Måndagsmöte: Charles Stross

Andra måndagen denna vecka träffar vi den skotske science fiction-författaren Charles Stross. I höstas kom hans roman ”Halting State” ut, en helt suverän bok om en nära framtid. (Det kommer snart en recension här på bokhora.) Han är även författare till bl.a. Accelerando och Glasshouse.

Inte lika mångordig som gårdagens måndagintervjusoffer, men båda läser samma bok för tillfället. Undrar om resten av veckans författare också gör det? Håll utkik!

What kind of reader are you? Do you always bring something with you to read?

I’m mostly ebook based these days, so I usually carry a bookshelf around in my pocket. However, I don’t have enough time for much reading; it’s not compatible with spending a lot of time writing. (I probably read somewhere around 70 books a year — far less than I should.)

Do you judge people by their bookshelves?

I try not to. Besides, usually I’ve figured out what I think of somebody before I’m invited into their home to ogle the shelves!

What are you reading right now?

”The Night Sessions” by Ken MacLeod (which won’t be out until August). In non-fiction: ”The Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein (in small doses).

Are there any specific books that inspired you to become a writer?

No, because I somehow decided I wanted to become a writer when I was about seven years old. (I’m not sure why.)

If you were to recommend the readers of Bokhora some books that they absolutely should read this year, which books would that be?

I don’t read enough to give any kind of comprehensive overview, and anything I recommend is liable to be out of date, but in the SF and fantasy fields …I recently read ”Soon I will be Invincible” by Austin Grossman, which is a remarkable reworking of the traditional superhero comic (in the shape of a novel); and in SF, ”Blindsight” by Peter Watts is well worth picking up (it was shortlisted for a Hugo award in 2007).