Book Review 136
"Schismatrix Plus" by Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling is considered to be is one of the fathers of Cyberpunk. Now is not a popular as 30 years ago, this genre is still finding its way on TV screens and in videogames. In short, it may be described as "high tech, low life".
This novel is not his debut, but still one of the first he wrote. And it is not a cyberpunk in particular. It is a set of sub-novels, united by a common protagonist and covering a significant time span. During which the humanity and its culture undergo many drastical changes. The only thing remains: the antagonism of two major humanity branches: mechanists (who rely on AI, prosthetics and various cybernetic enhancements) and shapers (who mainly use genetic engineering, biological and mind technics).
Our protagonist will find himself in various environments and face various challenges. So, it is mainly an adventure book. And even though it is a good one (and even iconic in some circles), it is still bear a lot of signs of an amateur writer. Having a lot of peculiar ideas, it has many composition and exposition issues, which may disappoint a demanding reader. I would say, that it is ideal for a 12-15 years reader, an older person may find it a bit naïve and exaltated.
The "Plus" in its name related to the fact that this book includes not only the main novel, but also some side stories, which are not in a direct relation to the main one, but adding some colors to its world. And those stories are more solid and mature. One of them ("Swarm") even found its way to the screen in the recent Sci-Fi cartoon series "Love, Death and Robots".
If you want to enjoy ye brave olde Sci-Fi novel (not too old though: it was published in 1985) you will certainly like this one. Just don't exaggerate your expectations.