Rule 34 (novel)
Rule 34 is a near-future science fiction novel by Charles Stross. It is a loose sequel to Halting State, and was released on 5 July 2011 (US) and 7 July 2011 (UK).  The title is a reference to the Internet meme Rule 34, which states that "If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions."  Rule 34 was nominated for the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

Plot summary
The novel is told in second-person narrative but primarily from three points of view: Edinburgh police Inspector Kavanaugh, who investigates spammers murdered in gruesome and inventive ways, and learns about similar cases in other parts of Europe; Anwar, a former identity thief who becomes Scottish honorary consul for a fictional state in central Asia; and "The Toymaker", an enforcer and organizer for the criminal "Operation". Their interactions and conflicts drive the story.

Critical reception
Reviews have been favorable, with Cory Doctorow calling the novel, "savvy, funny, viciously inventive". Kirkus Reviews gives it a star, saying, "Dazzling, chilling and brilliant", Publishers Weekly calls "the whole more than the sum of its parts", and there was a generally positive review in The Guardian.

Sequel cancellation
Following the revelations by Edward Snowden, Stross announced that there would be no third book in the planned trilogy. "Halting State wasn't intended to be predictive when I started writing it in 2006. Trouble is, about the only parts that haven't happened yet are Scottish Independence and the use of actual quantum computers for cracking public key encryption (and there's a big fat question mark over the latter—what else are the NSA up to?)."

References

Novels by Charles Stross
2011 British novels
British science fiction novels
Ace Books books
Augmented reality in fiction
Novels about the Internet
Novels about mass surveillance
Novels set in Scotland
Novels set in Edinburgh
Novels set in fictional countries