false<![CDATA[The Caryatids]]>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1224988607m/3398430.jpg33984301Alongside William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling stands at the forefront of a select group of writers whose pitch-perfect grasp of the cultural and scientific zeitgeist endows their works of speculative near-future fiction with uncanny verisimilitude. To read a novel by Sterling is to receive a dispatch from a time traveler. Now, with The Caryatids, Sterling has written a stunning testament of faith in the power of human intellect, creativity, and spirit to overcome any obstacle–even the obstacles we carry inside ourselves. <br><br>The world of 2060 is divided into three spheres of influence, each fighting with the others over the resources of fallen nations and an environment degraded almost to the point of no return. There is the Dispensation, centered in Los Angeles, where entertainment and capitalism have fused with the highest of high-tech. There is the Acquis, a Green-centered collective that uses invasive neurological technology to create a networked utopia. And there is China, the sole surviving nation-state, a dinosaur that has prospered only by pitilessly pruning its own population. Products of this monstrous world, the daughters of a monstrous mother, and–according to some–monsters themselves, are the Caryatids: the four surviving female clones of a mad Balkan genius and wanted war criminal now ensconced, safely beyond extradition, on an orbiting space station. Radmila is a Dispensation star determined to forget her past by building a glittering, impregnable future. Vera is an Acquis functionary dedicated to reclaiming their home, the Croatian island of Mljet, from catastrophic pollution. Sonja is a medical specialist in China renowned for selflessly risking herself to help others. And Biserka is a one-woman terrorist network. The four “sisters” are united only by their hatred for their “mother”–and for one another. <br><br>When evidence surfaces of a coming environmental cataclysm, the Dispensation sends its greatest statesman–or salesman–John Montgomery Montalban, husband of Radmila, and lover of Vera and Sonja, to gather the Caryatids together in an audacious plan to save the world.34384432422009The Caryatidstotal:102|5:8|4:25|3:37|2:26|1:6|1023092553911falsefalseSat Mar 28 17:24:40 -0700 2009Sat Mar 28 17:25:22 -0700 200940falsefalseTue Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009Mon Jul 20 18:22:26 -0700 2009Mon Jul 20 18:38:14 -0700 2009 What the other reviewers say here has merit-- the book is choppy, the main characters not so sympathetic, the ending weak or just not fleshed out enoug...more...]]>
30falsefalseSun Apr 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009Mon Apr 13 22:36:02 -0700 2009Mon Apr 13 22:42:32 -0700 20091 There's nothing wrong with the future-building, unfortunately. The outlines of Sterling's scenario ...more...]]>
30falsetrueSun Mar 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009Tue Mar 03 17:56:49 -0800 2009Sun Mar 08 17:53:37 -0700 2009
Schismatrix and Islands in the Net, but could never get through his conscious shaping of cyberpunk via the Mirrorshades anthology (and the attempt to make that volume a manifesto of sorts allowed the poseur...more...]]>
30falsefalseWed Apr 15 12:44:12 -0700 2009Wed Apr 15 12:44:12 -0700 2009
Books of Big Ideas often polarize reviewers, and Bruce Sterling's latest novel is no exception. Either the best SF book of this or any other year (Cory Doctorow) or "a mess of a book about the mess of the world" (John Clute), The Caryatids, at the very least, illustrates Sterling's ability...more...]]>
30falsefalseWed Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009Wed Mar 11 17:44:59 -0700 2009Wed Apr 08 05:18:55 -0700 2009
Ulysses, why can...more...]]>
40falsefalseWed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009Sat Jun 13 18:43:03 -0700 2009Sat Jun 13 18:49:04 -0700 2009
more...]]>
20falsefalseTue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009Sun Aug 16 12:03:07 -0700 2009Thu Sep 03 15:44:33 -0700 2009
Holy Fire, and I have to conclude that as an idea man, Sterling is great, but he lacks any talent for storytelling. Like Holy Fire, this book provides a fascinating vision of a post-nation-state future, capturing my int...more...]]>
30falsefalseTue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009Wed Sep 09 11:46:25 -0700 2009Wed Sep 09 11:51:47 -0700 2009
more...]]>
20falsefalseMon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009Mon Jun 08 15:03:50 -0700 2009Thu Aug 20 20:09:59 -0700 2009 The story takes place in the future. Earth has seemingly become an ecological disaster. The book is broken into thr...more...]]>
40falsefalseMon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009Mon May 25 20:03:47 -0700 2009Mon May 25 20:07:32 -0700 2009
more...]]>
20falsefalseTue Apr 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009Fri Apr 24 07:09:08 -0700 2009Tue Apr 28 09:42:36 -0700 2009
more...]]>
21falsefalseTue Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009Fri Sep 11 05:50:33 -0700 2009Fri Sep 11 05:52:39 -0700 2009 Interesting in concept, but failed in execution. Classic sci-fi writing issue where the ideas overshadowed the people and character development was extremely weak. I skimmed the last third of the book, just to finish it.]]>
30falsefalseSun Jun 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009Sun Jun 28 12:26:14 -0700 2009Sun Jun 28 12:28:38 -0700 200900falsefalseWed Feb 25 06:28:18 -0800 2009Wed Feb 25 06:30:01 -0800 200930falsefalseWed Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009Wed Apr 29 08:27:34 -0700 2009Wed Apr 29 08:28:47 -0700 200900falsefalseSat May 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009Thu Apr 16 00:15:09 -0700 2009Fri May 01 22:31:25 -0700 200920falsefalseThu Oct 15 17:08:25 -0700 2009Thu Oct 15 17:09:24 -0700 200930falsefalseSun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009Wed Feb 25 09:48:37 -0800 2009Sat Mar 21 10:17:58 -0700 2009
more...]]>
30falsefalseSat Sep 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009Tue Oct 13 06:24:10 -0700 2009Tue Oct 13 06:33:21 -0700 2009
http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3398430