This is a sequel to Accelerando? Sort of. It’s in the same universe of wormhole routers and improbable space opera on the fringes of brown dwarves. It goes without saying that terrestrial environments are never encountered, for fear of the Vile Offspring. But nothing of the details of Accelerando matter here: only that this is a future far beyond the Singularity.

To make the book comprehensible to the rest of us, the setting is mostly from the point of view of an amnesiac embedded in a simulation of late-twentieth-century life. The plot is, I think, best experiences, so I will say little more about it.

It’s not necessary to have read Accelerando before reading Glasshouse, but it’s highly recommended that you watch The Prisoner. There are a lot of references, including a number of oblique mentions of town centers with quirky, varicolored buildings.
It’s also good to have read as much as Stross—not easy. Cordwainer Smith is important here, and Keith Laumer helps. Heinlein is important, especially for early recognition of applied fascism.

Books read this year: 29