A Good Old-Fashioned Future [Paperback]

This is a paperback collection of seven short stories by former cyberpunk guru turned socio/cultural prognosticator Bruce Sterling. Most of the works here come with impressive pedigrees, ranging from a Hugo Award for "Bicycle Repairman" to Hugo nominations for "Maneki Neko" and "Taklamakan". Another piece, "Big Jelly", was co-written by Sterling's fellow cyberpunk, Rudy Rucker.

These stories have a lot in common. They all take place in the near future, and most are action oriented, involving colourful characters such as secret agents, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, mafiosi and revolutionaries. But they are also personal tales that tend to focus on individuals rather than ideas, which makes them hit home more often than standard SF fare. The best of the bunch is probably "Taklamakan", a high- concept piece about two freelance spies sent to a central Asian desert called Taklamakan, where the Asian Sphere is doing some sort of secret research into space flight. "Bicycle Repairman" is set in the same world but instead of an Asian desert it takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the spies in this story aren't the good guys. It's a less successful piece than "Taklamakan" but also a good read.

Not all of the stories in this collection have the edgy, this-is-what-tomorrow-will-be- like quality that typifies Sterling's best work. But even when Sterling isn't at his best he's entertaining, and A Good Old-Fashioned Future is certainly that. --Craig E. Engler --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

A new short story collection from 'SF's most consistently simulating 'futuriste provocateur' (Locus)

The first time in book form for seven extended short stories from one of the key figures in SF. Bruce Sterling has consistently proved himself to be one step ahead of the game, always one of SF's trendsetters and in these stories his skill is shown off to superb effect. The book includes the three linked stories DEEP EDDY, BICYCLE REPAIRMAN and TAKLAMAKAN that build into one of the most entertaining and thoughtful visions of the world in the mid 21st century. Sterling writes hard SF but also brings to his books astonishing wit and spot-on-target social commentary - a vision of a world running on empty. From his early novels, to his groundbreaking anthology of cyberpunk and the collaboration with William Gibson that defined the genre of Steampunk Sterling has been a mould breaker; these stories, published between 1993 and 1998 show why.

SALES POINTS Stories never seen before in book form Superb reviews for Sterling Follows on from the success of DISTRACTION - Sterling is on a roll Contains the Hugo award-winning BICYCLE REPAIRMAN DISTRACTION won the Arthur C. Clarke Award