(It doesn't matter which one you're fluent in.) The first neighborhood is technology, especially programming. You're going to need passing familiarity with one of them and fluency in the other to really enjoy the series. This book, and indeed this series, deeply explores the depths of two different neighborhoods of geekdom.

The reader, by the way, does a great job. As for me, nerd that I am, I loved it, and look forward to seeing the sequel, and the new book coming out in July 2010. If it baffles you, this might still be a good listen, but will be confusing as well. If the list intrigues you, definitely, definitely get this book. For example, expect quick, but important references to: Alan Turing, gorgons, Forward-Looking Infrared Scanners, Windows software licensing terms, Cthulu, John Dee, Mandelbrot Sets, The Great Old Ones, and much more. You can (and will) miss a few, but if you aren't a nerd, that is, you aren't into IT and Lovecraft, then you may not be the target audience for this book, and may miss most of its cleverness. And boy does the target audience matter: the book is full of allusions and in-jokes, as well as many quickly listed references. The book is by turns satirical, scary, and action-packed, and generally succeeds admirably, especially for its target audience, for whom it is likely to be a home-run. Its hero is an IT support expert turned secret agent fighting against supernatural horror and organizational bureaucracy.

A great techno-spy-Lovecraftian-horror-comedyĬharlie Stross writes great-to-excellent science fiction/fantasy in many sub-genres, but this novel (and its two sequels) is probably his most original.

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