A Colder War
by Charles Stross · first published 2005
94% recommend6% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short Lovecraftian story that treats cosmic horror as a Cold War arms race, with CIA-style intrigue and real existential dread. Freely readable online and a good pick for Lovecraft fans and Stross newcomers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."[0] I was in Moscow when that went public. The Soviet government was not amused. Edit: Also, Charles Stross' A Colder War.[1] 0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minut... 1) http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm
on “A military exercise staged 35 years ago almost triggered World War Three” ↗Definitely recommend the rest of the Laundry books. Also be sure to check out Stross's short story "A Colder War", which came before those, and is very much in the same overall theme, although substantially darker.
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗…toward the question of what Lovecraft would've made of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Obviously there's no way to know for certain, but I think Charlie Stross has come as close as anyone could in his short "A Colder War", which is freely available online and quite engaging.
on “Supernatural Horror in Literature (1927)” ↗…horror. It is more existential. Sebastian Orr does a great narration: http://www.ourfaircity.com/2011/12/the-rats-in-the-walls-pt-... http://www.ourfaircity.com/2012/01/part-two/ Inspired by Lovecraft, A Colder War by Charlie Stross is also a favorite.
on “Ask HN: Which podcasts do you listen to regularly?” ↗…It is more existential. Sebastian Orr does a great narration: http://www.ourfaircity.com/2011/12/the-rats-in-the-walls-pt-.... http://www.ourfaircity.com/2012/01/part-two/ Inspired by Lovecraft, A Colder War by Charlie Stross is also a favorite.
on “Ask HN: What are some good podcasts?” ↗Stross fans will know what I mean when I say this nomenclature sounds like something out of "A Colder War" [1]. Those who don't know what I mean are strongly encouraged to follow that link, at the far end of which is a rather good piece of short fiction that answers the question: "What if Lovecraft was right…
on “ZSL: Zk-Snarks for the Enterprise” ↗…stumbling across a newspaper review when it was released. Both the Laundry Files & Merchant Princes / Empire games series are also great fun. You can get a feel for Stross' Laundry Files series from: "A Colder War" http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm (not Laundry Files, but in the ballpark) "Equoid" https://www.tor.com/2013/09/24/equoid/ For the longest time I didn't try reading the Merchant…
on “Yet another novel I will no longer write” ↗Not yet a mention of Charles Stross in this thread! For a short story, I recommend his Lovecraftian A Colder War.
on “50 authors, 50 science fiction stories shorter than novels” ↗The only bit of fiction that I have read that mentions atomic powered bombers is Charlie Stross' excellent A Colder War - where they are armed with Project Pluto style missiles and target the Soviet weakly-godlike entity i.e. (a) Cthulhu. Strongly recommended.
on “America Had an Atomic Mecha Warrior Robot” ↗In "A Colder War" by Charlie Stross, Cthulhu runs the souls it eats: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm Edit: this is a rather splendid wee story where "weakly godlike agencies" are treated like any…
on “Human Brain Project: $1.61 billion to achieve human brain emulation by 2024” ↗…their resources tormenting virtual copies of lesser beings - I'm sure this is mentioned as something that some Transcendent Powers do in A Fire Upon the Deep. Not to mention Charlie Stross's excellent A Colder War: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Colder_War
on “Welcome To Life” ↗I agree those are interesting questions not directly addressed by Surface Detail. However, on a related topic the novella A Colder War by Charlie Stross has a particularly creepy ending if the idea of virtual hells bothers you - the idea that an intelligent entity actually enjoys running simulations of minds and exploring the ways they…
on “Let’s Play War: Could war games replace the real thing?” ↗Funny you should mention it. A similar hypothetical weapons system is deployed against Cthulhu in the excellent short story A Colder War by Charles Stross. See http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm
on “The Nucleon, Ford's 1958 nuclear-powered concept car that never was” ↗The referenced story is Stross's "A Colder War": http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm It's not at all about uploading, but it is very much worth a read.
on “Make Up a Guy” ↗I should read it again in light of that. I did find that Stross's early work (Accelerando, Singularity Sky, Iron Sunrise, Colder War) heavily influenced my worldview and path in life. I haven't touched Accelerando in over a decade although I go back to the other novels on occasion.
on “Accelerando (2005)” ↗