Charles Stross Explained

Charles Stross
Birth Date:1964 10, df=yes
Birth Place:Leeds, England
Occupation:Writer
Period:1990s–present
Genre:Science fiction, fantasy, horror
Alma Mater:University of Bradford[1]

Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964[2]) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine Computer Shopper and was responsible for its monthly Linux column. He stopped writing for the magazine to devote more time to novels. However, he continues to publish freelance articles on the Internet.[3]

Early life and education

Stross was born in Leeds, England.[4] He showed an early interest in writing and wrote his first science fiction story at age 12. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy in 1986 and qualified as a pharmacist in 1987. In 1989, he enrolled at University of Bradford for a post-graduate degree in computer science. In 1990, he went to work as a technical author and programmer. In 2000, he began working as a writer full-time, as a technical writer at first, but then became successful as a fiction writer.[5]

Career

In the 1970s and 1980s, Stross published some role-playing game articles about Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in White Dwarf magazine. Some of his creatures, such as the death knight, githyanki (the name borrowed from George R. R. Martin's 1977 novel, Dying of the Light), githzerai, and slaad (a chaotic race of frog-like humanoids) were later published in the Fiend Folio monster compendium.[6]

His first published short story, The Boys, appeared in Interzone in 1987. A collection of his short stories, , was released in 2002;[7] subsequent short stories have been nominated for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and other awards. His first novel, Singularity Sky, was published by Ace Books in 2003 and was also nominated for the Hugo Award. His novella The Concrete Jungle (published in The Atrocity Archives) won the Hugo award for its category in 2005. His novel Accelerando won the 2006 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and was on the final ballot for the Hugo Award in the best novel category. Glasshouse won the 2007 Prometheus Award and was on the final ballot for the Hugo Award in the best novel category; the German translation Glashaus won the 2009 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis.[8] His novella Missile Gap won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella, and he was awarded the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award or Skylark at Boskone 2008.

His novel The Atrocity Archives (2004) detailed a British intelligence agency tasked with investigating otherworldly horrors; using ideas similar to those in the RPG book Delta Green (1996), Stross wrote in the afterword to the book: "All I can say in my defence is... I hadn't heard of Delta Green when I wrote The Atrocity Archive... I'll leave it at that except to say that Delta Green has come dangerously close to making me pick up the dice again."[9]

Rogue Farm, his 2003 short story, was adapted into an eponymous animated film that debuted in August 2004.[10]

Stross was one of the Guests of Honour at Orbital 2008,[11] the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon), in March 2008. He was the Author Guest of Honour at the Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention (Balticon) in May 2009. He was Author Guest of Honour at Fantasticon (Denmark) in August 2009. He was the Guest of Honor at Boskone 48 in Feb 2011.

Cubicle 7 used their Basic Role-Playing license to create The Laundry (2010), based on Stross' writings, wherein agents must contend with both the outer gods and the bureaucracy of the United Kingdom.

In September 2012, Stross released The Rapture of the Nerds, a novel written in collaboration with Cory Doctorow.[12] The two have also together been involved in the Creative Commons licensing and copyright movement.[13] In December 2017 he gave a talk at 34C3.[14]

Awards

Accelerando won the 2006 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[15] Missile Gap won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella.[16] The Concrete Jungle (contained in The Atrocity Archives) won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2005;[17] Palimpsest, included in Wireless, won the same award in 2010,[18] and Equoid in 2014.[19] Glasshouse won the 2009 Prometheus Award for Best Novel; Stross was a Best Novel finalist in 2009 for Saturn's Children and has been nominated four other times for Iron Sunrise (in 2005), Accelerando (2006), The Revolution Business (2010) and Annihilation Score (2016).[20] The Apocalypse Codex won the 2013 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.[21] Stross's work has also been nominated for a number of other awards, including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award,[22] Arthur C. Clarke Award,[23] and the Hugo Award for Best Novel,[24] [25] [26] as well as the Japanese Seiun Award.

Personal life

Stross believes himself to be autistic, but does not intend to seek a professional diagnosis.[27]

Selected bibliography

See main article: Charles Stross bibliography.

The Merchant Princes series

See main article: The Merchant Princes.

The Laundry Files universe

The Laundry Files

See main article: The Laundry Files.

Tales of the New Management

Halting State series

Eschaton series

Standalone work

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: How I got here in the end – my non-writing careers . Antipope.org . 31 January 2014.
  2. Web site: Summary Bibliography: Charles Stross. www.isfdb.org. 2018-12-10.
  3. Web site: Stross. Charles. Linux in Computer Shopper. antipope.org.
  4. Web site: Charles Stross interviewed - infinity plus non-fiction.
  5. http://www.tor.com/bios/authors/charlesstross Charles Stross
  6. Web site: Kyngdoms . The Kyngdoms Interview . 26 May 2010 . 26 May 2010.
  7. Web site: SFE: Stross, Charles .
  8. Web site: KLP 2009 Bestes ausländisches Werk. www.kurd-lasswitz-preis.de. 11 August 2013. 10 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130410012841/http://www.kurd-lasswitz-preis.de/2009/KLP_2009_Bestes_auslaendisches_Werk.htm. dead.
  9. Book: Shannon Appelcline. Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. 2011. 978-1-907702-58-7.
  10. Evens, Arthur (2010). The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. p. 728.
  11. Web site: . Conventions 2008 . 2008 . 15 Feb 2017.
  12. Web site: Upcoming4.me . Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross' Rapture of The Nerds cover art and summary reveal . https://archive.today/20120718123324/http://upcoming4.me/media-news/book-news/item/9434-cory-doctorow,-charles-stross-rapture-of-the-nerds-cover-art-and-summary-reveal . dead . 18 July 2012 . Upcoming4.me . 31 May 2012 .
  13. Book: Evens. Arthur. The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. 2010. Wesleyan University Press. 727.
  14. Web site: Charles Stross. Dude, you broke the Future!. media.ccc.de. 34C3. video. 2017-12-27. YouTube RmIgJ64z6Y4.
  15. Web site: 2006 Locus Awards . 27 May 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101008032204/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Locus2006.html . 8 October 2010 .
  16. Web site: Stross, Charles . Index of Literary Nominees . Locus Publications . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131112004928/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/NomLit132.html#5043 . 12 November 2013 . dmy-all .
  17. Web site: 2005 Hugo Awards: Best Novella: The Concrete Jungle; Best Novel Nominee: Iron Sunrise . Official Site of The Hugo Awards . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110507072956/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/credits/ . 7 May 2011 . dmy .
  18. Web site: Locus Publications . Locus Online News " 2010 Hugo Awards Winners . . 5 September 2010 . 5 February 2012.
  19. Web site: 2014 Hugo Award Winners . 17 August 2014 . 18 August 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140819083711/http://www.thehugoawards.org/2014/08/2014-hugo-award-winners/ . 19 August 2014 . dead .
  20. Web site: Libertarian Futurist Society.
  21. Web site: Locus Award Winners. 13 Dec 2014 . 30 June 2013.
  22. Web site: John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalists . Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, University of Kansas . 22 August 2014 . 30 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180830202751/http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/campbell-finalists.htm . dead .
  23. Web site: Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlists. Arthur C. Clarke Award. December 13, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181104224623/https://www.clarkeaward.com/award-winners/shortlists/. 4 November 2018. dead.
  24. Web site: 2006 Hugo Awards: Accelerando (Nominee) . Official Site of The Hugo Awards . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110507164808/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2006-hugo-awards/ . 7 May 2011 . dmy .
  25. News: 2008 Hugo Award Nominees. 2008-03-21. The Hugo Awards. 2018-12-13. en-US.
  26. Web site: 2009 Hugo Award Nominations: Saturn's Children . March 2003 . Official Site of The Hugo Awards .
  27. Stross . Charles . cstross . 1510567704532508675 . 3 April 2022 . I spent my childhood and teens not understanding the arbitrary and irrational rules. Imagine my relief on discovering in my 50s that I'm probably autistic. (There's no point seeking formal diagnosis now: I've had 50 years to develop coping strategies. But it explains a lot.) . 28 February 2023 .
  28. Web site: Invisible Sun, Empire Games (Volume 3) . . 29 September 2021 .
  29. Web site: Lapointe. Annette. A book review by Annette Lapointe: The Labyrinth Index (Laundry Files). New York Journal of Books . 2018-12-13. en-US.
  30. Web site: Escape from Puroland. 2021-01-23. Tor.com. en-US.
  31. Web site: Escape from Yokai Land. 2022-01-21. Tor.com. en-US.
  32. Web site: Introducing Dead Lies Dreaming - Charlie's Diary.
  33. Web site: The Laundry Files: an updated chronology. www.antipope.org. 2021-07-28.
  34. Web site: Quantum of Nightmares. 2022-01-21. Macmillan. en-US.
  35. Web site: Season of Skulls . 2023-03-22 . Tor Publishing . en-US .

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