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.
