Rule 34

Stross is back in form with the sequel to Halting State, a grimly humorous cyberpunk police procedural set in Tomorrow’s Scotland, where nobody knows what an honest job is anymore, and household appliances are murdering spammers.

I won’t spoil the book, but Stross is at his best when he takes Big Ideas, twists them upside down, and shows you how they could happen. In Rule 34, he focuses on the relationship between the police state and the Panopticon, and how at the end of the day, our system of laws requires a technological architecture capable of enforcing what the politicians put in place. Business, crime, and government are melding together in Stross’ world, something which seems all too familiar given the revolving door between Wall Street, the White House, the CIA, and a shallow grave in Central Asia. And Detective Liz’s memetic crime unit seems like something that we already need, given public hysteria about synthetic drugs like Spice and Bath Salts (or maybe we could, you know, legalize drugs that have a long history of Not Totally Fucking People Up, instead of putting police and black chemists in a Red Queen’s Race, with ordinary drug users the losers.)

The style is dense, packed full of internet-speak and Scottish brogue, but it’s Stross’s native tongue and the style fits perfectly. It’s a throwback to old-school cyberpunk eyeball kicks, and a welcome diversion from the usual fare. The soapbox rants at the end are a new and useful perspective on security and power.