WHAT IF there were numerous "gates" to other worlds, not of our making, located all over the world, and in places Antarctica, Iraq, and a sub-basement of the White House?

WHAT IF these gates led, not to rural Stargate SG-1 type worlds, but to horrifying worlds filled with various radioactive forces, abandoned alien cities, and, oh, the old Lovecraftian gods Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth and the ?

WHAT IF the world powers knew all of this, and came together in the first part of the twentieth century to create the Dresden Agreement - a treaty of non-use designed to protect the world from these dread forces?

WHAT IF folks Hitler, Stalin, Ronald Reagan & George Bush & Ollie North & Fawn Hall, and Saddam Hussein of course, have all been breaking this treaty little by little, until finally someone goes too far?

WHAT IF i said that this is a clever, darkly humorous, briskly-paced novella that i was able to read in one sitting last night?

WHAT IF i told you that this story is available for free on the author's website?cthulhu-knows-best scifi-modern35 s Hail Hydra! ~Dave Anderson~260 128

If his analysis of the situation is wrong, at least he is still alive. And if he is right, dying would be no escape.

He wonders why hell is so cold at this time of year.21 s Tim Pendry1,038 392


This may be one of the finest short story applications of the Lovecraftian in the current century. The cleverness lies in taking the 'Mountains of Madness' tale as a starting point for an alternate history that tells the story of the Cold War in terms of the Cthulhu mythos.

Where it scores is in building a degree of documentary realism centred on a rewriting of the Iran Contra affair as seen through the eyes of a CIA officer who has gone beyond the horrors of nuclear war to see a deeper horror lurking beneath the power games that fuelled US-Soviet confrontation.

There is not much more to say. It is grim, an expansion of the fear of nuclear annihilation into an even more disturbing vision of a cosmic annihilation that brings a darker hell to earth and it is certainly not optimistic in tone. A treat for politically educated Lovecraftians.

Several commentators have noted the similarity to Tim Powers' 'Declare' published in the same year (2000). The similarities are remarkable though 'Declare' is a long and even better novel.

Assuming pure coincidence, one can only surmise similar thoughts were triggered on two continents (a synchronicity that should appeal to Powers) in response to the apocalyptic idea of the Millennium - Lovecraftian and Cold War apocalypse are perhaps natural absurd bedfellows.british science-fiction warfare13 s Brian656 82


Note: This novella is available for free online here.

The "nukes are too dangerous to be used" theme has been done innumerable times in science fiction, with different metaphors each time. It's not a new idea, but mixing it with the Cthulhu Mythos is a new take on it, and even if Cthulhu wasn't catnip to me I'd this story just because of that. Stross is better known among Mythos fans for The Laundry series, but A Colder War has very little of the satire and humor of those books. It's a much more straight take on how some technologies are too dangerous to use by adding in "technology" that is absolutely too dangerous to use.

A Colder War has a lot of minor bits that I just love. The concept that America's space program was allowed to wither and die not because we turned away from space or because of petty politics or because of worries about costs, but rather was a deliberate policy brought about by the knowledge of just what exactly waited in the darkness between the stars and how dangerous to humanity such exploration could be. Referring to the Old Ones in Antarctica as "the Predecessors." The Dresden Agreement formed after the Danforth-Lake Expedition revealed the ruins in Antarctica and how all the signatories stuck to it through World War II--even Hitler. The little hints of alternate history throughout, the note that JFK didn't seek a second term. The ruins in the Taklamakan desert. Stephen J. Gould giving an evolutionary biology presentation on the Old Ones. The quotes this:He hopes that if the balloon ever does go up, if the sirens wail, he and Andrea and Jason will be left behind to face the nuclear fire. It'll be a merciful death compared with what he suspect lurks out there, in the unexplored vastness beyond the gates. The vastness that made Nixon cancel the manned space program, leaving just the standing joke of a white-elephant shuttle, when he realised just how hideously dangerous the space race might become. The darkness that broke Jimmy Carter's faith and turned Lyndon B. Johnson into an alcoholic.Though come to think of it, I spoke too soon saying it was free of satire. Much of the story's themes about American military culture and Reaganite politics, from the ridiculous code names for Mythos knowledge ("SECRET INDIGO MARCH SNIPE") to how silly talk about "Morning in America" sounds in a world with mi-go and shoggoths and Cthulhu who waits dead but dreaming, are obviously satirical, albeit of the whistling-past-the-graveyard sort.

It's not just that, though. I think A Colder War is so effective for me because I know that the only reason we aren't currently playing out a real-world game of Fallout is because several times, the decision came down to one person and they turned away from war. And when the weapons are only dumb tools, that's easy, but when the weapons have minds of their own that are incomprehensible to human understanding...well. As a species, we got lucky. And there's no reason to think that luck will hold out in the future.

Though hopefully it won't end as badly as it did here. I won't spoil the end, but I'll say that it's absolutely worthy of the horror tag. A fantastic story that leaves me wanting a lot more. alternate-history cthulhu-mythos horror ...more11 s Ross LockhartAuthor 26 books216

1980's Cold War paranoia meets the Cthulhu Mythos in this novelette by Charles Stross. Unsurprisingly, the Great Old Ones and the Reagan era mesh seamlessly, providing fertile ground for Stross to extrapolate a "present" (circa 1984) in which the events of H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness actually happened, making the late 20th Century a far, far stranger era. Loaded with detailed references to Cold War politics, military hardware, and, of course, Lovecraft's pullulating pantheon, "A Colder War" is an alternate history/mythos mashup well worth reading. 4 s John282 64

This was a wonderfully dark novella marrying two themes that, in a way, were meant for eachother: Ronald Regan and the Eldritch Dark. In my opinion, this, along with Gene Wolfe's "Lord of the Land" (from Starwater Strains) is one of the best modern Cthulu stories.

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This seems the perfect companion piece to Declare.2009 scottish sf-fantasy4 s Chris382 4

First off, A Colder War is available online here. I heartily recommend it.

A Colder War is the Cold War except the Soviets have invested deeply in harnessing eldritch monstrosities shoggoths and Project Koschei. The United States has responded with ramping up their nuclear arsenal to counter Koschei including Project Pluto. Things go downhill from there.

My favorite thing about this story is the ambiguity. For example, Project Pluto is never explained in story. It's definitely given an air of suspense in story but you don't really get a vision of what it is unless you do a little googling. And once I read that Wikipedia article, those first few paragraphs got a lot more ominous. A nuclear powered cruise missile that stays airborne long term? That's playing hardball. The same applies to a lot of the references. Knowing the background or meaning of the one off cryptic references definitely add a chilling layer to the story.

And that ending, Heaven preserve, that ending. Poor Roger, poor Andrea, poor Ollie, poor humanity. And dang, I hope humanity survived and that's not all 'in the simulation spaces of [the eater of souls'] mind'. That would just be bleaker than anything. Then again, this is the Cthulhu mythos.horror military-military-fiction science-fiction3 s Marc Lucke273 2

With frequent allusions to both Dr. Strangelove and At the Mountains of Madness, this novelette covers much of the same thematic terrain as The Atrocity Archives, which I read a couple of years ago. Marrying Cold War-era existential angst and paranoia to Lovecraftian existential angst and paranoia seems chocolate-and-peanut-butter obvious in hindsight, but (AFAIK) it was Stross who thought of it first and his insight serves him well.The story is gloomy, claustrophobic and unsettling: it feels the best of John Carpenter's work, with just enough revealed to let the reader's imagination fill in the horrible blanks.fiction3 s Peter Tillman3,716 405

Here's the author:
[In 1998] "I’d published a short story titled “A Colder War” which got some attention, but its tale of a 1980s cold war updated with Cthulhoid horrors was too bleak to expand into a novel." Source:
http://www.torforgeblog.com/2017/07/1...
-- which is a cool essay on the publishing business, and how Stross got his start on the Laundry Files.

“A Colder War” is bleak indeed, but well worth reading. Free copy online at
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories...

Love the cover art for the chapbook!fantasy freebies science-fiction ...more4 s Jamie1,254 155

Outstanding tribute to HP Lovecraft! This is an alternative-history novelette of a world where some of Lovecraft's most horrific creations are still lurking about and being exploited in a cold war standoff with the Soviets. The story follows one of the ultra secret agents tasked with safeguarding the US from these eldritch horrors. Highly recommended, especially to fans of HPL. Given the many references to Lovecraft's works, those unfamiliar with him won't ly get as much mileage.2 s J.j. MetsavanaAuthor 15 books43

Stiililiselt on mõlemad jutud hakitud ja hüplikud aga sisult ideed väga viis pluss. Esimene on tuumapunk+Lovecraft ja teine uumapunk+võõrtsivilisatsioonidega kokkupõrge. Kiidaks ka suurepärast kaanepilti, mis kuidagi eriti maitsekalt välja kukkunud. Väärt ühe õhtune lugemine.

PS: Peamine miinus lisaks hüplikusele on liigne pealiskaudsus. Lugejal kütetakse huvi mõlema maailma vastu viimase piirini üles ja jäetakse seejärel lõpuni rahuldamata. Vot just ühest neist maailmaist oleks võinud Stross raamatuseeria kirjutada, mitte aga Vürtskaupmeestest.

PPS: Mis mulleeriti meeldis oli asjaolu, et ta oli mõlemas
oma jutus pannud reaalselt liikuma ka PLUTO (tuntud ka kui S.L.A.M) nimelise külma sõja ehk kõige hirmuäratavama relvaprojekti - hiiglasuure tuumamootoriga mehitamata lennuki, mis starditakse maalt tavaliste vedelkütusrakettidega, ja mis peale starti muutub niipalju kui arusaan (mu tehniline taip pole väga tugev) muutub sisuliselt kolmekordse ülehelikiirusega liikuvaks 16+ vesinikpommiga relvaplatformiks. Reaktor on seejuures masinal lahtine, osaliselt portselanist valmistatud (sulamise vältimiseks) ja tööpõhimõte üsnagi lihtne. Läbi laia ja õieli hiidpeenist meenutava toru imetakse lahtisesse reaktorisse, õhku, kus seda kuumutatakse ja paisatakse uuesti düüsist välja. Muud kütust vaja pole ning seega võib sihuke jurakas ringi puristada täpselt niikaua kuni reaktoris veel vunki jätkub. Kui pommid otsas võib pluto kasutada tapmiseks põhimõtteliselt isegi oma liikumisest tekkivat lööklainet ja mürgitada maid, millest üle lendab reaktorist erituva kiirgusega. Lisaks võib see mürakas oma reaktori kokku jooksutada ja muutuda sedamoodi ise üheks suureks räpaseks tuumapommiks.2 s Tim590 82

This short story is available for free on Infinity Plus. It's an alternative history setting, involving several political enemies and allies, the USA, Hezbollah, Saddam Hussein, etc. with a touch of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu creature. Oh yes, space (as in extraterrestrial) also plays a role.

Personally, I found this one hard to get, hard to get through and not all that consistent. Or maybe that was just my impression. Technical, military jargon, not a smooth writing style (imho), ...

I'd say: Food for fans of Charles Stross's works. See Mark's review (and others, who go more into detail) for a better impression of this story.

To me, you do need some knowledge of history (Dresden agreement, the Cold War, ...) AND have read Lovecraft's work(s) - which I haven't and probably never will - to better understand and follow this story.fantasy reviewed science-fiction ...more2 s Elar1,264 19

Kõigile, kellele meeldis esimene jutt "Külmem sõda" soovitan lugeda "Laundry files" seeriat, mis on tunduvalt põhjalikum, sujuvam ja vürtsitatud ka veel suurepärase huumoriga. Antud loost on seeroasse võetud jutu parimad koostised - salajane võidurelvastamine, luureorganisatsioonid ja iidne kurjus - ning põimitud need humoorikasse õuduspõnevikku.

Teise loo, "Raketikeelutsooni" idee oli väga äge, aga jällegi jäi puudu just sujuvusest. Antud lühijutus oli potentsiaali saada isegi paremaks kui auhindu võitnud "Liivakuningate" lool, kuna olid olemas väga head alustalad - ulmeline asukoht, võõrtsivilisatsioonid ja jällegi võidurelvastumine.eesti-keeles2 s Jaan31

Nauding, mis siin muud öelda, kui esialgne plaan mõned leheküljed lugeda muteerus plaaniks magamaminek paari tunni võrra edasi lükata. Kummaski lühikeses jutus loob Stross huvitavad maailmad, jääb vaid kahetseda, et nendega ei õnnestu pikemalt tutvuda. Külma sõja aegne konflikt on ühel juhul segatud Lovecrafti ideedega, teisel juhul peavad vaenulikud pooled hakkama saama võõras keskkonnas, kus senine status quo on oma tähtsuse kaotanud.2 s Waffles149 19

Un The Atrocity Archive, which is very tongue-in-cheek, this novella (a sequel to At The Mountains Of Madness) starts out dark and only gets darker. One of the best Lovecraftian tales I've read in a long time.2 s Paul21 1 follower

Can be found at http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories...2 s Henry Stone65 1 follower

Minu jaoks oli esimene lugu hea, aga see teine oli pigem nagu "nääh".
Esimeses loos oli Nõukogude Liit mingi Kuld Juuli Kõmakas või midagi too sugust teinud ja ajanud kogu maailma ohtu.
Teises loos oli keset Kuuba kriisi aetud inimesed ERI kettale keset taevast ja siis oli jälle Nõukogude Liit midagi teinud jälle sõda ning oli inimkonnal juba kriips peal.
Minu arvates see raamat oli küll hea kuid polnud mu lemmik. Mulle see eest ajastu kus sellest räägiti.1 Riju GangulyAuthor 33 books1,570

This is, in my humble opinion, the greatest appropriation of Mythos into cold-war and espionage territory. Within its few pages, the story contains literally an universe full of hate and horror, fire and fear, dreams and death.
Simply incomparable story. Unforgettable too.1 Michele187 22

Credo di aver trovato il mio genere, fantastico/horror/Spy/thriller
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