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Holy Fire - Bruce Sterling



I read this a while ago and hated it... actually, I was disappointed because I really didn't get what I was expecting. Here are the things I didn't like then that I still don't like:



- meandering plotline



- cheesy attempt by male author to create a female protagonist



- uses the word quotidian too many times



But somehow this time my expectations are out of the way and I'm really enjoying the book.



So much sci-fi is nostalgically patterned after earlier sci-fi, which talks about what the future seemed like it was going to be like from a vantage point that's now many years in the past.



This book finds a future both recognizable and suprising, extrapolating from the world of 2000.



Fortunately, Sterling caricatures our modern human state without ignoring real human issues. Like what does survival mean when survival is no longer in doubt?



Other things I'm noticing this time around that I missed last time:



- Human themes of transformation and redemption



- Sterling's sensitivity to the humor of the human condition and the irony of the transformative effects of technology.



- Articulation of the "post-human" era (are we post post-post-modern now?)



Dated: 06/04/2002