This volume was published in 2012, collecting 12 stories first published from 2006 to 2010 in venues ranging from "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" to "New Scientist" and "Technology Review." Here are some brief descriptions of the some of the Sterling Stories, sure to produce a strong buzz.
"Kiosk" is set in an unidentified Eastern European country and concerns the Internet of Things, specifically 3D printing -- fabricating. The protagonist, Borislav, who runs the eponymous business, is sketched in loving detail. A character talks to Borislav about the fabricating revolution: "We're in the third great Transition. It's a revolution. Right now. Here. This isn't Communism, this isn't Globalism. This is the next new thing after that. It's happening." And she's right -- in the story, it's happening.
"White Fungus" is set in a near future of social decay/collapse in a European zone of white brick buildings of the "edge-city," which sounds like suburbs. The story is a love story of sorts involving people creatively adapting to the new situation. "The Exterminator's Want Ad" is about a cynical malcontent in another post-collapse scenario in what he sarcastically calls a "Sustainable Utopia." The story begins with him in prison, and then he creatively adapts to the new situation.
"The Lustration" is the most mind-boggling of the stories. It is not set, as most of the rest, in our near future or the past, but rather a completely different world. I can't say too much, because a big part of the story is trying to piece together what is happening. It reminds me in its wild imagination of "The Shores of Bohemia," a Sterling story originally published in 1990 and included in the collection "Globalhead" (1992), a story which is a must-read.
"The Interoperation" reflects Sterling's interest/expertise in design. The story is about the future of architecture, and an architect who stumbles on a whole New Paradigm. "Windsor Executive Solutions," co-authored with Chris Nakashima-Brown, is a homage to Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius stories. One of Moorcock's hilarious stories centers on Princess Diana -- this one features the "Black Prince" -- "Blackwater Prince Harry."
Three of the stories are set in or near Turin, Italy, which is Sterling's adopted home -- "Esoteric City," "The Parthonopean Scalpel," and "Black Swan." They now also appear in his new 2021 collection "Robot Artists and Black Swans" (see my review), which collects his Turin stories.
"Esoteric City" is set in an alternative magical Turin in which an automobile corporate executive encounters Satan in the form of an oh-so-hip green engineer. In "Black Swan," a journalist meets a high-tech industry source in a cafe and learns that he is in only one of multiple parallel realities. The "Scalpel" is an early 19th Century Carbonari assassin.
*** *** ***
In my opinion, Sterling is a brilliant master of the short form -- short stories, novelettes, and novellas. He has written quite a few novels, but they are not as consistently good. This volume is testimony to the quality of his punchier, shorter stories!
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