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Reading "Halting State" by Charles Stross -- He's really nailed consulting, high tech startups, and contract employment
By Andrew Pollack on 11/10/2008 at 12:04 AM ESTCharles Stross has written "Halting State" -- a near future high tech mystery novel. It reads like it was written by a cross between William Gibson and Kurt Vonegut Jr. Its that good -- at least what I've read so far. I'm not Tom Duff and I don't digest these things in a single sitting.
Each of the main characters has their part of the story told in the second person. That's a little hard to get used to. "You" -- the reader -- switch perspectives with each chapter. It puts you right there in the middle though, and that's interesting. What's really cool is how damn accurately Stross nails the perspective of a contract tech employee, a professional consultant, and the high tech startup business. He's dead on and funny about it.
If you get a chance, pick this one up.
btw: I bought this one in London, so if you pick it up in the States, I'd be curious to see if the editors changed much. Drop me an email and we can compare.
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me, and his IT insight matches his dilbertian humour