Ascendancies: The Best of Bruce Sterling (Hardcover)

~ Bruce Sterling (Author), Jonathan Strahan (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Sterling (Visionary in Residence: Stories), the godfather of cyberpunk, demonstrates his full range, from far future to forgotten past, in this well-stocked career-spanning collection of his finest SF pieces. His blend of uncompromising realism and irrepressible optimism shows up wherever his protagonists do, whether working for a stranded alien in Crusader-era Palestine (The Blemmye's Stratagem), investigating a mock space journey inside the cavern left from a Chinese H-bomb test (Taklamakan) or just hanging around (literally) in 2037 Chattanooga, fixing bikes and foiling a black ops agent out to protect her senile senator boss (Bicycle Repairman). Sterling is both Cassandra and Scheherazade, always forced to spill the ugly truths about what's to come in spite of our unconcern, but always willing to see if the doom can be held off for another night by one more good story. Readers who like a hard-eyed view of the future combined with a wry wink at the past, with a few inventive postmodern narrative kicks mixed in, will be greatly rewarded. (Aug.)
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From Booklist

Sterling's speculative fiction dazzles from the get-go, bombarding the reader with one extraordinary concept after another. The Sharper/Mechanist stories depict posthumans living in a society divided between those who have been modified by genetic engineering and others who have been altered by technology. But Sterling's early sf and fantasy are as likely to be set in the past as in the present or near future. Dinner in Audoghast is a startling cautionary tale of a society convinced it has reached the pinnacle of sophistication; in it, the guests at a feast in the Ghanaian empire that prospered a millenium ago arrogantly dismiss a fortune-teller's (highly accurate) apocalyptic prophecies. In Flowers of Edo, denizens of Edo (later called Tokyo) quixotically battle new technologies imposed by Western powers. The Leggy Starlitz stories feature that hero, a crafty opportunist with a can-do attitude. In Hollywood Kremlin, Starlitz smuggles contraband as the Soviet Empire crumbles and Armenian-Muslim antogonism brews. This significant retrospective of Sterling's career reveals a prescience that is bold and astounding. Segedin, Ben

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 552 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean Press; First edition / First printing. edition (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596061138
• ISBN-13: 978-1596061132
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #397,672 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good synopsis of Sterling's works, February 24, 2008

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Bruce Sterling fans will find nothing new here, sadly. But the selection of his best works will be a pleasant reread. While newcomers to Sterling's works can get an excellent synopsis of why he is so highly regarded. The stories in this book originally appeared in sundry magazines, scattered over 20 or so years. The diversity of topics speaks to a versatile writing ability.

As to what is be the best story, this might not be a useful question. Readers' tastes will vary widely enough to make difficult any sort of consensus judgment. My personal favourite would be the Dinner in Audoghast, for its piognant evocation of a lost culture. It also differs strongly from the cyberpunk flavoured tales for which Sterling is renowned.