Halting State by Charles Stross

Halting State by Charles Stross

Halting State is] a near-future story that is at once over-the-top and compellingly believable. - Vernor Vinge, author of Rainbows End

In the year 2018, Sergeant Sue Smith of the Edinburgh constabulary is called in on a special case. A daring bank robbery has taken place at Hayek Associates--a dot-com start-up company that's just floated onto the London stock exchange. But this crime may be a bit beyond Smith's expertise.

The prime suspects are a band of marauding orcs with a dragon in tow for fire support. The bank is located within the virtual reality land of Avalon Four, and the robbery was supposed to be impossible. When word gets out, Hayek Associates and all its virtual economies are going to crash hard.

For Smith, the investigation seems pointless. But the deeper she digs, the bigger the case gets. There are powerful players--both real and pixelated--who are watching her every move. Because there is far more at stake than just some game-head's fantasy financial security.

Stross, Charles: -

CHARLES STROSS is a full-time science fiction writer and resident of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has won three Hugo Awards for Best Novella, including for the Laundry Files tale Equoid. His work has been translated into over twelve languages. His novels include the bestselling Merchant Princes series, the Laundry series (including Locus Award finalist The Dilirium Brief), and several stand-alones including Glasshouse, Accelerando, and Saturn's Children.

Like many writers, Stross has had a variety of careers, occupations, and job-shaped catastrophes, from pharmacist (he quit after the second police stakeout) to first code monkey on the team of a successful dot-com startup (with brilliant timing, he tried to change employers just as the bubble burst) to technical writer and prolific journalist covering the IT industry. Along the way he collected degrees in pharmacy and computer science, making him the world's first officially qualified cyberpunk writer.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780441014989
ISBN 10	0441014984
Title	Halting State
Author	Charles Stross
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Penguin Putnam Inc
Year published	2007-10-02
Number of pages	351
Prizes	Short-listed for Hugo Award (Novel) 2008, Short-listed for Locus Awards (Science Fiction) 2008
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable