Customer Reviews

Toast: And Other Rusted Futures

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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the 2000 Sturgeon Award), "A Colder War" (collected in Dozois' Year's Best SF, 18th annual collection), and a hitherto-unpublished novella, "Big Brother Iron".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

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.

"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.

This is a disappointing collection that could have waited a while longer to include Stross's better fiction. Instead, we're left with three great pieces ("A Colder War", "Antibodies", "Extracts from the Club Diary") adrift in an ocean of mediocre prose and stories that range from the average ("Yellow Snow", "A Boy and His God" -- funny story, this, but not much else) to the atrocious ("Big Brother Iron").

I still believe that Stross has potential, as evidenced by the better stories. Unfortunately, the rest of the collection fails to meet the same standards, not to mention that it's under-edited and poorly produced (quite a few typesetting errors, and too much text crammed into a single page to save on the page count).

Stross is a hell of a writer, and Toast is a hell of a book. Charlie and I have written two stories together (and we'll write more, you can be sure of that) and now that I've had a taste of Charlie's writing from the inside and the outside, I have to tell you that Charlie is better than drugs.

The stories in this book are, of course, wildly original. Even when Stross is eating another writer's lunch -- a grand tradition in our field -- he's adding seasonings that are all his own. Every page contains ideas that are so whacky and weird that you shouldn't operate heavy machinery for an hour after reading them.

Buy Toast. Read Toast. Loan Toast to your friends. They'll thank you, once they come down.

The book is witty and intelligent and, best of all, credible with respect to the stories touching on computer science. Normally, I don't like sci fi because precious few people can create a consistent and plausible world out of whole cloth, yet so many presume to do so. In a number of the stories, we see the world we already have, with some interesting and even humorous twist added. In other cases, the view is crafted in a spare manner that keeps to the story and doesn't indicate a fascination with recreational typing. The book touches on politics, science, computers, and a delightful Victorian secret society that I'd like to join. The vocubulary is a bit too rich for the kidlets, so give them the Potter books.

And, yeah, I know Charlie. One of his stories had me wistfully recalling the excellent coffee brewed in his crowded Edinburgh kitchen. Reading the book has been like a visit, and a pleasant and funny one at that. (Hi Charlie!)

Original, wild, and never lets up in any of his stories. This is one writer to keep an eye on as I am sure he will set new marks in excellence !!

Ugh. Shallow rip-offs .... Overworked, academic, clumsy prose. Stilted dialogue. A few clever ideas here and there, but not enough to make up for the rest.

Avoid this at all costs, it'll just make you sick.