After “Accelerando” which, while maybe not a masterpiece of writing but so incredibly rich and dense in far-out-yet-feasible ideas that it blew me away again and again, “The Atrocity Archives” is a short 2-part story about Bob Howard, low-level techie working for The Laundry, a super-secret British government agency dealing with the occult. And what a story. Mix Lovecraft with Stephenson and a little bit of Len Deighton and you are getting there. It’s mathematics and hackers mixed with the black arts and spy vs. spy.

It’s still a little rough around the edges, but I have no problem envisioning him in the list of SF giants in 50 years time.