The Evanston Public Library Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Group will meet online, via Zoom, to discuss Schismatrix Plus, by Bruce Sterling.
Join us for a virtual book group meeting! To participate, create a free account at https://zoom.us.
You will also need to click on the REGISTER button on this (EPL) page, and include your email address. Once you have registered here, you will be sent the meeting ID and password, along with some tips for using Zoom. You do not have to appear via video if you don't want to - you can join using audio and chat only, if that is your preference. At the scheduled meeting time, click on the link you have been sent to join.
This month, the group will be discussing Schismatrix Plus, by Bruce Sterling. You can read a free copy of this book online via Hoopla. (You will need your Evanston Public Library card to sign up for Hoopla, if you have not done so already. If EPL is not your home library, check with the library that originally issued your card to see if they offer Hoopla as well.)
About the book:
A breathtaking journey through a far-future universe in which the adherents of technological bodily enhancements violently clash with believers in genetic manipulation, from one of the godfathers of cyberpunk In the generations since humanity first began to spread itself throughout the universe, schisms have torn the race asunder. In the future, as in the past, extreme ideological differences have set man against man, causing serious tensions and violence, particularly between the Mechanist and Shaper sects. For the Mechanists, who believe in high-tech prosthetics as the only means of advancing human development, the Shaper belief in the use of genetic improvement is anathema and therefore must be eradicated, while the rebel Shapers likewise strive for the ultimate destruction of their cybernetic rivals. Between the two camps travels Abelard Lindsay-a betrayed and exiled Shaper diplomat, well trained in the art of lies and subterfuge-who, over the course of a lifetime of centuries, comes to embrace piracy and revolution en route to quite possibly ushering a shattered humankind toward its bold new destiny. Considered by many, including the author himself, to be his most powerful work, Schismatrix offers a brilliant, bold, gritty, and startlingly original look into humanity's future possibilities. In Schismatrix Plus, Sterling also includes every subsequent excursion into the Shaper/Mechanist universe, complementing his acclaimed novel with the complete collection of mind-boggling Schismatrix short fiction.
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