Rule 34 is a sequel to Halting State and takes place about five years after those events. Don't worry, you don't need to be cognizant of the events in Halting State to follow Rule 34.
Detective Inspector Liz Kavanaugh has been assigned to the Innovative Crimes Investigation Unit, also known as The Rule 34 Squad. The internet savvy among us will recognize Rule 34 (If it exists there IS porn of it) and the ICIU's main job is to monitor emerging memes and their crossover into the real world. A bizarre murder in Edinburgh involving a known spammer and a malfunctioning machine turns into a rash of equally bizarre murders across Europe involving criminal elements of the internet and household appliances. Somehow these murders are related to illegal 3D fabrication printers and a breakaway region of Kyrgyzstan.
I had the whodunit part more or less figured out about 80% through but I did not figure out the rest until the end. The resolution made me happy enough.
Like Halting State, the story is told in second person from the point of view of about half a dozen characters. I didn't find it distracting.
One thing that I absolutely loved about Rule 34 was how corporations are treated with regards to ethical expectations. After the banking crisis of <now>, the world governments told banks and corporations: if a corporation is legally considered a "person" then you will be held to the same expectations that society has for real people, i.e., you will not engage in the psychotic/sociopathic behavior that caused the last several financial meltdowns, and to help you stay a good citizen, you will be continually audited for moral and ethical behavior, or lack thereof.
And finally, as the title would imply, the book is somewhat sexually graphic but it's certainly no worse than what you find on the front page of /b/.
Highly recommended for fans of near-future SciFi and postcyberpunk (but without the cybernetic augmentation).
Detective Inspector Liz Kavanaugh has been assigned to the Innovative Crimes Investigation Unit, also known as The Rule 34 Squad. The internet savvy among us will recognize Rule 34 (If it exists there IS porn of it) and the ICIU's main job is to monitor emerging memes and their crossover into the real world. A bizarre murder in Edinburgh involving a known spammer and a malfunctioning machine turns into a rash of equally bizarre murders across Europe involving criminal elements of the internet and household appliances. Somehow these murders are related to illegal 3D fabrication printers and a breakaway region of Kyrgyzstan.
I had the whodunit part more or less figured out about 80% through but I did not figure out the rest until the end. The resolution made me happy enough.
Like Halting State, the story is told in second person from the point of view of about half a dozen characters. I didn't find it distracting.
One thing that I absolutely loved about Rule 34 was how corporations are treated with regards to ethical expectations. After the banking crisis of <now>, the world governments told banks and corporations: if a corporation is legally considered a "person" then you will be held to the same expectations that society has for real people, i.e., you will not engage in the psychotic/sociopathic behavior that caused the last several financial meltdowns, and to help you stay a good citizen, you will be continually audited for moral and ethical behavior, or lack thereof.
And finally, as the title would imply, the book is somewhat sexually graphic but it's certainly no worse than what you find on the front page of /b/.
Highly recommended for fans of near-future SciFi and postcyberpunk (but without the cybernetic augmentation).