What a great read this was. I've never been much of a fan of cyberpunk and I'm not particularly a fan of the authors generally noted to be founders of the genre (William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, etc.), but I really loved this book and it has put Bruce Sterling near the top of my list for sci-fi writers. Sterling does an excellent job of melding his cyberpunk ethos with a space opera-ish background that is combined with the 'Grand Tour' of the solar system structure (cp. The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley or Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick) to create a really delectable sci-fi romp. (Though perhaps "romp" isn't quite the right word.)_Schismatrix Plus_ is composed of the novel _Schismatrix_ along with all of the published short stories in the same Shaper/Mechanist universe (I wish there were more). The Shapers and Mechanists are the two major offshoots of humanity who have colonised the solar system in a slower-than-light-speed cosmos. The Shapers are a faction devoted to the improvement of the human form and mind through genetic engineering and are known for their somewhat aristocratic and elitist bearing, while the Mechanists are those who instead chose the path of merging the human form with machine technology in the quest for immortality and transcendance. The Earth kicked both factions out at some point in the past and is now considered interdicted by both.In _Schismatrix_ itself we follow Abelard Lindsay, an aristocrat from one of the earliest space habitats orbiting the moon, who was sent to be trained as a Shaper 'diplomat' in his youth and who is ultimately betrayed by his childhood friend and colleague Philip Constantine as they try to overthrow the gerontocracy of their republic (not really a spoiler as this happens early in the book and is the main impetus for the plot). Lindsay is sent into exile and thus begins his great tour of the solar system where he comes across many of the human factions and organizations vying for power. The solar system that Sterling creates is a colourful one and is filled with interesting characters and groups, some aligned with one or the other of the Shapers and Mechanists, and some looking out only for themselves. These include a prostitute/banker who becomes an ecosystem in herself, a playwright-Mechanist, a group of space pirates who are also their own nation-state, and a clan of Shaper terraformers. Throughout his adventures Lindsay is both shaped by, and shapes, the human ecumene around him, at first simply trying to survive and later working towards fulfilling his great dreams for a post-human future for humanity. Added into this heady mix is a first contact with aliens that throws off the detente of the Shaper-Mechanist war. The story really is a tour de force as we follow Lindsay's rising and falling fortunes and get a glimpse of wide swathes of the fascinating human solar system created by Sterling.Sterling's world is further fleshed out by the short stories included here: "Swarm" - a chilling tale of Shaper meddling in things best left alone, "Spider Rose" - the tale of a Mechanist loner who gets more than she bargains for when she trades with aliens, "Cicada Queen" - the story of an innovative Shaper that ties in with some of the events of _Schismatrix_, "Sunken Gardens" - a tale of competition and terraforming to achieve a new post-human dream, and "Twenty Evocations" - a somewhat experimental story detailing snapshots of the life of the Shaper Nikolai Leng.Alastair Reynolds has acknowledged his debt to Sterling in the creation of his own "Revelation Space" universe and I'm a little surprised that there aren't more sci-fi writers mining the myriad of ideas that Sterling throws off with seeming effortlessness in these stories. This really is a great ride and is highly recommended for lovers of sci-fi.Also posted at Shelf Inflicted
Sterling is one of the fathers of cyberpunk and is usually credited with coming up with the name itself. He began writing a series of stories set in the Shaper/ Mechanist solar systems in the 1970s. This book includes the novel “Schismatrix” and all of his short stories from that universe. Mechanists use computer-based technologies and prosthetic implants (think Borg from Star Trek) to enhance humans. While the Shapers do genetic engineering to create people who are compatible with space.Humanity has reached out into space by creating man-made planetoids that revolve around the Earth, are based on the moon, asteroids and the moon of the Jovian planets. The ‘book’ is two-thirds of the eBook and presents a total story. It follows the life of Abelard Lindsay (a Shaper) from age 20 to age 200+. In most of the stories Abelard (under many names and guises) competes against Mechanists for power and control of resources in our solar system. The situation becomes truly complicated when half-way through the book, mankind encounters their first alien civilization (or it finds us). This new civilization assists man in going out to the stars but not with the scientific knowledge of space travel. Humans are only allowed to travel on their ships as passengers and merchants. Lindsay becomes one of the guiding guru of one of the factions of posthumans who look to expand to the cosmos while still controlling our solar system. They become involved with other species to find a way to get around the prohibition. But most of the book (and stories) relate to the antagonism between the two basic forms of posthuman growth. One group is always trying to prove that it is the one way for the human race to go forward.What Sterling concentrates on is the question of the loss of “humanity” from all of these manipulations. Some of the Mechanist constructs have created their ‘hive’ mentality; which some Shapers have created human-alien hybrids. But it seems that no matter how much humanity ‘changes’ they still spend inordinate amount of time on the same recurring ‘conflicts’.Throughout the stories, Lindsay is constantly re-inventing or de-inventing himself. In many ways he is a “Candide” type of character. You decide whether he succeeds in finding the best possible society for humanity.Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
This is it. This is my very favorite book, one of the immortal classics of 20th century science fiction, and a work that is as live and thrilling as the first time I read it.Sterling captures the epic of sweep of posthuman history, following Abelard Lindsay, diplomatic, playwright, scholar, defector, through centuries of adventures across the vast expanse of the solar system. Space-faring humanity has been blown apart by their technology, drifting into the major camps of the cybernetically enhanced Mechanists and the genetically altered Shapers. The two sides engage in constant covert war, pushing at the very limits of what it means to be a cohesive human community, and evolving towards something as far beyond humanity as life is beyond dead matter.Against this incredibly imaginative cosmological speculation, Sterling tackles very grounded questions. How do much do we love? How much do we hate? Can we be freely redefined, or are some things (values, scars, memories) fixed? How can we measure ambition, power, accomplishment, the worth of a life? This book, with the novel and handful of Shaper/Mechanist short stories, is Sterling's masterpiece-the high voltage work of an author at the top of his game. Read it.
—Michael Burnam-fink
This is one of the best examples of a stitch-up job in science fiction (the other best one, off the top of my head, is the first volume in Asimov's Foundation series). A stitch up job is when a bunch of short stories are Frankensteined together into a single 300-page-ish volume. Most of the good 'Great SF books' at least started as stitch ups because that was the way to establish yourself in the market (sell short stories, turn those stories into your first book/series). In Schismatrix, Sterling establishes a lot of the tropes of transhumanism in the conflict between Mechanists and Shapers. Mechanists add mechanical parts to themselves, use computers and radios, etc., to solve their problems. Shapers evolve themselves and their environments to suit their needs. In ten or twelve short stories, Sterling maps out a hilariously plausible future history that's entirely within the realm of the possible while it carves out the absurdity of the present.
—Jerico
There’s a war on. On the battlefields of ideology, you must choose between humanity’s numerous factions, the most important being the Shapers—those who alter their bodies through genetic modification and mental training—and the Mechanists—those who modify their bodies through computer software and external prosthetics (e.g., cyberware). In this balkanized future, countless schisms continue to divide posthumans into branching splinter groups based on technology and philosophy. Abelard Lindsey should know, an exiled Shaper diplomat turned outlaw sundog. Betrayed by his friend and colleague Phillip Constantine, Lindsey begins his own grand tour of known space, falling back on his kinesics and genetic training as he crosses paths with the numerous factions that spring up over hundreds of years of posthumanity’s history.Sterling’s kaleidoscopic vision of the future is awash in big ideas and sprawling concepts; there’s a drug for everything, or a piece of technology to make your life better, and posthumanity is a fragmented series of city-states evicted from earth scattered among the stars. Some of the developments are mind-boggling, some are eye-opening, others are just silly. There’s the group of pirates—a sovereign nation-state, last remnant of a failed mining syndicate—that structures itself ala American government, replacing their names with titles like First Justice and Secretary of State. There’s the genetically modified geisha who sweats perfume and pheromones, and later becomes an entire ecosystem, buildings grown from flesh and bone. Or take the race of alien Investors, who buy and swindle their way across the galaxy and make first contact to rip humanity off. Those are just the highlights from the first section, it’s a non-stop chain of brilliantly bizarre (or bizarrely brilliant) concepts fired at machine-gun speed.In all honesty, I read a few pages and expected this was going to be a meh read for me—my reading preferences don’t really lean towards gonzo postcyberpunk. But, that’s why I don’t make assumptions and go into every book as a blank slate. Schismatrix is a wild, ideas-a-sentence ride, a frighteningly vivid look at three hundred years in the future. It’s hard to keep track of things when twenty years can go by in the space of a paragraph break, and the bizarre universe will cause some readers’ eyes to roll. But for pure sensawunda, backed by some subtle but poignant philosophizing, Schismatrix impressed me. I didn’t quite fall in love with it… but I came close. It's an excellent novel, a mind-bender that isn't afraid to envision the new cultures and norms the future will bring.Full review found here.
—Chris
