Mini review of Accelerando, by Charles Stross
My Cybook came with a PDF of Accelerando. Charlie is giving away this book for free under a modified Creative Commons License (kudos to Charlie, and the publishers that allowed this!), but I also bought the dead-tree edition just 'cos (after all; even authors have to eat!)

Unfortunately the Cybook edition was a PDF. It was pefectly readable but the text size was so big that I was spending too much time flipping pages. So I hit the above website, downloaded the LIT file and converted it (using the convert LIT ("clit") program and the free Mobipocket Creator) to mbp format. This allowed me to read the book in the size font I prefer. The Cybook really is quite a nice reader for mbp files; not so good for PDFs. I've actually not tried HTML or TXT or others.

Anyway, to the book itself. I've only read one Stross before this (Singularity Sky) and I liked it enough to try more (hence Accelerando and Iron Sunrise were in my to-read pile) . The first chapter had me wondering if this was some second rate cyberpunk story. Or maybe a Shadowrun story. It really was hard going and totally failed to generate any enthusiasm. I haven't read much cyberpunk, but it just seemed archetypical of what little I had read. Part of the difficulty might also have been the fact that the book was written in the present tense. This is an unusual choice and is distracting because it is so unusual. But I forced my way through (bullheaded reader; once I start I try not to stop. I've only ever given up totally on one book). Eventually I got used to the tense. And eventually the story moved on. It actually became more engrossing as the characters fleshed out; we learned about their motivations and more about the world they were in. A world that is rapidly changing.

For this is a story of society approaching Vinge's fabled Singularity. The book jumps through a series of connected stories. Here, possibly, using the present tense makes sense; the readers viewpoint jumps with the stories and with the society. As the Singularity approaches the story becomes more and more fantastical; from being a near-future vision it becomes a far-future vision... but the time constraints are still relatively short term. The nature of the singularity causes increased advances and even the most forward looking individual can find themselves future-shocked, and maybe the usage of the present tense helps put that across (or maybe I'm talking shit). Things have changed so much that reality itself can almost be shaped through thought and people interact more in virtual spaces than they do in reality; so much so that the distinction has become blurred. Eventually the number of elements Stross throws in makes the story fantastical.

And somehow how of all this there is an excellent story. When I started the book I was worried that this author I'd found and started to read wasn't as good as I'd hoped; when I finished it I was more determined to track down more of his books.

I'm not sure this is a good introduction to Stross's work (on the scant evidence of two books read, so far!). It is a hard read, to start with. It might turn people off. But it's well worth reading. For anyone used to Vinge's work or have read other Singularity related stories then this story is very much fun indeed; it's the first one I've read that focuses on people near the point of the Singularity itself. This could be our children, or grandchildren. If you believe the Singularity is possible. I'm not sure I do, but it does make for some good fodder for the current generation of authors!