The Caryatids
Alongside William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling stands at
the forefront of a select group of writers whose pitch-perfect grasp of
the cultural and scientific zeitgeist endows their works of speculative
near-future fiction with uncanny verisimilitude. To read a novel by
Sterling is to receive a dispatch from a time traveler. Now, with The Caryatids,
Sterling has written a stunning testament of faith in the power of
human intellect, creativity, and spirit to overcome any obstacle – even
the obstacles we carry inside ourselves.
The world of 2060 is
divided into three spheres of influence, each fighting with the others
over the resources of fallen nations and an environment degraded almost
to the point of no return. There is the Dispensation, centered in Los
Angeles, where entertainment and capitalism have fused with the highest
of high-tech. There is the Acquis, a Green-centered collective that
uses invasive neurological technology to create a networked utopia. And
there is China, the sole surviving nation-state, a dinosaur that has
prospered only by pitilessly pruning its own population.
Products of
this monstrous world, the daughters of a monstrous mother,
and – according to some – monsters themselves, are the Caryatids: the four
surviving female clones of a mad Balkan genius and wanted war criminal
now ensconced, safely beyond extradition, on an orbiting space station.
Radmila is a Dispensation star determined to forget her past by
building a glittering, impregnable future. Vera is an Acquis
functionary dedicated to reclaiming their home, the Croatian island of
Mljet, from catastrophic pollution. Sonja is a medical specialist in
China renowned for selflessly risking herself to help others. And
Biserka is a one-woman terrorist network. The four “sisters” are united
only by their hatred for their “mother” – and for one another.
When
evidence surfaces of a coming environmental cataclysm, the Dispensation
sends its greatest statesman – or salesman – John Montgomery Montalban,
husband of Radmila, and lover of Vera and Sonja, to gather the
Caryatids together in an audacious plan to save the world.
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Bruce Sterling
Born in Texas, US, in 1954, Bruce Sterling has traveled the globe writing and working for The New York Times, Nature, Wired, Newsday, and a number of industrial design magazines. His first story appeared in in 1976. His short fiction has appeared in almost every major publication in the science fiction field. One of his most memorable novels is far future adventure Schismatrix. His stories were an essential part of the cyberpunk movement of the 1980s. The Difference Engine, co-written with William Gibson, was a bestseller. In 1999, he won the Hugo Award in the short-story category. He lives in Austin, Texas.Other worksThe Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier (1992) Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years (2002) Custer's Last Jump And Other Collaborations (2003) (other writers: A. A. Jackson, Leigh Kennedy, George R. R. Martin, Joseph F. Pumilia, Buddy Sanders, Steven Utley, Howard Waldrop).
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