Bruce Sterling’s Italian Futurist alternate-history Pirate Utopia is, indeed, more of a novella than a novel, so pick it up in Kindle. If you like Italian-themed dieselpunk that is very, very strange and not at all concerned as to your expectations from books. I will warn you; this is an odd-tasting tome. Many people who have reviewed it seem to scratch their heads as to whether or not they actually liked it, although almost nobody seems to be upset that they read it. I’m not even sure whether I really liked it, either. But I’m not upset that I read it.
Tag: bruce sterling
Book of the Week: The Difference Engine.
The Difference Engine was one of the first alt-history/steampunk books that I ever read; and it pretty much gave me a permanent taste for both. I suspect that the maps help: I love alternate history maps.
And so adieu, GURPS Basic Set: Characters, Fourth Edition. I have not forgotten why I was thinking about you, never fear.
Our Neural Chernobyl, Revisited.
I was reminded of this story (found in Bruce Sterling’s short story collection Globalhead
Big species are not the problem. Sure, in popular science fiction movies T.Rex or a Raptor rips apart a bunch of people. But big species make big targets for rifles and fishing harpoons. Plus, lots of guys would love to hunt down the genetically engineered dino that is terrorizing suburbs. It is the littler ones that are too numerous to easily control that pose the bigger threat. Genetically engineered species could really upend whole ecosystems by being very effective at outcompeting other species.
Scientists have discovered some of the genetic variations that make influenza strains more lethal and will in time identify genetic variations that make other pathogens more or less dangerous. Therefore another future threat comes in the form of a genetically engineered massive killer pandemic for humans. The same sort of threat exists for other species. Imagine a flu that would kill most sheep or cows or pigs. Or imagine some genetically engineered pathogen that would wipe out assorted wild species. This will probably become technically doable.
Probably, but it’s not what I worry about. Continue reading Our Neural Chernobyl, Revisited.