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Product Description
From Amazon
From Library Journal
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
They shipped Lindsay into exile in the cheapest kind of Mechanist drogue. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Sci Fi Reminiscent of Heinlein and Gibson,
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This review is from: Schismatrix Plus (Paperback)
I became interested in Bruce Sterling's writing because he co-authored a book with my favorite sci-fi writer, William Gibson, called "The Difference Engine" about an alternative history of Victorian England. Sterling's Schismatrix Plus shows that he is truly Gibson's equal as a science fiction writer, capable of inventing a complete alternate universe. The Schismatrix novel, and the short stories that accompany it in this edition, take place in the future, where human beings have migrated to space stations and circumlunar colonies within the solar system. The schism at the heart of the universe is between two sects; the Shapers, who are genetic engineers; and the Mechanists, who believe in cybernetics. The Schismatrix novel follows the character Abelard Lindsay through his several hundred years of life, first starting out as a Shaper revolutionary, then after his exile becoming a pirate, and eventually the father of a new sect called Posthumanism. The book is reminiscent of Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love" -- we follow Lindsay through his several re-creations of himself much like we do Lazarus Long in Heinlein's work. The book has an eery beauty to it; the posthuman universe, although melancholy, is not without charm. Central to the work is a distrust of ideology -- the blood feuds in the work between the various sects are extremely destructive of the characters' personal relationships; but Sterling's message is still positive -- all narrow sects are doomed in the end by the shock of the new future, and all old revolutionaries are outdone by their descendants. The short stories that accompany the novel are also very good; and they are helpgul in explaining, in shorthand, the universe of the author. Sterling does not coddle the reader -- his universe is believable in part because he does not explain its cleverness in long narrative passages -- you discover it as you go. This makes the book's many turns seem as shocking as they are to the characters themselves. An excellent work, a must for any modern sci-fi collection.
4.0 out of 5 stars
It'll draw you in and make you wonder,
This review is from: Schismatrix Plus (Paperback)
This is the type of book which you have to become a part of. You can't hope to read it and understand it. In some cases, I had to stop and reread passages one, two, even three times a piece. But once I dove into the meat of the book, needless to say I was entranced. I could easily see this book embodying the future (or is it vice versa?). I was not turned off by ridiculous technologies or superhuman beings. Instead, this book chooses to reflect upon basic human values, virtues, modes of thought and reason, and instrinsic drives and how they could easily push apart our race and fill us with ambition. The Shapes and the Mechs are beautfully crafted factions, each with real potential and dissidents. If you're looking for a book that will push you, that will make you think, that will drive you to wonder at the possibilities the future holds, I suggest clicking the add to cart button above right now.
4.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars for the short fiction, 3 for the novel,
By
This review is from: Schismatrix Plus (Paperback)
A sweeping history of man's future in space, a time when humanity has reworked itself in dozens of different ways at the fundamental levels of thought, biology, and technology in order to adapt to its new environment. These scattered, interrelated communities exist within two general, mutually antagonistic factions: the Shapers, who rely on genetic manipulation, and the Mechanists, who rely on advanced technology. Bruce Sterling is an inventive writer with a lively intellect, but his novel often introduces such a barrage of names and factions that it was difficult for me to orient myself. Furthermore, the action sometimes leaps years forward with scarcely any attention given to what happened in between. Sterling's focus is more on developing his complex history than his characters and the novel suffers as a result.Fortunately, this volume also contains Sterling's short fiction set within the same universe. Every one of them is a gem--a rabbit punch to the mind with sharply drawn characterizations. I would recommend reading the stories before the novel. They supply an introduction to the Shaper/Mechanist universe and a firm grounding in its realities that probably would have increased my appreciation of the novel.
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