Halting State

Infobox Book |
name = Halting State


image_caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
author = Charles Stross
cover_artist =
country = UK & US
language = English
genre = Science fiction
publisher = Orbit (UK), Ace (US)
release_date = October 2, 2007
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 368 pp
isbn = 0-441-01498-4

"Halting State" is a novel by Charles Stross, published in the United States on October 2, 2007 and in the UK in January, 2008. [ [http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2007/10/ahem.html Charlie's Diary: Ahem ] ] Stross has said that it is "a thriller set in the software houses that write multiplayer games". [ [http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=5071 SFRevu Review ] ] The plot centers around a bank robbery in a virtual world [ [http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/02/charlie-strosss-halt.html Charlie Stross's Halting State: Heist novel about an MMORPG - Boing Boing ] ] . It features speculative technologies, including Specs and virtual server networks over mobile phones. The book is on its second printing in the United States. [ [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1670032014558458068&hl=en Charles Stross - 2007-10-12 ] ] It is written in the second person at least in part as an homage to the "Adventure" games. The novel was nominated for the 2008 Hugo Awards.

The main story is split between three main protagonists, Sue, Elaine, and Jack, respectively, whose sections are always in the second person, with italicized thoughts in first person during each character's respective chapter. Each chapter is followed in sequential trilogies (Sue, Elaine, Jack) for the duration of the novel. This pattern excepts only the prologue and epilogue of the novel, which both contain faux email to supporting (and in one case, nonexistent) characters.

This novel contains a high amount of jargon related to TCP/IP routing and cryptography, as well as references to popular culture, video games, MMORPGs and virtual worlds. This material may be unfamiliar to the casual reader. As this comprises the main plot of the book, it is expected that the reader has some experience or interest in some or all of these subjects.

Speculative technology in "Halting State"

* Specs are speculative computer display technology, reminiscent of the goggles worn by Manfred Macx in his earlier work, "Accelerando" and the helmet from Ken MacLeod's "The Star Fraction" protagonist Moh Kohn, as well as the 'magic glasses' described by Hans Moravec in his 1988 book "Mind Children". Specs consist of paired high resolution CCD-like cameras with dual high resolution screens mounted into a form factor comparable to a pair of sunglasses. In addition to serving as a wireless HUD as a part of a wearable computing personal area network, they perform image processing on visual information to correct for near-sightedness and astigmatism. [ [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1670032014558458068&hl=en Charles Stross - 2007-10-12 ] ]
* Metaverse technologies (Specs and ZoneSpace), similar to those theorized by Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash and Linden Lab's Second Life
* Anonymous Electronic Money
* Quantum Computing
* Onion Routing
* Freenet Cryptography
* GNU Radio

Social commentary

* The novel refers to the Genarlow Wilson case: being a minor, a teenage boy gets in trouble with the law for sexual activity with a teenage girl.

Main Protagonists

* Nigel MacDonald, false programmer employed by SprocketSource, Spooks, and Hayek Associates. Identity foil for Jack Reed.
* Sue Smith, Edinburgh Detective Sergeant
* Elaine Barnaby, insurance fraud investigator for Dietrich-Brunner Associates
* Jack Reed, recently laid-off programmer of the fictitious company and game, "Steaming", and expert on MMORPGs

Plot Summary

The plot opens with a faux email addressed to Nigel MacDonald, listing a job offer. It is later learned that this email is for a work-at-home programmer position at Hayek Associates PLC.

It is then learned that a cybercrime has been committed in the MMORPG Avalon Four. A robbery of several thousand dollars worth of "prestige items" occurs in the game's central bank, led by a band of orcs and a "dragon for fire support." It is later noticed that this seemingly simple incident has deep implications -- both financial (Hayek stock price) and logistical (compromised cryptographic keys), which sets the stage for the later half of the novel.

The main story is then divided between police chapters as Sue, investigation sections as Elaine, and programmer and gamer geek sections as Jack. Initially separate storylines, the three inevitably join forces to combat a much larger conspiracy that hinges on international espionage and counterterrorism. These initial segments track the bank robbery and mystery man, Nigel MacDonald, who is revealed as a shadow identity created from Jack Reed's credentials as a programmer and gamer.

Eventually, it is discovered that the entirety of the European network backbone -- including its root servers -- have been compromised by Chinese hackers. It is more or less at this point that the wool is removed from the reader's eyes that "it's no longer a game," while Jack and Elaine develop a slightly cliched, Stockholm Syndrome romance between action segments.

Using the game Spooks as a sock puppet for real espionage missions, Jack and Elaine are sent to uncover the identity of a mole inside Hayek Associates, which is subsequently revealed to be a front for European hegemonic interests. The mole is said to have leaked cryptographic keys to "Team Red", or Chinese interests, through a black market. For contrast, the European protagonists are called simply, "Team Blue".

It is at this point that the stage is set for the final confrontation. Using Nigel's shadow identity as bait for Team Red's mole, Elaine and Jack successfully expose and capture Mark Hackman, who is revealed to be the mole and main antagonist. It is then revealed that Hackman had staged the whole thing in order to use strategic put options to siphon $26 million when his own company, Hayek Associates, took the fall for the initial robbery sequence.

Jack is shot twice in the abdomen during this exchange, but is seen recovering in a hospital bed by the end of the book.

The novel closes with an ironic 419 scam email addressed to Hackman from a one Martin Mase, for the sum of $26,023,691.47, implying that these scams are related (or strikingly similar) to prior incidents, Hackman's ploy, and Team Red.

Footnotes