Best Charles Stross Books

The Delirium Brief

Laundry Files • Book 8

by Charles Stross

The Laundry's cover gets blown, forcing Bob Howard to handle cosmic horror threats while managing a public relations nightmare. Stross satirizes both government incompetence and Lovecraftian mythology with sharp British wit.

More about this pick

The Laundry's cover gets blown, forcing Bob Howard to handle cosmic horror threats while managing a public relations nightmare. Stross satirizes both government incompetence and Lovecraftian mythology with sharp British wit.

The Fuller Memorandum

Laundry Files • Book 3

by Charles Stross

Computational demonologist Bob Howard's filing day turns deadly when the Fuller Memorandum disappears and his boss becomes the prime suspect in this Lovecraftian thriller.

More about this pick

Computational demonologist Bob Howard's filing day turns deadly when the Fuller Memorandum disappears and his boss becomes the prime suspect in this Lovecraftian thriller.

The Nightmare Stacks

Laundry Files • Book 7

by Charles Stross

Vampire bureaucrat Alex Schwartz returns to Leeds for his first Laundry assignment, where interdimensional invasion threatens his hometown and forces awkward family conversations.

More about this pick

Vampire bureaucrat Alex Schwartz returns to Leeds for his first Laundry assignment, where interdimensional invasion threatens his hometown and forces awkward family conversations.

The Apocalypse Codex

Laundry Files • Book 4

by Charles Stross

Stross promotes Bob Howard to External Assets, where freelance agents handle the Laundry's most sensitive supernatural cases. Office politics meet Lovecraftian horror in this bureaucratic nightmare.

More about this pick

Stross promotes Bob Howard to External Assets, where freelance agents handle the Laundry's most sensitive supernatural cases. Office politics meet Lovecraftian horror in this bureaucratic nightmare.

The Rhesus Chart

Laundry Files • Book 5

by Charles Stross

A group of quantitative analysts accidentally turn themselves into vampires through mathematical modeling—now the Laundry must handle their first undead incident.

More about this pick

A group of quantitative analysts accidentally turn themselves into vampires through mathematical modeling—now the Laundry must handle their first undead incident.

Season of Skulls

Laundry Files • Book 12

by Charles Stross

In Stross's twisted 21st century Britain, the Prime Minister is literally an ancient eldritch god and crime has vanished because almost everything warrants execution.

More about this pick

In Stross's twisted 21st century Britain, the Prime Minister is literally an ancient eldritch god and crime has vanished because almost everything warrants execution.

The Jennifer Morgue

Laundry Files • Book 2

by Charles Stross

What happens when Cthulhu mythos meets spy thriller? Stross answers with this brilliant mashup where government agents battle ancient sea monsters using bureaucratic procedures and high-tech gadgets.

More about this pick

What happens when Cthulhu mythos meets spy thriller? Stross answers with this brilliant mashup where government agents battle ancient sea monsters using bureaucratic procedures and high-tech gadgets.

The Regicide Report (Laundry Files, 14)

Laundry Files • Book 14

by Charles Stross

Bob Howard and Mo O'Brien confront their most dangerous assignment yet: protecting the monarchy from an Elder God who's seized control of the British government.

More about this pick

Bob Howard and Mo O'Brien confront their most dangerous assignment yet: protecting the monarchy from an Elder God who's seized control of the British government.

Quantum of Nightmares

The New Management • Book 2

by Charles Stross

In New Management Britain, an ancient eldritch god serves as Prime Minister, crime plummets due to death penalties for minor offenses, and reality bends around supernatural bureaucracy.

More about this pick

In New Management Britain, an ancient eldritch god serves as Prime Minister, crime plummets due to death penalties for minor offenses, and reality bends around supernatural bureaucracy.

A Conventional Boy

Laundry Files • Book 13

by Charles Stross

A teenage dungeon master's life was destroyed by a 1984 government raid during the Satanic D&D Panic, leaving him institutionalized at a center for dangerous supernatural individuals.

More about this pick

A teenage dungeon master's life was destroyed by a 1984 government raid during the Satanic D&D Panic, leaving him institutionalized at a center for dangerous supernatural individuals.

Iron Sunrise

Eschaton • Book 2

by Charles Stross

Someone destroyed New Moscow, but the survivors' revenge missiles are heading for innocent New Dresden—Rachel must find the real culprits before the wrong world dies.

More about this pick

Someone destroyed New Moscow, but the survivors' revenge missiles are heading for innocent New Dresden—Rachel must find the real culprits before the wrong world dies.

The Atrocity Archives

Laundry Files • Book 1

by Charles Stross

Imagine if Lovecraftian monsters were just another government problem requiring the right forms and security clearances. Stross launches his Laundry Files with a tech support worker who discovers that mathematics can summon things that should stay buried.

More about this pick

Imagine if Lovecraftian monsters were just another government problem requiring the right forms and security clearances. Stross launches his Laundry Files with a tech support worker who discovers that mathematics can summon things that should stay buried.

Accelerando

by Charles Stross

Following three generations through the Singularity, from early AI development to posthuman civilization and potential extraterrestrial contact. Stross extrapolates current technology trends into a future where human consciousness itself becomes malleable.

More about this pick

Following three generations through the Singularity, from early AI development to posthuman civilization and potential extraterrestrial contact. Stross extrapolates current technology trends into a future where human consciousness itself becomes malleable.

Glasshouse

by Charles Stross

Memory-wiped soldier Robin hides in an experimental community recreating 20th-century domestic life. Stross uses the retro setting to examine gender, identity, and social control.

More about this pick

Memory-wiped soldier Robin hides in an experimental community recreating 20th-century domestic life. Stross uses the retro setting to examine gender, identity, and social control.

Singularity Sky

Eschaton • Book 1

by Charles Stross

The Eschaton AI accelerated human technology while strictly forbidding time travel, creating a galaxy where Earth's descendants live in deliberate simplicity. Stross explores the tension between technological possibility and chosen limitation.

More about this pick

The Eschaton AI accelerated human technology while strictly forbidding time travel, creating a galaxy where Earth's descendants live in deliberate simplicity. Stross explores the tension between technological possibility and chosen limitation.

Halting State

Halting State • Book 1

by Charles Stross

Edinburgh cops investigate a bank heist committed by fantasy creatures in a virtual world, but the stolen assets have real-world value. Stross examines how online economies blur the boundaries between game and reality in 2018 Scotland.

More about this pick

Edinburgh cops investigate a bank heist committed by fantasy creatures in a virtual world, but the stolen assets have real-world value. Stross examines how online economies blur the boundaries between game and reality in 2018 Scotland.

Tor.com: Selected Original Fiction, 2008-2012

by Tor Books, Sylvia Day, Brandon Sanderson, Charles Stross, Ken MacLeod, Lee Mandelo, Rachel Swirsky, Meghan McCarron, John Scalzi

This collection showcases Tor.com's finest original short fiction, including Nebula-nominated tales from Sanderson, Scalzi, and other genre luminaries. Premium speculative fiction in concentrated doses.

More about this pick

This collection showcases Tor.com's finest original short fiction, including Nebula-nominated tales from Sanderson, Scalzi, and other genre luminaries. Premium speculative fiction in concentrated doses.