A review by bibliophagic
Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

1.0

Sterling's novels are surprisingly devoid of innovation or vivid imagery. I really enjoyed his short stories in [b:Globalhead|359382|Globalhead|Bruce Sterling|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|962290], which were often funny and full of big ideas. Schismatrix' prose is wooden, and he takes an awfully long time doing awfully little to explore an admittedly false dichotomy between the Shaper and Mechanist factions while never bothering to explain why there exists such an ideological conflict between the two. It's also worth mentioning that here, as well as in his [b:Holy Fire|359390|Holy Fire|Bruce Sterling|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267328061s/359390.jpg|349510], Sterling's writings on the implications (physiogical and psychoemotional) of extending the human lifespan are better explored in [a:Nancy Kress|21158|Nancy Kress|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1232323985p2/21158.jpg]'s [b:Beggars in Spain|68333|Beggars in Spain (Sleepless, #1)|Nancy Kress|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170689499s/68333.jpg|1813234].