“Halting State is part science fiction, part romance, part police procedural mystery, complete with a few murders. It is also a convincing and thought provoking look at what the future might bring, logically extrapolated from present trends in technology. According to some people, this is what science fiction is all about, no matter how rarely you come across it.
For my money, though, what science fiction is all about is a gripping story, one that keeps you turning pages long past bedtime. Stross knows how to do that, too.
In Halting State, enemy agents from a surprising source have infiltrated Europe's networking infrastructure (sounds geeky, but never fear, Stross makes it interesting), and it's touch and go as Sue (police sergeant who occasionally breaks into her Scottish brogue), Jack (computer programming wizard), and Elaine (sword fighting forensic accountant) track down some orcs that robbed a bank of its magic items.
No, this is reality. Virtual reality, that is.
In any event, the story is written at a break neck pace, all in second person narrative mode (like you might expect from a role playing adventure story, I suppose), and convincingly set in various places in Europe.
It was nominated for the 2008 Hugo and richly deserves its nomination.”