected because she didn’t expect anyone to publish it.

She argued that there was no way to identify the genre in which it could be marketed. It could have been horror, science fiction or humor. That scattered approach to storytelling drove the agent to compel Stross to pursue more mainstream stories.

So he temporarily shelved ‘Atrocity Archive’. Stross finally got it published in an obscure Scottish magazine, eventually attracting the interest of Golden Griffin, a small publisher in the US. He wrote ‘The Concrete Jungle’ for them. Golden Griffin chose to publish the story along with ‘Atrocity Archives’ in a volume also titled ‘The Atrocity Archives’.

While ‘Singularity Sky’ had attracted all the right attention, it was The Atrocity Archives and, in particular, ‘The Concrete Jungle’ that placed Charles Stross on the publishing map. The award it won finally convinced Stross’ agent of the potential some of the writer’s experimental stories held despite the marketing challenge they would present.

While Charles Stross went on to dip his toes into the thriller and Fantasy sub-genres, his fans continue to categorize him as a hardcore SF writer, primarily because of the intellectual approach the author always takes with his stories.

Born in 1964 in Leeds, England, Stross took an interest in Science Fiction at an early age. He read every notable work in the genre that he could find. His education led him into the medical field. Despite earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy and putting the skills of his trade into practice, Stross decided to extend his educational journey by pursuing a post-graduate computer science degree from Bradford University.

Before 1999, he was a pretty competent programmer who produced literary works of a technical nature in his field of expertise. He continued along that same path, as a technical writer, even after landing an agent. But once fiction took a hold of his heart, he embraced it wholeheartedly, never looking back.

Charles Stross’ political views as a liberal democrat permeate a lot of the stories he writes. Stross expects science fiction to mirror the real world, to show readers what mankind could become, for better or for worse. He has always supported the concept of e-publishing, going so far as to upload some of his books online where his fans can read them for free.

He believes that young authors need the internet to grow but traditional publishing will continue to oppose it because it stifles their earnings.

Charles Stross Awards

Stross has received Hugo, British Science Fiction Association, Arthur C. Clarke, John W. Campbell Memorial, and Prometheus Award nominations. He also won the Hugo and Prometheus Awards for ‘Iron Sunrise’ and ‘Glasshouse’.

Best Charles Stross Books

Stross’ fans love all the attention he injects into building the societies and communities which constitute the futuristic settings of his stories, with some of the best books in his bibliography including:

Singularity Sky: The Eschaton changed the destiny of Earth. A sentient AI created by mankind in the 21st Century, the Eschaton brought about the greatest technological revolution in human history. For all the blessings it delivered, the AI had one rule. Mankind was forbidden from tampering with time, lest they suffer the violent ire of the Eschaton.

Now the human race has gone to the stars, colonizing new worlds and creating a new society known as the New Republic. When an alien race descends upon the New Republic and gives its people a bevy of forbidden technologies, a spaceship engineer and a diplomat are dispatched to quell the resulting revolutionary turmoil before Eschaton takes drastic measures.

Atrocity Archives: Bob Howard’s world was boring. Yes, he worked for a secret government agency. However, while his fellow agents went on missions to save the world, the techie stayed behind to restore lost data. When Bob finally gets noticed and thrown into active duty, he is forced to face off against dimension-hopping terrorists and ancient deities with nefarious intentions.

When Does The Next Charles Stross book come out?

Charles Stross doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Season of Skulls and was released on May, 16th 2023. It is the newest book in the Laundry Files Series.

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