Schismatrix Plus

Not my cup o' tea. A bit wooden with uninteresting characters and a plodding plot. Gave up in disgust before the halfway point.

As of now, I have read six of Bruce Sterling's twelve novels, and "Schismatrix" is the best. It was the first of his books I read, soon after reading "Mirrorshades" (1986), the foundational cyberpunk anthology which he edited. The main cyberpunk preoccupation in "Schismatrix" is genetic engineering, but it is combined with a more far-reaching view of humanity's future evolution that draws on Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men" (1930).The driving force in the novel is the conflict between two powerful factions -- the dominant Mechanists, who augment themselves with computer interfaces, AI, and other technology, and the rebel Shapers, who use genetic engineering instead for improvement, adaptation to new environments, and competitive edge with their rivals. The Mechanists control emanates from their Circumsolar Asteroid Worlds in the asteroid belt, while the centralized Shaper Ring Council is located just where the name indicates.The main character, Abelard Lindsay, was raised by a leading Mechanist family, but defects to the Shapers, and thus begins a wild tale as he navigates and operates in this future world shaped by large-scale factional conflict as well as interpersonal rivalry and conflict.At a certain point some of the conflict is suppressed when powerful aliens arrive in the Solar System, known as The Investors because they promote business and trade instead of war. Here is a passage to give the flavor:"By fits and starts the world entered a new age. The aliens benignly accepted a semidivine mystique. Millennial fervor swept the system. Detente came into vogue. People began to speak, for the first time, of the Schismatrix -- of a posthuman solar system, diverse yet unified, where tolerance would rule and every faction would have a share" (133).But factions continue to go their own ways, moving farther and farther apart as the prospect of speciation becomes more and more likely:"Mankind had always been surrounded by the miraculous. Nothing much had ever come of it. Under the shadow of cosmic revelations, life still swathed itself in comforting routine. The breakaway factions were much more bizarre than ever before, but people had grown used to this, and their horror had lessened ... The new multiple humanities hurtled blindly toward their unknown destinations, and the vertigo of acceleration struck deep ... Whole societies were paralyzed by the mind-blasting vistas of absolute possibility" (240-1).While the novel works on the level of its central characters like a proper novel should, I find it to be most compelling as a novel of ideas, and Sterling's wild imagination brings them to dazzling life.Included in the "Schismatrix Plus" edition are five Shaper/Mechanist stories Sterling published from 1982-1984 before writing the novel, which was originally published in 1985, and nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1986. I would recommend reading them first, rather than after.*** *** ***Bruce Sterling (b. 1954) is a writer of my generation -- I'm just a couple of years younger -- and I share much, though not all, of his attitude toward the world we have lived through and continue to live through. He has been one of my favorite authors ever since reading "Schismatrix."

This book was recommended to me by a friend who knew I enjoyed William Gibson’s cyberpunk classic “Neuromancer.” It’s another 80’s era cyberpunk novel, maybe a little less “punk” than Gibson’s vision and a bit more “cyber”, or at least more far-future; unusually for the genre, the novel incorporates many elements of space opera, including interplanetary colonization and off-world action sequences.This is certainly an interestingly written novel, told in a dense style I’d describe as ‘techno-psychedelic’ - one slightly reminiscent of “Neuromancer” but not at all derivative. The main story is a a novel describing a future history of mankind as lived by the protagonist through the decades, with Homo sapiens colonizing multiple off-world environments and splitting into two divergent rival post-human tribes, one relying on genetic modifications and the other favoring cybernetic replacements and implants. The protagonist begins as a radical deeply involved with that factional dispute, but moves through a sequence of shifting life paths as a con-man, space pirate, political wheeler-dealer, and, finally, a key player in shaping post-humanity’s future development. Several short stories set in the same universe are also included in the book, all at least interesting and some excellent.Judged from our own era (which already feels quite a bit like a cyberpunk one) some of Schismatrix’s technology is a bit dated, but that actually enhanced my enjoyment of the book - all envisioned futures are ultimately constrained by their authors’ present, and Sterling’s imagination and talent shines through always.My one criticism is that as with so much genre science fiction, Sterling’s characters and plot are less interesting than the world he envisioned. But what a world! Well worth your time if you like complex, vividly depicted science-fiction that aspires to something more than yet another Star Wars remix.

reading this always blows my mind. And the extra short stories at the end are the piece de resistance

Unline Strugatsky brothers, Dick or Heinlein, Sterling does not age very well. The book didn't click with me at all. I got bored, so I put it away after reading some 20% of it. I has a huge crowd of fans but I am not one of them.

The most remarkable aspect of this fine piece of hard nosed science fiction writing is the fact Sterling manages to create in less than 300 pages a complex, multilayered future reality with a plausible history.The inclusion of the Shaper/Mechanist short stories affords the reader a greater insight into the events detailed in Schismatrix.For instance the excellent 'Swarm' which I first read as a stand alone story in an anthology has the Swarm making the striking statement:'they (post humans) have transcended my understanding and become gods or ghosts.'This observation eloquently summarises the transformation of Abelard Lindsay at the end of Schismatrix and the action of the Regals in 'Sunken Gardens' in destroying and creating terraformed life and offering a ladder to the promised land.Furthermore,'Spider Rose' and 'Sunken Gardens'detail effectively events after the fall of the Schismatrix and the next steps in post humanism.

Like Gibson's Neuromancer series this is a classic of eighties cyber punk. It has aged but it still retains it's place as an intelligent glimpse of a possible future with a dark, in places surreal, edge and a fast pace. If cyber punk passed you by or you were too young, Sterling and Gibson pretty much created the genre that has influenced so much science fiction since. Both continue to be masters of their craft writing intelligent, leading edge works up to the present day. There's no better place to start if you're playing catch up.

This is what SF is for. Books like this justify SF and excuse the torrents of trash. Schismatrix is unashamedly hard. It is about technology, and culture shock, and evolution. It is not literature 'masquerading' as SF but genuine genre in all its glory.Once again, I am amazed and the level of detail and depth built into what is really a very short book. Sterling makes each choice, each detail count towards the bigger picture - many modern novels build worlds by cudgelling the reader under the weight of facts.Schismatrix moves in ever accelerating leaps, without losing a sense of continuity and story (the longevity of the major characters helps), the pace of the narrative reflecting the accelerating disintegration of society, culture and eventually humanity.Part of the story's strength lies in the appeal of the lead character - Abelard Lindsay. He's good without being perfect; smart without being infallible; purposeful with out being all powerful. Schismatrix - for all the technology - takes a fundamentally humane perspective on the future - reflecting the beauty and the tragedy of the individual successes and failures weaving into the large perspective of progress. Nothing lasts for ever - no person, no society, no philosophy - but neither are they pointless.Schismatrix is breathtaking.