Books › Schismatrix Plus
Schismatrix Plus
First published 1996 · 395 pages
A dizzying, idea-dense plunge into a post-human future where biology and machinery wage a relentless war for the next stage of evolution.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like being strapped into a centrifuge of pure, unadulterated science fiction ideas. It is a relentlessly propulsive experience, hurling you through centuries of radical human evolution where the boundaries of the body and mind are constantly rewritten. The atmosphere is cold, chaotic, and awe-inspiring, steeped in the dizzying possibilities of transhumanism and ideological warfare. The prose is a firehose of invention, prioritizing mind-bending concepts and sprawling world-building over intimate character studies. It demands a reader willing to surrender to its frenetic pace and dense, visionary speculation. If you crave science fiction that aggressively challenges what it means to be human and leaves you reeling with existential vertigo, this is an essential, unforgettable trip.
- Mood
- mind-bending
- chaotic
- awe-inspiring
- alienating
- Tone
- visionary
- cynical
- frenetic
- intellectual
- detached
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- post-human evolution · ideological extremism · mutability of the body · technological alienation · survival and adaptation
- The writing
- Dense, idea-packed, and relentlessly inventive, the prose throws out mind-bending concepts at a dizzying, firehose pace.
- The arc
- The journey moves from chaotic ideological struggle and survival to a transcendent, almost incomprehensible post-human acceptance.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave hard sci-fi and cyberpunk packed with radical transhumanist concepts, deep time, and philosophical speculation over traditional character arcs.
Content notes
- body horror
- violence
- existential dread
- suicide
About the book
"In the last decade Bruce Sterling has emerged a pioneer of crucial, cutting-edge science fiction, his work lauded by critics and contemporaries alike. Now for the first time in one volume comes every word Bruce Sterling has ever written on the world of the Schismatrix - where the Shaper revolutionaries struggle against the aristocratic Mechanists for ultimate control of mankind's destiny.
Experience the classic full-length novel, Schismatrix, plus thousands of words of mindbending short fiction from a storytelling master in overdrive."--BOOK JACKET.
Description from Open Library.
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