Sterling has crafted a rich world that no other author, past or present, could have created, filled with the insights only Sterling can provide.Humanity's ancient dream of immortality is on the verge of becoming reality in the challenging new novel from erstwhile William Gibson (see below) collaborator Sterling (Heavy Weather, 1994, etc.). Holy Fire is dense with ideas, but smooth in execution. The struggle thus depicted is merely an exaggerated extension of current trends (the aged vs.
In Holy Fire, he again explores posthumanity, but instead of being set against each other, they are set apart from humanity. In these stories, Sterling assumed future humans would all be modified-all post-human. Sterling’s Shaper/Mechanist stories followed the evolution of humans into two separate camps-the Shapers who modified themselves biologically, and the Mechanists who married themselves with technology. It is this desire, this flame that burns within us all, that Sterling showcases in Holy Fire: a desire to live, not just survive.įor long-time Sterling readers, Holy Fire continues to explore how humanity interacts with new technology. But Mia is fully realized, with truly interesting flaws (her fanatical obsession about protecting herself), and a desire, one that had lain hidden until renewed life brings it into the open.
This ambition often overpowered both story and character in the past ( e.g., Schismatrix, where the Prigoginian treatise towered above a simple plot of warring factions). This seems like a lot to take on in 300 pages, but Sterling is nothing if not ambitious. While the theme of a life without risk not being worth living is foremost in Bruce Sterling’s Holy Fire, he also tackles such concerns as health care and control, the ethics of prolonging life in a democratic society, and what all this has to do with art. The first risk she has to take, to join the post-human condition, makes Mia realize she never really lived. Because she can afford it, and because she has lived such a virtuous life, she is eligible for any number of experimental medical treatments to prolong it. But even her pure lifestyle cannot prevent the ravages of time, and she suffers from health problems only radical medical procedures can cure. 94-year-old Mia Ziemann has lived an impeccable existence, avoiding the myriad vices available throughout the 21 st century.
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