Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine '' Computer Shopper'' and was responsible for its monthly

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

column. He stopped writing for the magazine to devote more time to novels. However, he continues to publish

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

articles on the Internet.

Early life and education

Stross was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, England. He showed an early interest in writing and wrote his first science fiction story at age 12. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy in 1986 and qualified as a pharmacist in 1987. In 1989, he enrolled at Bradford University for a post-graduate degree in computer science. In 1990, he went to work as a technical author and programmer. In 2000, he began working as a writer full-time, as a technical writer at first, but then became successful as a fiction writer.Charles Stross
, Tor.com (accessed 29 May 2013)

Career

In the 1970s and 1980s, Stross published some

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

articles about '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' in ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'' magazine. Some of his creatures, such as the death knight, githyanki (the name borrowed from

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

's 1977 novel, '' Dying of the Light''),

githzerai This is the list of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monsters, an important element of that role-playing game. This list only includes monsters from official ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd Edition supplements published by TSR, I ...

, and

slaad The slaad (pluralized as slaadi, or as slaads in the 4th edition) is a fictional monster in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. They are extraplanar creatures (outsiders) that resemble giant humanoid toads of various colors (r ...

(a chaotic race of frog-like humanoids) were later published in the '' Fiend Folio'' monster compendium. His first published short story, "The Boys", appeared in '' Interzone'' in 1987. A collection of his short stories, '' Toast: And Other Rusted Futures'', was released in 2002; subsequent short stories have been nominated for the Hugo Award,

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

, and other awards. His first novel, ''

Singularity Sky ''Singularity Sky'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Charles Stross, published in 2003. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2004. A sequel, ''Iron Sunrise'', was published that same year. Together the two are refe ...

'', was published by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

in 2003 and was also nominated for the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

. His novella "The Concrete Jungle" (published in '' The Atrocity Archives'') won the Hugo award for its category in 2005. His novel '' Accelerando'' won the 2006

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

for best science fiction novel, was a finalist for the

John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best science fiction no ...

, 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; the German translation ''Glashaus'' won the 2009 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis. His novella " Missile Gap" won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella, and most recently he was awarded the

Edward E. Smith Memorial Award The Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction, or Skylark, annually recognizes someone for lifetime contributions to science fiction, "both through work in the field and by exemplifying the personal qualities which made the late 'Doc' ...

or Skylark at Boskone 2008. His novel '' The Atrocity Archives'' (2004) focused on a British intelligence agency investigating Mythos-like horrors; using ideas similar to those in the RPG book ''

Delta Green ''Delta Green'' is a contemporary era setting for the ''Call of Cthulhu'' role-playing game created by Adam Scott Glancy, Dennis Detwiller, and John Scott Tynes, a.k.a. the Delta Green Partnership, of the Seattle gaming house Pagan Publishin ...

'' (1996), Stross commented in an afterword to the book: "All I can say in my defence is... I hadn't heard of ''Delta Green'' when I wrote ''The Atrocity Archive''... I'll leave it at that except to say that ''Delta Green'' has come dangerously close to making me pick up the dice again." " Rogue Farm," his 2003 short story, was adapted into an eponymous animated film that debuted in August 2004. Stross was one of the Guests of Honour at Orbital 2008, the British National Science Fiction convention ( Eastercon), in March 2008. He was the Author Guest of Honour at the Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention ( Balticon) in May 2009. He was Author Guest of Honour at

Fantasticon Fantasticon is the national Danish science fiction convention since 2004. Held at various locations in Copenhagen. Article about Fantasticon in Danish Fantasticon was also the name of a monthly comic book convention series that began in Michigan, U ...

(

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

) in August 2009. He was the Guest of Honor at Boskone 48 in Feb 2011. Cubicle 7 used their '' Basic Role-Playing'' license to create ''

The Laundry ''The Laundry'' is a tabletop role-playing game published by Cubicle 7 in 2010. The game is based on novelist Charles Stross's ''The Laundry Files'' series. Description ''The Laundry'' is a game where agents have to deal with Lovecraftian outer g ...

'' (2010), based on Stross' writings, wherein agents must deal with the outer gods and British bureaucracy at the same time. In September 2012, Stross released ''

The Rapture of the Nerds ''The Rapture of the Nerds'' is a 2012 novel by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross. It was released on September 4, 2012 through Tor Books and as an ebook, DRM free, under the CC BY-NC-ND. The book can also be downloaded for free. Synopsis The no ...

'', a novel written in collaboration with Cory Doctorow. The two have also together been involved in the

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

licensing and copyright movement. In December 2017 he gave a talk at

34C3 The Chaos Communication Congress is an annual conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues related to security, cryptography, privacy and online ...

Awards

'' Accelerando'' won the 2006

Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel The Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus''. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award f ...

. " Missile Gap" won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella. "The Concrete Jungle" (contained in The Atrocity Archives) won the

for best novella in 2005; " Palimpsest", included in ''Wireless'', won the same award in 2010, and "

Equoid Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine ' ...

" in 2014. Glasshouse won the 2009 Prometheus Award for Best Novel; Stross was a Best Novel finalist in 2009 for Saturn's Children and has been nominated four other times for

Iron Sunrise ''Iron Sunrise'' is a 2004 hard science fiction novel by British writer Charles Stross, which follows the events in ''Singularity Sky''. The book was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 2005. ''Singularity Sky'' depicts a future whe ...

(in 2005), Accelerando (2006), The Revolution Business (2010) and Annihilation Score (2016). ''The Apocalypse Codex'' won the 2013

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is a literary award given annually by ''Locus Magazine'' as part of their Locus Awards. Winners References External links The Locus Award Index: FantasyThe Locus Award: 2011 winnersExcerpts and summaries o ...

. Stross's work has also been nominated for a number of other awards, including the

John W. Campbell Memorial Award The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best science fiction no ...

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel, as well as the Japanese Seiun Award.

Selected bibliography

''The Merchant Princes'' series

* ''The Family Trade'' (2004) * ''The Hidden Family'' (2005) * ''The Clan Corporate'' (2006) * ''The Merchants' War'' (2007) * ''The Revolution Business'' (2009) * ''The Trade of Queens'' (2010) * ''Empire Games'' (2017) * ''Dark State'' (2018) * ''Invisible Sun'' (2021)

The Laundry Files Universe

''The Laundry Files''

* ''The Atrocity Archives'' (2004) * ''The Jennifer Morgue'' (2006) * ''Down on the Farm'' (2008 novelette) * ''Equoid'' (2013 novelette) * ''The Fuller Memorandum'' (2010) * ''Overtime'' (2009 novelette) * ''The Apocalypse Codex'' (2012) * ''The Rhesus Chart'' (2014) * ''The Annihilation Score'' (2015) * ''The Nightmare Stacks'' (2016) * ''The Delirium Brief'' (2017) * ''The Labyrinth Index'' (2018) *''Escape From Yokai Land'' (2022 novella)

''Tales of the New Management''

* ''Dead Lies Dreaming'' (2020) * ''Quantum of Nightmares'' (2022)

''Halting State'' series

* ''

Halting State ''Halting State'' is a novel by Charles Stross, published in the United States on 2 October 2007 and in the United Kingdom in January 2008. Stross has said that it is "a thriller set in the software houses that write multiplayer games". The pl ...

'' (2007) * ''

Rule 34 Rule 34 is an Internet meme which claims that Internet pornography exists concerning every conceivable topic. The concept is commonly depicted as fan art of normally non-erotic subjects engaging in sexual behavior. It can also include writings, ...

'' (2011) * ''The Lambda Functionary'' (originally 2014, then delayed to 2018, then abandoned)

Eschaton series

*''

'' (2003) *''

'' (2004)

Standalone work

*'' A Colder War'' (2000) *'' Accelerando'' (2005) *'' Glasshouse'' (2006) *'' Missile Gap'' (2006)

References

External links

* – featuring a blog with guest contributions *
Stross software releases
– latest, 2000 *

accessed 2 OCT 2022 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stross, Charles 1964 births Alumni of the University of Bradford British people of Polish-Jewish descent British science fiction writers British transhumanists Cthulhu Mythos writers Cyberpunk writers Dungeons & Dragons game designers English fantasy writers English male novelists English science fiction writers Hugo Award-winning writers Living people Sidewise Award winners Weird fiction writers Writers from Leeds