Schismatrix Plus

By: Bruce Sterling

Narrated by: Pavi Proczko

The Nebula-nominated novel of “a brave new world of nearly constant future shock” - plus all the short fiction of the Shaper/Mechanist universe (The Washington Post).

Acclaimed science fiction luminary and a godfather of the genre’s remarkable offspring - cyberpunk - Bruce Sterling carries readers to a far-future universe where stunning achievements in human development have been tainted by a virulent outbreak of prejudice and hatred.

Many thousands of years in the future, the human race has split into two incompatible factions. The aristocratic Mechanists believe that humans can only achieve their greatest potential through technology and enhancing their bodies with powerful prosthetics. The rebel Shapers view these “improvements” as abominations, and their faith in genetic enhancements over mechanical ones has led to violent, even murderous, clashes between the two sects.

One man is caught in the middle. The child of Mechanists, Abelard Lindsay is a former Shaper diplomat who was betrayed and cast out of the fold. Scrupulously trained in the fine art of treachery and deceit, he travels freely between the warring camps during his never-ending exile, embracing piracy and revolution all along the way. But while saving his own skin is Lindsay’s main motivation, a greater destiny awaits him, one that could offer a bold new hope for a tragically sundered humankind.

A breathtaking flight of unparalleled imagination, Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix Plus also includes every subsequent excursion into the Mechanist and Shaper universe, complementing his acclaimed novel with the complete collection of mind-boggling Schismatrix short fiction. The result is is a total immersion into the Mechanist/Shaper universe from the Hugo, Campbell, and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author called “a writer of excellent fineness” by Harlan Ellison and “one of the very best” by Publishers Weekly.

©1996 Bruce Sterling. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“A brave new world of nearly constant future shock.... Ambitious.... Fast-moving. Sterling’s real forte lies in the evocation of technological and human strangeness.” (The Washington Post)

“Spectacular.... A marvelous feat of invention.” (Booklist)

“Absorbingly original.... Highly imaginative.... An arresting slice of future history.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Interesting ideas no payoff

I wish there was more to the story than cool ideas. The pirates are the best characters.

Couldn’t get through it…..

I just found it so bland and hard to keep my focus on the narrator.

Lacking payoff

An interesting book filled with cool ideas, however the "story" is very lacking, without any real payoff for the time spent exploring said ideas

great book.

so many ideas. futuristic. wasn't too dark and has a little hope and light. the back and forth between the factions of humanity are interesting and thought provoking. it reminded me of beneath the wheel by Hesse; lots of descriptions shoehorned into a plot. I wish there were a few books after this one to explore this universe of Sterling s. well written, the campy is minimal and appropriate for hard scifi.

Mediocre characters, cool setting

setting was cool, but the characters were pretty under developed and the author was heavy on the "tell, don't show" school of writing