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A review by titusfortner
Wireless by Charles Stross
3.0
Stross mentions that he likes writing short stories as a way to experiment with style and format to see what works. That being said, I think the raw density of Stross' ideas make it difficult for me to get a handle on the story he is telling before it is over.
There are only two stories in this collection that I especially enjoyed.
The first is "A Colder War," which is the only duplicate with Stross' [b:Toast|17862|Toast|Charles Stross|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166854363s/17862.jpg|930586], which I haven't read, and am not sure if it is a priority for me any longer.
The second story I enjoyed was "Down on the Farm," which is set in the Laundry Universe. I'm sure that a main reason I enjoyed the story is because of the background and history I already have with the characters and setting.
Another story worth discussing is Palimpsest, which won the Hugo Award for best novella in 2010. It is one of those time-heavy books that reminds me of the move Primer. I should have liked it more than I did, and I think I would have if I hadn't just read [b:The End of Eternity|509784|The End of Eternity|Isaac Asimov|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256524261s/509784.jpg|1407851]. The overall story is sufficiently similar in broad strokes that I can't help but make an unfortunate comparison.
Stross' story progresses by throwing out all kinds of scientific pseudo-explanations and descriptions and tossing about complicated rewrites of rewrites of events. Stross' books focus more on ideas than real explanations, and there seem to be many unnecessary elements included just because they are interesting. The character development is shallow, mostly due to the confusion that the characters seem to be in most of the time (and the reader for that matter).
Asimov's story on the other hand is a masterpiece of elegance and beauty. There are still plot twists, but Asimov intentionally avoids complicated time paradoxes. His story is much simpler, and he lets the characters move the story forward more organically.
It feels like Stross took Asimov's story and tried to make it more realistic with more in-depth (and potentially more 'realistic') ideas about how things would actually go. It obviously appealed to many (like the Hugo voters), but to me it merely underscores the brilliance of Isaac Asimov.
There are only two stories in this collection that I especially enjoyed.
The first is "A Colder War," which is the only duplicate with Stross' [b:Toast|17862|Toast|Charles Stross|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166854363s/17862.jpg|930586], which I haven't read, and am not sure if it is a priority for me any longer.
The second story I enjoyed was "Down on the Farm," which is set in the Laundry Universe. I'm sure that a main reason I enjoyed the story is because of the background and history I already have with the characters and setting.
Another story worth discussing is Palimpsest, which won the Hugo Award for best novella in 2010. It is one of those time-heavy books that reminds me of the move Primer. I should have liked it more than I did, and I think I would have if I hadn't just read [b:The End of Eternity|509784|The End of Eternity|Isaac Asimov|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256524261s/509784.jpg|1407851]. The overall story is sufficiently similar in broad strokes that I can't help but make an unfortunate comparison.
Stross' story progresses by throwing out all kinds of scientific pseudo-explanations and descriptions and tossing about complicated rewrites of rewrites of events. Stross' books focus more on ideas than real explanations, and there seem to be many unnecessary elements included just because they are interesting. The character development is shallow, mostly due to the confusion that the characters seem to be in most of the time (and the reader for that matter).
Asimov's story on the other hand is a masterpiece of elegance and beauty. There are still plot twists, but Asimov intentionally avoids complicated time paradoxes. His story is much simpler, and he lets the characters move the story forward more organically.
It feels like Stross took Asimov's story and tried to make it more realistic with more in-depth (and potentially more 'realistic') ideas about how things would actually go. It obviously appealed to many (like the Hugo voters), but to me it merely underscores the brilliance of Isaac Asimov.