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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
More reviews over at my blog: consumingcyberpunk.com
"I just can't believe that civilization is going to get off the hook that easy. 'The end of civilization'—what end? What civilization, for that matter?...the kind of trouble we got, they aren't allowed to have any end."
It's the year 2031 in Heavy Weather, and perhaps unsurprisingly, things haven't gotten better. Global economies have crashed. Governments hardly function. Currency, communication, and borders have rapidly changed due to the massive changes heavy weather has caused. Once lush and fertile land is now ravaged by drought.
"...so that's really what you're doing, huh? You chase thunderstorms for a living these days?
Oh, not for a living."
The book alternates between Jane and Alex Unger. Jane makes her way to Mexico to break out her younger brother Alex from a clinica. Alex is billed to the reader as having a lot of problems, not entirely uncommon after the collapse of 1st world nations as we know them. Alex ostensibly suffers from a myriad of retroviruses and Jane, believing the clinica is ripping him off and not curing him at all, decides to bail him out.
"...the code was cryptware—it reencrypted itself every goddamn month and demanded a payoff before unfreezing."
During the State Of Emergency, when the heavy weather first became a huge problem for mankind after constantly disregarding climate problems, almost all data and information systems went down. Society collapsed as countries were not prepared to deal with massive climate swings, some people decided to take matters into their own hands. Calling them "Structure hits", people would take down buildings that contributed to global warming and other systemic problems. Hell had a structure. It had a texture. The spinning inner walls were a blurry streaky gas, and a liquid rippling sheen, and a hard black wobbling solid, all at once. Great bulging rhythmical waves of hollows of peristalsis were creeping up the funnel core, slow and dignified, like great black smoke rings in the throat of a deep thinker.
The concept of hacking has undergone a bit of a change as well. "Hacking" seems to refer to any modifications to anything at all. From kites to ornithopters and especially--to heavy weather. After Jane breaks out Alex they return to the Storm Troupe. This band of misfits chase "spikes" in weather in an attempt to gather more information on it. Still little is known about it, apparently, but this troupe, each with their own way of hacking something, aim to find the mother of all tornadoes: the f6.
"I hack kites...Balloons, chaff, ultralights, parafoils...chutes are my favourite though, I like to structure-jump."
Throughout the novel, we find out that there are still spooks working for what is left of a functioning government. There are still border guards but they don't really care about the imaginary line on the ground anymore. Technology is still somewhat futuristic but not typically cyberpunk, ie, there are no cybernetics. There is no Internet, either. People live poorly and barely survive. All that is left is the individual drives people have. These punks only care about money in so far as how it can help them better hack heavy weather.
"...all workable standards of wealth has vaporized, digitized, and into a nonstop hurricane of electronic thing air."
This is where the book really shines. The world building, the technology, and the fiction specifically about these storm chasers and how they hack them is very cool. They use ultralight manned drones to scout out ahead. There are ornithopters with tech that casts the cameras feed into the helmeted view of people piloting them back at camp. When they send these into the tornado to "punch the core", they gain even more data. It's exciting and interesting.
As the Emergency had deepened, the packing Regime had rammed its data nationalizations through Congress, and with that convulsive effort, the very nature of money and information had both mutated beyond any repair.
Things lag a bit with character work, which is for the most part good. Marrying speculative climate change fiction with cyberpunk is genius and the characters mostly do the premise justice. Jane is a pretty well realized female protagonist but also used as the main vehicle for communicating her main drive, hunting these storms, is really the only thing that defines her. The troupers all substitute some aspects of their lives and only feel like truly functioning human beings when they are being adrenaline junkies, all other wannabees who don't feel the same way never stay.
"There is no more alternative society. Just people who will probably survive and people who probably won't."
This idea that Jane can only be whole while she is pursuing something only somewhat works due to the books ending, which I was pretty lukewarm about. The sins of the previous generation are visited upon the next generation of people. There are too many people in the world for it to sustain it. You're still only useful if you can contribute the way they want you to, despite it being post-capitalism and a mostly dystopia world.
"It's me alright, it's very much part of me, but it's not something I'm in command of and I don't control it. It's like a force, a compulsion, that tears at things, and shreds them, and chops them up, and comprehends them, and I don't control it, and I never have. I can't. You understand?
Yes. I do understand. It's like a spike, inside."
These are all somewhat interesting things to explore but they always end up on the peripheral and feel a little bit weird when injected. It wants to say so much more and sometimes comments on misogyny in organizations like the Texas Rangers, as well as what is expected of women like Jane. But this is mostly Twister with cyberpunk aesthetic and an interesting bit of speculation. It doesn't have the deep questions good cyberpunk fiction often has along with the action. It's too bad because it does dip its toes, it just never gets in.
"We were just trying to kill the machinery. Get rid of it. All that junk that had killed our world, y'know?"
The world and the action is worth the cost of admission and it is a fast read. This concept inspired a whole new game design I've been working on, in tandem with other fiction. More speculative fiction on climate issues married with post-cyberpunk is something I would love to see more of.
You can nab the hardcover of paperback cheap these days, interestingly though, you cannot get it digitally.
"Even the blackest cloud has a chrome lining."
"I just can't believe that civilization is going to get off the hook that easy. 'The end of civilization'—what end? What civilization, for that matter?...the kind of trouble we got, they aren't allowed to have any end."
It's the year 2031 in Heavy Weather, and perhaps unsurprisingly, things haven't gotten better. Global economies have crashed. Governments hardly function. Currency, communication, and borders have rapidly changed due to the massive changes heavy weather has caused. Once lush and fertile land is now ravaged by drought.
"...so that's really what you're doing, huh? You chase thunderstorms for a living these days?
Oh, not for a living."
The book alternates between Jane and Alex Unger. Jane makes her way to Mexico to break out her younger brother Alex from a clinica. Alex is billed to the reader as having a lot of problems, not entirely uncommon after the collapse of 1st world nations as we know them. Alex ostensibly suffers from a myriad of retroviruses and Jane, believing the clinica is ripping him off and not curing him at all, decides to bail him out.
"...the code was cryptware—it reencrypted itself every goddamn month and demanded a payoff before unfreezing."
During the State Of Emergency, when the heavy weather first became a huge problem for mankind after constantly disregarding climate problems, almost all data and information systems went down. Society collapsed as countries were not prepared to deal with massive climate swings, some people decided to take matters into their own hands. Calling them "Structure hits", people would take down buildings that contributed to global warming and other systemic problems. Hell had a structure. It had a texture. The spinning inner walls were a blurry streaky gas, and a liquid rippling sheen, and a hard black wobbling solid, all at once. Great bulging rhythmical waves of hollows of peristalsis were creeping up the funnel core, slow and dignified, like great black smoke rings in the throat of a deep thinker.
The concept of hacking has undergone a bit of a change as well. "Hacking" seems to refer to any modifications to anything at all. From kites to ornithopters and especially--to heavy weather. After Jane breaks out Alex they return to the Storm Troupe. This band of misfits chase "spikes" in weather in an attempt to gather more information on it. Still little is known about it, apparently, but this troupe, each with their own way of hacking something, aim to find the mother of all tornadoes: the f6.
"I hack kites...Balloons, chaff, ultralights, parafoils...chutes are my favourite though, I like to structure-jump."
Throughout the novel, we find out that there are still spooks working for what is left of a functioning government. There are still border guards but they don't really care about the imaginary line on the ground anymore. Technology is still somewhat futuristic but not typically cyberpunk, ie, there are no cybernetics. There is no Internet, either. People live poorly and barely survive. All that is left is the individual drives people have. These punks only care about money in so far as how it can help them better hack heavy weather.
"...all workable standards of wealth has vaporized, digitized, and into a nonstop hurricane of electronic thing air."
This is where the book really shines. The world building, the technology, and the fiction specifically about these storm chasers and how they hack them is very cool. They use ultralight manned drones to scout out ahead. There are ornithopters with tech that casts the cameras feed into the helmeted view of people piloting them back at camp. When they send these into the tornado to "punch the core", they gain even more data. It's exciting and interesting.
As the Emergency had deepened, the packing Regime had rammed its data nationalizations through Congress, and with that convulsive effort, the very nature of money and information had both mutated beyond any repair.
Things lag a bit with character work, which is for the most part good. Marrying speculative climate change fiction with cyberpunk is genius and the characters mostly do the premise justice. Jane is a pretty well realized female protagonist but also used as the main vehicle for communicating her main drive, hunting these storms, is really the only thing that defines her. The troupers all substitute some aspects of their lives and only feel like truly functioning human beings when they are being adrenaline junkies, all other wannabees who don't feel the same way never stay.
"There is no more alternative society. Just people who will probably survive and people who probably won't."
This idea that Jane can only be whole while she is pursuing something only somewhat works due to the books ending, which I was pretty lukewarm about. The sins of the previous generation are visited upon the next generation of people. There are too many people in the world for it to sustain it. You're still only useful if you can contribute the way they want you to, despite it being post-capitalism and a mostly dystopia world.
"It's me alright, it's very much part of me, but it's not something I'm in command of and I don't control it. It's like a force, a compulsion, that tears at things, and shreds them, and chops them up, and comprehends them, and I don't control it, and I never have. I can't. You understand?
Yes. I do understand. It's like a spike, inside."
These are all somewhat interesting things to explore but they always end up on the peripheral and feel a little bit weird when injected. It wants to say so much more and sometimes comments on misogyny in organizations like the Texas Rangers, as well as what is expected of women like Jane. But this is mostly Twister with cyberpunk aesthetic and an interesting bit of speculation. It doesn't have the deep questions good cyberpunk fiction often has along with the action. It's too bad because it does dip its toes, it just never gets in.
"We were just trying to kill the machinery. Get rid of it. All that junk that had killed our world, y'know?"
The world and the action is worth the cost of admission and it is a fast read. This concept inspired a whole new game design I've been working on, in tandem with other fiction. More speculative fiction on climate issues married with post-cyberpunk is something I would love to see more of.
You can nab the hardcover of paperback cheap these days, interestingly though, you cannot get it digitally.
"Even the blackest cloud has a chrome lining."
I read this book for a graduate seminar on ecocriticism in later American fiction, and it was probably the only post-19th century lit class I enjoyed in my college career because we read a bunch of science fiction. This book is mainly centered (unsurprisingly) on weather, so if you're a fan of sci fi that deals with environmental collapse, you'll have a good time reading Heavy Weather. My main issues with the novel, however, deal mainly with narrative.
Things I Liked
1. Cyberpunk Genre: I have to give credit where credit is due. Bruce Sterling’s work has been invaluable in defining the genre of “cyberpunk” in the 1990s, and this book is an incredible illustration of a story working within the genre’s defining markers. I especially enjoyed his description of the technologies and how they worked, and many of them seem to be original creations or significantly different from other types of machines used within cyberpunk fiction.
2. Characterization Janey and Alex are quite the characters. Despite the emphasis on chasing tornadoes, a lot of attention is given to the desires of these two, which are separate from the main events of the plot. Alex has a lot of medical problems, which causes him to seek out relief in any way possible - even if those means are illegal. Janey, his sister, cares dearly for him and also has a strong sense of loyalty to her family and to her lover, Jerry (the leader of the Troupe chasing storms).
3. Genre: I like the way Sterling weaves cyberpunk elements within a world that contains elements of apocalyptic fiction. Doing so doesn’t restrict his novel to a particular genre, even though it leans heavily on cyberpunk elements. Combining the two makes for a refreshing change of pace if you are accustomed to reading books set either in one genre or the other.
Things I Didn't Like
1. Pace: The middle of the novel tends to lag. There’s a lot of descriptions about life within the Troupe that seem important, but are not necessary to the plot. In my opinion, if an author is going to write a lot of description, it's best placed alongside an event or major plot point, not as a sort of info-dump.
2. Objective: Maybe I missed it, but I couldn’t quite see the “point” of the novel. Yes, the story is about chasing tornadoes… but why is that so important? I felt like that meaning, if it existed, was too buried in the text and should have been brought out to make for a stronger, cohesive plot.
3. Themes: Sterling could have brought out some of the more subtler elements in his novel to make a more interesting storyline. At times, the reader sees references to corruption, societal collapse, diseases and biology, etc. but none of these things are explored to a grand extent. As a result, the novel feels like it tries to incorporate too many things in one story, and thus, it's spread too thin.
Recommendations: If you're a sci fi fan (especially sci fi about environmental collapse) and enjoy books about technology, hacking, and scientific pursuit, you may enjoy this novel. Readers who like stories about storm chasers or genetics might also find this book enjoyable.
Things I Liked
1. Cyberpunk Genre: I have to give credit where credit is due. Bruce Sterling’s work has been invaluable in defining the genre of “cyberpunk” in the 1990s, and this book is an incredible illustration of a story working within the genre’s defining markers. I especially enjoyed his description of the technologies and how they worked, and many of them seem to be original creations or significantly different from other types of machines used within cyberpunk fiction.
2. Characterization Janey and Alex are quite the characters. Despite the emphasis on chasing tornadoes, a lot of attention is given to the desires of these two, which are separate from the main events of the plot. Alex has a lot of medical problems, which causes him to seek out relief in any way possible - even if those means are illegal. Janey, his sister, cares dearly for him and also has a strong sense of loyalty to her family and to her lover, Jerry (the leader of the Troupe chasing storms).
3. Genre: I like the way Sterling weaves cyberpunk elements within a world that contains elements of apocalyptic fiction. Doing so doesn’t restrict his novel to a particular genre, even though it leans heavily on cyberpunk elements. Combining the two makes for a refreshing change of pace if you are accustomed to reading books set either in one genre or the other.
Things I Didn't Like
1. Pace: The middle of the novel tends to lag. There’s a lot of descriptions about life within the Troupe that seem important, but are not necessary to the plot. In my opinion, if an author is going to write a lot of description, it's best placed alongside an event or major plot point, not as a sort of info-dump.
2. Objective: Maybe I missed it, but I couldn’t quite see the “point” of the novel. Yes, the story is about chasing tornadoes… but why is that so important? I felt like that meaning, if it existed, was too buried in the text and should have been brought out to make for a stronger, cohesive plot.
3. Themes: Sterling could have brought out some of the more subtler elements in his novel to make a more interesting storyline. At times, the reader sees references to corruption, societal collapse, diseases and biology, etc. but none of these things are explored to a grand extent. As a result, the novel feels like it tries to incorporate too many things in one story, and thus, it's spread too thin.
Recommendations: If you're a sci fi fan (especially sci fi about environmental collapse) and enjoy books about technology, hacking, and scientific pursuit, you may enjoy this novel. Readers who like stories about storm chasers or genetics might also find this book enjoyable.
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Didn't finish the book. I thought I would like it because of the weather theme but it was hard to follow between the virtual and actual weather scenes, and I didn't really develop any interest in the characters.
I should have stopped reading this book the first time that I thought about it. This book goes nowhere. It feels like it's a sequel to another book that no one knows about, or like jumping in halfway through a movie. Not to mention that the "big event", the F6, is given a total of about 5 pages. Don't waste your time.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ero molto curioso di conoscere Sterling, colui che con Gibson, ha definito il cyberpunk. Dovrò proseguire la mia ricerca visto che in questo romanzo si parla di tutt'altro argomento: l'apocalisse ecologica.
Nonostante la delusione per non aver trovato tecnologia avanzata, cibernetica ed innesti artificiali ho cercato di sgombrare la mente da ogni ombra per avventurarmi nel futuro prossimo di un mondo preda di cataclismi atmosferici e mutazioni genetiche.
Beh, mi pare di aver trovato un buon scrittore di fantascienza che però, con questo romanzo, non è al suo meglio. Mi è piaciuta molto la parte centrale del romanzo, ricca di premesse e di promesse. Deludente è invece stata la parte conclusiva, parte in cui, Sterling, invece di approfittare del crescendo di aspettative che aveva creato, smorza molto i toni, banalizza i rapporti tra i personaggi e ti fa pensare, finendo di leggere l'ultima pagina, "tutto qui?".
Indice Jimbose: 63%
Nonostante la delusione per non aver trovato tecnologia avanzata, cibernetica ed innesti artificiali ho cercato di sgombrare la mente da ogni ombra per avventurarmi nel futuro prossimo di un mondo preda di cataclismi atmosferici e mutazioni genetiche.
Beh, mi pare di aver trovato un buon scrittore di fantascienza che però, con questo romanzo, non è al suo meglio. Mi è piaciuta molto la parte centrale del romanzo, ricca di premesse e di promesse. Deludente è invece stata la parte conclusiva, parte in cui, Sterling, invece di approfittare del crescendo di aspettative che aveva creato, smorza molto i toni, banalizza i rapporti tra i personaggi e ti fa pensare, finendo di leggere l'ultima pagina, "tutto qui?".
Indice Jimbose: 63%
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one had several false starts before I managed to grit my way through it, hence the long gap between start and finish dates.
To be fair, I did have this mixed up with an entirely different cyberpunk book, Mother of Storms, when I picked it up so that wasn't helping much. I also, generally speaking, really enjoy Bruce Sterling, and the genre in general, so this was a bit of a let down.
Heavy Weather features a number of Bruce Sterling's prescient cultural and technological predictions, but its nested in this Twister (the movie)-esque subsetting of cyberpunk that feels very jarring. In this case, it also predicts the EF scale and the rash of terrible, heretofore unseen, giant tornadoes we had in Oklahoma. I know folks are big on it predicting climate change, but I feel that to one degree or another that's part and parcel of the genre. If not climate change in particular, then just humans wrecking the environment more broadly.
The plot felt fragmented as well as dragged out and slow to start, the characterizations felt kind of weak, and the imaginary lingo was heavy, thick, and obscure even for a cyberpunk novel. Skip this one in favor of the aforementioned Mother of Storms (for another weather disaster related cyberpunk novel that was more engaging), or just some of Sterling's other work.
To be fair, I did have this mixed up with an entirely different cyberpunk book, Mother of Storms, when I picked it up so that wasn't helping much. I also, generally speaking, really enjoy Bruce Sterling, and the genre in general, so this was a bit of a let down.
Heavy Weather features a number of Bruce Sterling's prescient cultural and technological predictions, but its nested in this Twister (the movie)-esque subsetting of cyberpunk that feels very jarring. In this case, it also predicts the EF scale and the rash of terrible, heretofore unseen, giant tornadoes we had in Oklahoma. I know folks are big on it predicting climate change, but I feel that to one degree or another that's part and parcel of the genre. If not climate change in particular, then just humans wrecking the environment more broadly.
The plot felt fragmented as well as dragged out and slow to start, the characterizations felt kind of weak, and the imaginary lingo was heavy, thick, and obscure even for a cyberpunk novel. Skip this one in favor of the aforementioned Mother of Storms (for another weather disaster related cyberpunk novel that was more engaging), or just some of Sterling's other work.