Charles Stross

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Charles Stross

Charles Stross at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow
Born October 18, 1964 (1964-10-18) (age 43)
Leeds, England
Occupation Writer, former Programmer and Pharmacist
Nationality British
Writing period 1990s-present
Genres Science fiction, fantasy, horror
Influences
Official website
Stross and Diane Duane in Dublin
Stross and Diane Duane in Dublin

Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born Leeds, October 18, 1964) is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy.

Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan. Obvious inspirations include Vernor Vinge, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and Bruce Sterling, among other cyberpunk and postcyberpunk writers as well as older figures such as H. P. Lovecraft, Roger Zelazny and Robert A. Heinlein.

Contents

[edit] Biography

In the 1970s and 1980s, Stross published some role-playing game articles for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the White Dwarf magazine. Some of his creatures, such as the death knight, githyanki (borrowed from George R. R. Martin's book, Dying of the Light), githzerai, and slaad (a chaotic race notable for their rigid caste system) were later published in the Fiend Folio monster compendium.

His first published short story, "The Boys", appeared in Interzone in 1987. His first novel, Singularity Sky was published by Ace Books in 2003 and was nominated for the Hugo Award. A collection of his short stories, Toast: And Other Rusted Futures appeared in 2002. Subsequent short stories have been nominated for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and other awards. His novella "The Concrete Jungle" (available online) won the Hugo award for its category in 2005. His novel Accelerando (also available online) won the 2006 Locus Award for best science fiction novel, was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the year's 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. His novella Missile Gap (likewise available online) won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella and most recently he was awarded the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award or Skylark at Boskone 2008.

In addition to working as a writer of fiction he has worked as a technical author, freelance journalist, programmer, and pharmacist at different times. He holds degrees in Pharmacy and Computer Science.

Rogue Farm, an animated film based on his 2003 short story of the same title, debuted in August 2004.

He is one of the Guests of Honour at Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) in March 2008.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Non-Fiction

[edit] Stand Alone Works

[edit] Eschaton series

This series is "a post-singularity space opera."

[edit] The "Bob Howard - Laundry" series

This series is "cross-genre... combining aspects of science fiction, information technology (with a subtle nod to the BOFH), Lovecraftian horror, and the classic British spy thriller."

[edit] Merchant Princes series

The Merchant Princes is a series in which some humans have a hereditary ability to travel between parallel Earths, that have differing levels of technology. This series is science fiction, even though it was originally marketed by the publisher as fantasy.

The first three books were collectively nominated for and won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2007.

[edit] Omnibus titles

The Science Fiction Book Club has published omnibus editions that combine two books, without new material.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

[edit] Fiction

Glasshouse in Librusec library.

[edit] Essays

[edit] Interviews

Persondata
NAME Stross, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stross, Charlie
SHORT DESCRIPTION Science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH 18 October 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Leeds, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH