Toast: And Other Rusted Futures [Paperback]

Charles Stross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

Short story collection containing such gems as "Antibodies," "Bear Trap," "Extracts from the Club Diary," "A Colder War," "TOAST: A con report," "A Boy and His God," "Ship of Fools," "Dechlorinating the Moderator," "Yellow Snow," and "Big Brother Iron." "I hadn't been paying close attention to Stross's work. It's a mistake I won't make again." -- Michael Swanwick

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Cosmos Books (PA) (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587154137
• ISBN-13: 978-1587154133
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,911,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What's in here?, April 5, 2002

By 

C. D. G. Stross "Charlie Stross" (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toast: And Other Rusted Futures (Paperback)

This is a first short story collection by, er, me. I first began selling fiction in 1987, and this is the better half of my output from 1987-2000. (The worse half can fester in well-deserved obscurity.)

Stories in this collection include "Antibodies" (shortlisted for the 2000 Sturgeon Award), "A Colder War" (collected in Dozois' Year's Best SF, 18th annual collection), and a hitherto-unpublished novella, "Big Brother Iron". ...

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid debut collection, April 22, 2002

By 

Bruce Chrumka (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toast: And Other Rusted Futures (Paperback)

The last ten years has seen some very impressive first collections by writers such as Greg Egan, Ian R. Macleod and Andy Duncan; it's a great pleasure that Charles Stross has joined such company. There are ten stories in 'Toast' that range from the far future mileau of the Eschaton (Bear Trap) to a recapitulation of George Orwell's '1984' (Big Brother Iron) to the eldritch horrors in my favorite story 'A Colder War'. Highly recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cory Doctorow is right: Charles Stross IS better than drugs, January 18, 2004

By 

Valerie Henson (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toast: And Other Rusted Futures (Paperback)

"Toast" is, bar none, the best short story collection I've ever read. Nearly every story gave me whole-body goose bumps. The only comparably exciting book I've read lately is Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep."

"Lobsters" is my favorite short story, and gives a fair taste of the rest of this collection. In the not-too-distant future, Manfred Macx is busy implementing the principles of open source in the world of intellectual property. His ex-dominatrix/girlfriend is hunting him down; she works for the IRS and is pissed off because Manfred's system of high-tech altruistic barter is robbing the U.S. government of tax revenue needed to pay Social Security, the biggest pyramid scheme of all time. In between, Manfrend fends off a charmingly quirky Russian AI, hit-and-run rubberizations, and a slashdotting, among many other things. Sex, drugs, and patent law - all the ingredients of a fantastic short story, plus Stross's unique gritty/gonzo writing style. You can read it on the web - google "charles stross lobsters" and click on "I'm Feeling Lucky."

If you are, like me, a computer geek, I have some urgent advice: You want this book. Now. Don't think, just buy it. You'll thank me. If you aren't a computer geek, you'll enjoy this collection anyway.