Schismatrix [Mass Market Paperback]

In Schismatrix, Bruce Sterling takes us on a high-velocity spin through the future of our species. He follows the long career of Abelard Lindsay, genetically altered using the revolutionary technologies of a group called the Shapers, in a series of adventures and intrigues that take him across the solar system in a decades-long battle with the ancient Mechanists, whose power comes from the use of their own, prosthetic technologies. These and other competing groups are knitted together into the Schismatrix with the arrival of a species of powerful aliens called the Investors.

Sterling has a fertile and unruly imagination, describing the welter of new societies and political systems that develop along with the dizzying advance of technology and the interaction between humanity and the Investors. Reading this book is like taking a ride on a bullet train across colorful new territory-fascinating and exhilarating, but not wholly satisfying by the time the trip is through. The ride is simply too fast and jarring to allow the reader to fully digest or understand the experience.

I sometimes wonder whatever happened to good old-fashioned science fiction, the traditional type stuff of Arthur C. Clark and Isaac Asimov. Seems the old sci-fi has diversified into so many subgenres now I can't locate the good stuff. But you could hardly ask for a better sampling of traditional space adventure than this.

And overall, much like other famous space adventure novels, the vast scope and plot of "Schismatrix" serves at least somewhat as a metaphor for our own present day world. It's the story of a society divided, and a series of covert wars among the different schisms, and the life of one lone maverick who tries to stand clear of all of them and find prosperity and greatness separate and apart.

As an aside, I think the genre Bruce has been identified with, "cy6erpunk," is more ephemeral than most fashionable genres, and is often just a trendy buzzword. There is little or nothing in this novel to identify as cyberpunk but plenty to describe it as traditional science fiction much like Asimov or Roddenberry would write. If Bruce ever wrote cyberpunk this wasn't it IMO.

Bruce is a high-energy writer who is well-known for his short stories. In fact, a few of them took place in this same Schismatrix universe, and were later included I think in the "Schismatrix Plus" collection. One of my very favorite shorts of his is one of these and can be found also in the collection "Crystal Express."

I found this to be a pretty easy read, and like much traditional science fiction, is not extremely emotional stuff, but focuses much on science and technology. It is not without some emotional depth, but anyway is focused on the loner protagonist, who is in fact pretty alien in his ways compared to us. I think Bruce empathized with him to some extent though.

I'd say if you like sf and want a good intro to Bruce, this is a great way to go. But I'd suggest the "Schismatrix Plus" instead, because the shorts included there, while not essential to this plot, are great reading also, and help fill out this universe a tiny bit. And besides, if you are some science-fiction-readin' weirdo like me, you will finish this book in a heartbeat and be ready for more.

This is one fascinating but frustrating novel. The Sterling sociology lesson is in full swing, but between the many treatises there is a sort of plot about a solar system torn in two by the genetically altered (Shapers) and the technically life-enhanced ("Mechanists"). They wage a political war and perform dirty deeds for the entire length of the book, meeting an alien race along the way. The main character, Abelard Malcolm Tyler Lindsey, survives the ages and finally just drifts off as an entity (a la Dave Bowman). There is a fascination to this novel--there are beautiful passages and interesting ideas, but this is hard-core Sterling and not at all an easy read.