Halting State Audiobook By Charles Stross cover art

Halting State

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Halting State

By: Charles Stross
Narrated by: Robert Ian MacKenzie
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In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls Hugo winner Charles Stross’ novel Halting State a “brilliantly conceived techno-crime thriller.”

The year is 2012, and China, India, and the United States are waging an infowar for economic domination. With innocent gamers mere pawns in the hands of electronic intelligence agencies, programmer Jack Reed is tasked with ferreting out the plot of those who would gladly trade global turmoil for personal gain.

©2007 Charles Stross (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC Adventure Cyberpunk Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense

Critic reviews

“The act of creation seems to come easily to Charles Stross... [He] is peerless at dreaming up devices that could conceivably exist in 6, 60, or 600 years.” ( New York Times)
"This brilliantly conceived techno-crime thriller spreads a black humor frosting over the grim prospect of the year 2012, when China, India and the European System are struggling for world economic domination in an infowar, and the U.S. faces bankruptcy over its failing infrastructure....The effortless transformation of today's technological frustrations into tomorrow's nightmare realities is all too real for comfort. ( Publishers Weekly)

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Complex Storyline • Clever Plot Twists • Fantastic Scottish Dialect • Engaging Characters • Futuristic Technology

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I initially read Halting State not long after it released and it helped make Charles Stross one of my favorite authors. This review is based on my second experience with the novel, as I had a lot of memory gaps on the events in the story.

The most jarring issues with this novel and its presentation are the use of second-person for the various protagonists and Robert Ian MacKenzie's accent. The former is consistent throughout the story and, because it's a fairly rare writing choice, frequently causes the audience to recover when it is used. The reader is placed in the shoes of the main character of each chapter, while all other action and interactions are presented in third person.
MacKenzie's accent is only jarring for the first minute or so of the book, then most American listeners will have adapted and enjoy his presentation without difficulty. He is eloquent and overflowing with voices for the various characters.

From my initial reading of Halting State over a decade ago, my memory retained the main premise, the ending, and that's about it. The characters were lost, but I'm glad I found them again. Their interactions felt natural. Some character decisions give me a stronger "what a stupid choice!" than they did when I was younger. That's experience, I guess.

Halting state was much more enjoyable for my younger self on my initial reading than listening to the audio version today. I'll rate it "You're a perfect snapshot of the expectations of near-future technology, society, and the economy in the early 2010's, but you're also a little bothersome."

Still good on a second read

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I cant get enough of this universe. Can't wait to see what else this elder God dreams of. Awesome book

I need moré Stross

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If you aren't already quasi-tech savvy, you may want to skip this. I applaud the author for his vanguard approach to the influence of the virtial online world to our "meatspace" existence. I call this honest hard sci-fi.

This is difficult subject matter for fiction

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tough going at first (starts with 3 separate narratives), but came together nicely. Loved the Scottish flavor.

sorry to see it end

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This book is really too dense to listen to. The performance complete w Scottish accents is excellent but does not make easier for a non native. Great story; Stross combines his knowledge of economics and IT to great effect, once again making us think differently about both.

Dense read

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