Award nominations
I'm pleased to accounce that "Accelerando" has been shortlisted for two awards -- the 2006 Arthur C. Clarke award for best science fiction novel, and the BSFA award for best SF/F novel of 2005. (The BSFA award is voted on by members of the British Science Fiction Association, and will be announced on April 15th at Concussion, the 2006 eastercon; the Arthur C. Clarke award is decided by a jury of writers and critics, and will be announced on April 25th in London.)
Accelerando review in Library Journal
Text of review:
Manfred Macx, a 21st-century intelligence amplification entrepreneur, lives partly in the physical world and partly in the virtual world of artificial intelligences, the Internet, biotechnology, and molecular nanotechnology. His 12-year-old daughter Amber, who seeks independence from her controlling mother, indentures herself to a company aiming to extract a fortune from the resources of Jupiter. Decades later, Amber's son Sirhan, a victim of multiple virtual childhoods, researches his dysfunctional family and uncovers a sinister new life form that threatens the continuation of biological life in the universe.
Expanding on his award-winning short story cycle that appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, Stross (Singularity Sky) reveals a vision of the future that encompasses and expands on the newest technologies and explores the possibilities of humanity's future. Joining the ranks of William Gibson (Neuromancer), Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash), and Bruce Sterling (Schismatrix), Stross fuses ideas and characters with cheerful abandon and creates a high-tech galactic adventure that belongs in most libraries.
– SF/Fantasy column by Jackie Cassada
(Author's note: None of the "Accelerando" stories actually won any awards – as of this date – although they've received numerous nominations.)
Accelerando review in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly reviewed "Accelerando":
ACCELERANDO Charles Stross (Ace, $24.95) Three generations of the Macx family evolve into nerdy post-humans by embracing technological paradigms that threaten to ruin the economy and render governments obsolete. Earth Is Overrun... By computer intelligence. Future Teen Angst Amber Macx rebels against Mom by selling herself into space slavery and then colonizing her own asteroid. Upshot Accelerando is to cyberpunk what Napster was to the music industry: volatile, visionary, a bit flawed, and a lot of fun. A- – Noah Robischon
(If I took this sort of thing seriously I'd now be keeping a weather eye out for lawyers with cortical upgrades and mirrorshades threatening to shoot my mp3 player. Like in chapter two.)
Accelerando review on the Agony Column
Rick Kleffel, SF reviewer, has a review of Accelerando on his website. This may also be showing up in the Metro Santa Cruz paper, and possibly as a reprint in Metro San Jose.
'Accelerando' fast forwards a not-so-average family through three generations and into a future in which humans seem far more alien than any critters from outer space. With heart, humor and extreme technophilia, Stross embarks on a voyage that unwires humanity and rewires readers to experience the Singularity. Welcome to the Rapture of the Nerds.
Commentary: Buying the cow, though the milk is free
The Book Standard is running an article about authors and publishers who give books away free. You can find the whole article in printable form here:
Charles Stross recently posted the text of his book Accelerando on his site, weeks before it will be available in bookstores on July 1. Since he posted the book on June 16, Stross has logged 22,000 direct downloads from his web server, and another 500-1,000 downloads via BitTorrent, a free, open-source file sharing application. Though it's too early to judge the effect on sales, Stross estimates that he's already garnered a great deal more attention than he would have through traditional routes like review copies or advertising. "Readers like samples, and the ultimate sample is the entire book," says Stross. "People are more likely to download the entire thing, because there's the promise that they can read it all on their computer. However, in practice, most people don't like reading on a screen or a PDA. If they get hooked, they'll continue reading until it hits their personal pain threshold. Then they're highly motivated to seek out the paper edition – in hardcover, if necessary."
Sunday Times Interview
The Scottish edition of The Sunday Times (that's the Sunday edition of The Times -- the original British version, not the Times of anywhere in particular) ran an interview and article about me on June 5th. Here's the text version.
Extract:
Andrew Wilson, the editor of Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction (an anthology of new Scottish sci-fi to which Stross has contributed an original twist on the Faustian pact), sees Stross as being in the vanguard of a new wave of Scottish science fiction writing: "It used to be that if you spoke about a Scottish spacecraft, people just laughed. But now we are the country that produced Dolly the sheep, the country that develops artificial intelligence," says Wilson. "You don't need to pretend to be American to write science fiction. Charlie is clearly a massive talent. Rather like taking a broken down old car and sticking a fusion engine in it, he has the capacity to transform material that was looking old and give it new life.
"I think Accelerando is a crowning achievement. And this will be his year."
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Harriet Klausner
Harriet Klausner, the most prolific reviewer on Amazon.com, has of course gotten her hands onto an early copy of Accelerando:
Extract:
This novel has appeared as short stories in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 2001-2005. Each story has been extended with its own chapter in a seamless plot. The individual members of the Macx family and those who came into their orbit show three generations of technological change and how it affects society. All three Macx characters are fully developed and have their own distinct personalities but when they come together they are a force to be reckoned with. Charles Stross has written the singular most explosive work of his career.
(I'd take this review with a pinch of salt. Harriet means well, but her output of 3-5 reviews per day should speak for itself. I include it here in the interests of completeness.)
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