In his latest novel, Holy Fire, Bruce Sterling imagines a future in which life-extension techniques have created a tepid, cautious gerontocracy - a world government forever fearful of falling and breaking its hip. On the other side of the ever widening generation gap, the young have no power or responsibility and small hope of attaining any until they are old.
Another writer might have lightly sketched out such a scenario to serve as backdrop to a formulaic cyberthriller. Instead, Sterling gives us the rich, unpredictable life of Mia Ziemann - a 94-year-old "posthuman" who submits to an experimental medical process and turns herself into a 20-year-old. Immediately thereafter she goes on the lam from the "medical economic" complex, fleeing across a transfigured Europe among a varied procession of friends, lovers, and potential betrayers.
Mia's second childhood, freighted with the wisdom of an older woman, is portrayed with conviction and sympathy - but the real fun is in Sterling's inventive detail. Holy Fire is a book made entirely of ideas - big, fat, juicy, technological extrapolations, presented with flair and enthusiasm. An intellectual feat, it is also a treat for the spirit and the senses.
Holy Fire, by Bruce Sterling: US$22.95. Bantam Spectra: +1 (212) 354 6500.
STREET CRED
Hey Big SenderSuite Yourself
Posthuman Being
