History Literature / Rule34

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Not to be confused with]] {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely (although it is what the book is named for). The titular police division tracks crimes that operate on a similar "if you can think of it, it's out there" principle.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely (although it is what the book is named for). The titular police division tracks crimes that operate on a similar "if you can think of it, it's out there" principle.

* NotSoDifferent: Kemal and Liz, who were antagonistic towards each other in ''Halting State'', now find themselves both working together after having their careers derailed by the events of ''Halting State''.

* POVSequel: Liz Cauvanaugh, the high-and-mighty Detective Inspector that Sue was working for in ''HaltingState'', is now a main character suffering from a bit of burn-out.

* AxeCrazy: John Christie. He is at least taking medication to keep the worst of it under control. According to his backstory, it's InTheBlood.
** Nope, it's not. While both are psychopaths, John picked up his schizophrenic symptoms from a less-than-successful treatment with psychopharmacy during his childhood.

* UnusualEuphemism: "Two Wetsuit Job"

* BiTheWay: Anwar Hussein and Dorothy Straight.
** WordOfGod says that this novel is a conscious subversion of BuryYourGays and NoBisexuals. Specifically, the only straight guy is the Antagonist.
*** But The Toymaker mentions unfortunately not knowing where the local cruising spots are [[note]]Ironically, for a book so obsessed with smart phone technology, the author seems to have been completely unaware of the existence of Grindr and similar locate-likeminded-people-near-you hook-up apps that had replaced traditional gay cruising spots by the time the book was written.[[/note]] and seems quite familiar with London Pride. That indicates he's bisexual as well. The only major characters identified as straight (by ommission of any hints of same sex interests) were Colonel Felix Datka and his President friend, Anwar's wife, and perhaps Kemal.

* IronicName: Dorothy [[BiTheWay Straight.]]

* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Or at least all the bisexuals (Anwar habitually cheats on his wife; Dorothy is polyamourous and doesn't want commitment; the Toymaker normally relies on sex workers and gay cruising) and the gay men (Adam has many "on-again-off-again boyfriends" according to Anwar). Even the LGTB murder victims (Micheal and Vivienne) turn out to have had busy sexual histories and died during sexual escapades with hook-ups or sex workers. (The straight victims died in normal houshold accidents - electrocuted by a faulty kitchen machine or in the bath, for example.) The only monogamous queer character is Liz, the lesbian.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: During the book's climax, one criminal is arrested for a wide variety of crimes including tax evasion, the production and sale of various illegal items and substances, and so on, and as an afterhthought, sneaking mis-labeled bread mix into Scotland.

** Nope, it's not. While both are psychopaths, John picked up his schizophrenic symptoms from a less-than-successful treatment with psychopharmaca during his childhood.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely (although it is what the book is named for). The titular police division tracks crimes that operate on a similar "if you can think of it, it's out there" principle.

* AmbiguousDisorder: The Toymaker is by his own account not neurotypical and relies on meds to maintain the control his job requires. When those meds are unavailable he demonstrates symptoms of a schizophrenia type disorder.
** Nothing ambiguous about it. His narration says the medication is against paranoid schizophrenia, and in addition he's got a self-admitted personality disorder that lets him lie without showing the same signs as most other people, that makes him avoid airports because they analyse the camera footage for antisocial behavoir patterns, and he tells the reader not to mention the [[Film/BladeRunner Voigt-Kampff-Test]] [[note]] tests whether you're human or a robot by checking for empathy [[/note]] or, even more obviously, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist PCL-R]] [[note]]that's the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised [[/note]] test. Later, the short chapter about his bosses outright states that The Operation specifically hires people with [[TheSociopath antisocial personality disorder]]. And later in the book various people identify him as a "narcissist psychopath."

* DeathFromAbove: A few references are made in passing to [[EagleLand Americans]] launching AttackDrone air strikes on troublesome individuals, but one Ameican official insists that they aren't in that business anymore.
* EverythingIsOnline: Very nearly literally true. Late in the book, a military unit launches a raid to arrest various individuals, and one of their preperatory steps is to have every soldier turn off and lock up their radios, cell phones, computers, etc. before leaving base, effectively making them disappear from the net entirely until they get to their destination.

''Rule 34'' is a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]] ScienceFiction novel by Creator/CharlesStross, released in 2011, a sequel to ''HaltingState''.

** Nothing ambiguous about it. His narration says the medication is against paranoid schizophrenia, and in addition he's got a self-admitted personality disorder that lets him lie without showing the same signs as most other people, that makes him avoid airports because they analyse the camera footage for antisocial behavoir patterns, and he tells the reader not to mention the [[BladeRunner Voigt-Kampff-Test]][[note]]tests whether you're human or a robot by checking for empathy[[/note]] or, even more obviously, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist PCL-R]][[note]]that's the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised[[/note]] test. Later, the short chapter about his bosses outright states that The Operation specifically hires people with [[TheSociopath antisocial personality disorder]]. And later in the book various people identify him as a "narcissist psychopath".

*** But The Toymaker mentions unfortunately not knowing where the local cruising spots are [[note]]Ironically, for a book so obsessed with smart phone technology, the author seems to have been completely unaware of the existence of Grindr and similar locate-likeminded-people-near-you hook-up apps that had replaced traditional gay cruising spots by the time the book was written.[[/note]] and seems quite familiar with London Pride. That indicates he's bisexual as well. The only major characters identified as straight (by ommission of any hints of same sex interests) were the Colonel Felix Datka and his President friend, Anwar's wife, and perhaps Kemal.

** And in the end, [[spoiler: we see through ATHENA's 'eyes', who uses the drones and cameras to keep an eye on her 'meat puppets'.]]

** Nothing ambiguous about it. His narration says the medication is against paranoid schizophrenia, and in addition he's got a self-admitted personality disorder that lets him lie without showing the same signs as most other people, that makes him avoid airports because they analyse the camera footage for antisocial behavoir patterns, and he tells the reader not to mention the [[BladeRunner Voigt-Kampff-Test]][[note]]tests whether you're human or a robot by checking for empathy[[/note]] or, even more obviously, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist PCL-R]][[note]]that's the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised[[/note]] test. Later, the short chapter about his bosses outright states that The Organisation specifically hires people with [[TheSociopath antisocial personality disorder]].

** Nothing ambiguous about it. His narration says the medication is against paranoid schizophrenia, and in addition he's got a self-admitted personality disorder that lets him lie without showing the same signs as most other people, that makes him avoid airports because they analyse the camera footage for antisocial behavoir patterns, and he reacts badly to being asked about the [[BladeRunner Voigt-Kampff-Test]][[note]]tests whether you're human or a robot by checking for empathy[[/note]] and, even more obviously, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist PCL-R]][[note]]that's the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised[[/note]] test. Later, the short chapter about his bosses outright states that The Organisation specifically hires people with [[TheSociopath antisocial personality disorder]].

** Nothing ambiguous about it. His narration says the medication is against paranoid schizophrenia, and in addition he's got a self-admitted personality disorder that lets him lie without showing the same signs as most other people, that makes him avoid airports because they analyse the camera footage for antisocial behavoir patterns, and he reacts badly to being asked about the [[BladeRunner Voigt-Kampff-Test]][[note: tests whether you're human or a robot by checking for empathy]] and, even more obviously, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist PCL-R]][[note: that's the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised]] test. Later, the short chapter about his bosses outright states that The Organisation specifically hires people with [[TheSociopath antisocial personality disorder]].