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jlperidot's review against another edition
5.0
Compelling long-view exploration of human/post-human society, told through the eyes of enigmatic characters. Some aspects of this story felt almost allegorical. Recommend this to anyone fascinated or concerned with how technology could shape humanity in the decades and centuries to come.
lipsandpalms's review against another edition
2.0
I can't get into this one. I'm not sure why. The descriptions are cool and sometimes pretty humourous. I am bored with the various political aspirations in the book and I am not latching to any of the characters or their vague motivations. Not my cup of tea despite loving cyberpunk settings
pkadams's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the world building in this space-opera steampunk novel. The idea of two different offshoots of humanity - Shapers who have embraced genetic engineering and Mechanists who see the blending humans and machines as the path forward - made for an engaging and interesting world.
provaprova's review against another edition
5.0
Quite remarkable. One of the best solar system colonization universes with a baroque and cyberpunk-inflected computer/biology split.
strwbrry_jamm's review against another edition
Cyberpunk is just not my genre. Too much techno-jargon
sizrobe's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a huge disappointment. When you google "cyberpunk authors," Bruce Sterling is the second result, behind only William Gibson. He edited the seminal cyberpunk short story collection "Mirrorshades" way back in 1986 when it was just emerging. Imagine my disappointment when this book turned out to be mostly traditional boring far-future space scifi, complete with boring aliens. Finishing the book felt like a chore.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some cyberpunk and even biopunk facets to the story, and a lot of cool ideas in its worldbuilding. The main conflict is between two cartels: the Mechanists, who focus on mechanical augmentation, and the Shapers, who fiddle with biology. For some reason, there are no middle-ground splinters who do both. But these details are just the meat in a big bland space scifi sandwich. I like my scifi in the short term future and gritty as hell. This just wasn't my deal.
This book is split into 2 parts: Schismatrix, which is a novel, and the "Plus" material, which is a collection of short stories in the Schismatrix universe. I actually took a couple month breather between reading the main book and the Plus content, just because I was bored of reading it and it felt like a chore. Of the 5 short stories in the collection, I'd only recommend reading two: Swarm and Spider Rose. They're good stories, but sadly even less cyberpunk than the main book.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some cyberpunk and even biopunk facets to the story, and a lot of cool ideas in its worldbuilding. The main conflict is between two cartels: the Mechanists, who focus on mechanical augmentation, and the Shapers, who fiddle with biology. For some reason, there are no middle-ground splinters who do both. But these details are just the meat in a big bland space scifi sandwich. I like my scifi in the short term future and gritty as hell. This just wasn't my deal.
This book is split into 2 parts: Schismatrix, which is a novel, and the "Plus" material, which is a collection of short stories in the Schismatrix universe. I actually took a couple month breather between reading the main book and the Plus content, just because I was bored of reading it and it felt like a chore. Of the 5 short stories in the collection, I'd only recommend reading two: Swarm and Spider Rose. They're good stories, but sadly even less cyberpunk than the main book.
rcbalter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
taseenmuhtadi's review against another edition
3.0
The story is set in a sprawling solar system and spans liftimes. Its a very complex read and it rewards the sophisticated readers. Bruce Sterling is very ambitious in his depiction of the future. And that ambition is reflected in the characters of the protagonist and antagonist, Abelard Lindsay and Philip Khouri Constantine.
The books depiction of ideological conflict probably rises from the cold war era the book was written, but it resonates with today's more religiously motivated conflicts. It goes into vivid details of what can go wrong when things are taken to extremes. There are some brilliant SF ideas and concepts presented here, a huge number of them infact. You have to give Bruce Sterling credit for the imagination. Its a dificult thing to pull off and I can see why he is considered one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre. About the short stoies, they were nothing short of outstanding.
All that being said, the story does lack a certain cohesion. At times the story seems a bit disjointed. It goes about in fits, starts and jolts. Not exactly to my liking. I personally would have preferred a bit more world building as. But considering the ideas and concepts introduced in this novel, its easy to see why its regarded so highly.
The books depiction of ideological conflict probably rises from the cold war era the book was written, but it resonates with today's more religiously motivated conflicts. It goes into vivid details of what can go wrong when things are taken to extremes. There are some brilliant SF ideas and concepts presented here, a huge number of them infact. You have to give Bruce Sterling credit for the imagination. Its a dificult thing to pull off and I can see why he is considered one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre. About the short stoies, they were nothing short of outstanding.
All that being said, the story does lack a certain cohesion. At times the story seems a bit disjointed. It goes about in fits, starts and jolts. Not exactly to my liking. I personally would have preferred a bit more world building as. But considering the ideas and concepts introduced in this novel, its easy to see why its regarded so highly.