Charles Stross | |
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| Born | (1964-10-18)18 October 1964 (age 61)[1] Leeds, England |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | University of Bradford[2] |
| Period | 1990s–present |
| Genre | Science fiction,fantasy,horror |
| Website | |
| www | |
Charles David George "Charlie"Stross (born 18 October 1964[1]) is a British writer ofscience fiction andfantasy. Stross specialises inhard science fiction andspace opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazineComputer Shopper and was responsible for its monthlyLinux column. He stopped writing for the magazine to devote more time to novels. However, he continues to publishfreelance articles on the Internet.[3]
Stross was born inLeeds, England.[4] 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 atUniversity of Bradford 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.[5][6]
In the 1970s and 1980s, Stross published somerole-playing game articles aboutAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons inWhite Dwarf magazine. Some of his creatures, such as thedeath knight,githyanki (the name borrowed fromGeorge R. R. Martin's 1977 novel,Dying of the Light),githzerai, andslaad (a chaotic race of frog-like humanoids) were later published in theFiend Folio monster compendium for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.[7]
His first published short story,The Boys, appeared inInterzone in 1987. A collection of his short stories,Toast: And Other Rusted Futures, was released in 2002;[8] subsequent short stories have been nominated for the Hugo Award,Nebula Award, and other awards. His first novel,Singularity Sky, was published byAce Books in 2003 and was also nominated for theHugo Award. His novellaThe Concrete Jungle (published inThe Atrocity Archives) won the Hugo award forits category in 2005.[9] His novelAccelerando won the 2006Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, was a finalist for theJohn W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel,[10] and was on the final ballot for the Hugo Award in the best novel category.[11]Glasshouse won the 2007Prometheus Award and was on the final ballot for the Hugo Award in the best novel category; the German translationGlashaus won the 2009Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis.[12] His novellaMissile Gap won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella, and he was awarded theEdward E. Smith Memorial Award or Skylark atBoskone 2008.
His novelThe Atrocity Archives (2004) detailed a British intelligence agency tasked with investigating otherworldly horrors; using ideas similar to those in the RPG bookDelta Green (1996), Stross wrote in the afterword to the book: "All I can say in my defence is ... I hadn't heard ofDelta Green when I wroteThe Atrocity Archive ... I'll leave it at that except to say thatDelta Green has come dangerously close to making me pick up the dice again."[13]: 247
Rogue Farm, his 2003 short story, was adapted into an eponymous animated film that debuted in August 2004.[14]
Stross was one of the Guests of Honour at Orbital 2008,[15] and at the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) in March 2008.[16] He was the Author Guest of Honour at the Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention (Balticon) in May 2009. He was Author Guest of Honour atFantasticon (Denmark) in August 2009. He was the Guest of Honor at Boskone 48 in Feb 2011.
Cubicle 7 used theirBasic Role-Playing license to createThe Laundry (2010), based on Stross' writings, wherein agents must contend with both the outer gods and the bureaucracy of the United Kingdom.[13]: 432
In September 2012, Stross releasedThe Rapture of the Nerds, a novel written in collaboration withCory Doctorow.[17] The two have also together been involved in theCreative Commons licensing and copyright movement.[18] In December 2017 he gave a talk at34C3 hacker conference.[19]
Accelerando won the 2006Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[20]Missile Gap won the 2007 Locus Award for best novella.[21]The Concrete Jungle (contained inThe Atrocity Archives) won theHugo Award for Best Novella in 2005;[9]Palimpsest, included inWireless, won the same award in 2010,[22] andEquoid in 2014.[23]Glasshouse won the 2009 Prometheus Award for Best Novel; Stross was a Best Novel finalist in 2009 forSaturn's Children and has been nominated four other times forIron Sunrise (in 2005),Accelerando (2006),The Revolution Business (2010) andAnnihilation Score (2016).[24]The Apocalypse Codex won the 2013Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.[25] Stross's work has also been nominated for a number of other awards, including theJohn W. Campbell Memorial Award,[10]Arthur C. Clarke Award,[26] and theHugo Award for Best Novel,[9][11][27][28] as well as the JapaneseSeiun Award.[21]
Stross believes himself to beautistic, but does not intend to seek a professional diagnosis.[29][dead link]
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