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Artificial Kid
The entertainment industry rules on Reverie, a world founded by Moses Moses as an experiment in corporate-controlled equality. Instead, the experiment has caused Reverie to mutate into a landscape of decadence & class division. Miles above the surface, the ultrawealthy live in orbital homes, watching surface citizens' home-produced videos of sex & extreme violence. The title character, Arti, is the most popular Combat Artist. These futuristic mirrors of professional wrestlers or American Gladiators confront each other in superheroesque battles (altho the Combat Artists' contests are real) within a complex system of honor, ritual & conduct. Arti has reached the height of his fame--equally loved by fans & friends, despised by competitors. However, he's not entirely who he seems to be. When the planetary founder mysteriously returns, The Artificial Kid finds himself embroiled in a power struggle that's not ready for prime time. Bruce Sterling, best known for his nonfiction work, The Hacker Crackdown, & the cyberthriller, Islands in the Net, presents a seminal, vivid & turbulent future. The Artificial Kid is a work of satirical social commentary with the breakneck pace of a Hong Kong action film.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
30 people are currently reading
989 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Sterling
357 books1,210 followersBruce Sterling is an author, journalist, critic and a contributing editor of Wired magazine. Best known for his ten science fiction novels, he also writes short stories, book reviews, design criticism, opinion columns and introductions to books by authors ranging from Ernst Jünger to Jules Verne. His non-fiction works include The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier (1992), Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years (2003) and Shaping Things (2005).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
July 18, 2020
Ha sido una lectura grata, aunque no una maravilla, pero la he disfrutado, más en algunas partes que en otras.
Entre ellas, la primera que me encantó, el capítulo donde Moses, Arti y Santa Ana relatan su vida. La segunda, cuando se encuentran otro personaje y realizan descubrimientos importantes. Esa parte donde Crossword explica cómo la vida misma se abre camino y especies, células, microbios, se reproducen con facilidad.
Para mi gusto, a pesar de que se lee con facilidad y fluidez, la historia decae en algunas partes, llegando al punto de sentirlo algo novelesco, en donde nuestro protagonista, Chico, se muestra insulto, egoísta y vanidoso. Además de Santa Ana, que si bien me agradó el personaje, pienso que está fuera de esta historia, no encaja en el genero. Y el final, no me ha parecido creíble, que dos personajes principales, cambien totalmente en un par de meses, o años, su manera de ver el mundo, su actuar e ideología, arraigadas durante tanto tiempo, siendo que en la historia se puede vivir cientos de años.
Esperaba más tema cyberpunk, pero, no ha estado tan mal.
Entre ellas, la primera que me encantó, el capítulo donde Moses, Arti y Santa Ana relatan su vida. La segunda, cuando se encuentran otro personaje y realizan descubrimientos importantes. Esa parte donde Crossword explica cómo la vida misma se abre camino y especies, células, microbios, se reproducen con facilidad.
Para mi gusto, a pesar de que se lee con facilidad y fluidez, la historia decae en algunas partes, llegando al punto de sentirlo algo novelesco, en donde nuestro protagonista, Chico, se muestra insulto, egoísta y vanidoso. Además de Santa Ana, que si bien me agradó el personaje, pienso que está fuera de esta historia, no encaja en el genero. Y el final, no me ha parecido creíble, que dos personajes principales, cambien totalmente en un par de meses, o años, su manera de ver el mundo, su actuar e ideología, arraigadas durante tanto tiempo, siendo que en la historia se puede vivir cientos de años.
Esperaba más tema cyberpunk, pero, no ha estado tan mal.
June 27, 2014
-El Derek Zoolander de los gladiadores futuristas-.
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. Hace ya bastantes años, Rominuald Tanglin, Primer Secretario de Gobierno de Niwlind, emigró al planeta Reveria y traslado parte de su conciencia a un nuevo cuerpo, el Chico Artificial, que tiempo después se ha convertido en una estrella de los medios entre los artistas luchadores de la Zona Descriminalizada de la ciudad isla de Telset (que al contrario de lo que su nombre podría indicar, es un área violenta con sus propias limitaciones legales y sociales).
¿Quiere saber más del libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. Hace ya bastantes años, Rominuald Tanglin, Primer Secretario de Gobierno de Niwlind, emigró al planeta Reveria y traslado parte de su conciencia a un nuevo cuerpo, el Chico Artificial, que tiempo después se ha convertido en una estrella de los medios entre los artistas luchadores de la Zona Descriminalizada de la ciudad isla de Telset (que al contrario de lo que su nombre podría indicar, es un área violenta con sus propias limitaciones legales y sociales).
¿Quiere saber más del libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
August 18, 2015
I read this book first as a teenager (along with Involution Ocean) and it really made an impact on my thinking about youth, age, fame, and society. I read it again about 10 years ago, when I came across a copy at a used book store, and again a couple of weeks ago after I loaned it to someone else (who also enjoyed it).
There's quite a lot packed into this thin volume. An early reality TV star, who manages his own cameras and edits his own video (on tape) so as to maintain the correct image. An old, jaded man who creates theater for his amusement. A manic scientist, using his long, long life to find answers that contradict the dogma of his institution. A young woman on a mission, who comes to the realization that her youthful zeal and innate goodness were manipulated by the old. A visionary who spends hundreds of years playing the system to create what he imagines would be a capitalist utopia - which is a place that's pretty good, but turns out to be decadent and corrupt, like all other human constructs.
I see new things in this every time I read it.
There's quite a lot packed into this thin volume. An early reality TV star, who manages his own cameras and edits his own video (on tape) so as to maintain the correct image. An old, jaded man who creates theater for his amusement. A manic scientist, using his long, long life to find answers that contradict the dogma of his institution. A young woman on a mission, who comes to the realization that her youthful zeal and innate goodness were manipulated by the old. A visionary who spends hundreds of years playing the system to create what he imagines would be a capitalist utopia - which is a place that's pretty good, but turns out to be decadent and corrupt, like all other human constructs.
I see new things in this every time I read it.
April 14, 2020
This is a book where the fantastic early bits outweigh the ending; but, many years after I read it the first time, the middle has become much more relevant. So, to start: The setting is the planet Reverie, a rich world where the most popular entertainment involves people staging fights for the ever present camera drones they control. Their government is a secretive cabal that took over after bombarding the previous government some hundreds of years ago; death has been almost conquered except that after hundreds of years, memories and the human mind begin to break down.
So, the Artificial Kid: he has a strange relationship with his progenitor, a well known politician from a different planet who ended his own life on Reverie, unable to keep going. The Artificial Kid, having learned from his progenitor's bad romantic entanglements, has been using puberty suppressants for almost 30 years while becoming one of the most popular combat artists on the planet. He and his fellow combart artists are youthful but nihilistic; the truly rich and powerful are aged and either decadent or obsessed. For example, his mentor, a neuter scientist who slipped away years prior, was obsessed with an academic dispute that had gone on for centuries.
So, the beginning: the set up, focusing on the youthful pursuits of combat; the middle, where people end up going on a journey of discovery; and the end, where some stories end and some people grow up. The ending had a bit of vague somewhat metaphysical biology stuck in there which I thought was a weak part, but if I just treat that as a bit of an unreliable macguffin, the arc was really solid. The first part is definitely what stands out, though.
This definitely resembles some other of the author's work with semi-gerontocratic systems; parts of it remind me of Van Der Meer's Annihilation.
So, the Artificial Kid: he has a strange relationship with his progenitor, a well known politician from a different planet who ended his own life on Reverie, unable to keep going. The Artificial Kid, having learned from his progenitor's bad romantic entanglements, has been using puberty suppressants for almost 30 years while becoming one of the most popular combat artists on the planet. He and his fellow combart artists are youthful but nihilistic; the truly rich and powerful are aged and either decadent or obsessed. For example, his mentor, a neuter scientist who slipped away years prior, was obsessed with an academic dispute that had gone on for centuries.
So, the beginning: the set up, focusing on the youthful pursuits of combat; the middle, where people end up going on a journey of discovery; and the end, where some stories end and some people grow up. The ending had a bit of vague somewhat metaphysical biology stuck in there which I thought was a weak part, but if I just treat that as a bit of an unreliable macguffin, the arc was really solid. The first part is definitely what stands out, though.
This definitely resembles some other of the author's work with semi-gerontocratic systems; parts of it remind me of Van Der Meer's Annihilation.
October 17, 2019
Very much an interstitial work - not so much one of the first cyberpunk novels but one of the last of the New Wave. Still, it has plenty of the trappings that would later be core to C-Punk: corporate dominance, body modification, rampant drug use, and a surprisingly prescient take on what is only now recognisable as social media - the Artificial Kid is basically an influencer with a nunchuck.
There's some interesting thematic work about fear of change in general and death in particular, with various characters living in mortal terror of the fungoid Mass and the titular Kid using hormone blockers to stave off his own maturity and, by extension, eventual death. The most interesting and, by the book's philosophical lights, evolved characters are the ones who embrace change fearlessly and wholeheartedly - Professor Crossbow and Moses Moses.
The problem is that Sterling's voice hasn't matured yet, and so the prose itself is flat and thudding. Likewise the dialogue, which is too concerned with imparting complex information to sound like anything actual people would say. And let's face it; any book that stops its narrative flow stone dead for three chapters so the main characters can soliloqise their histories and worldviews has some serious pacing and structural issues.
But, you know, it influenced a lot and it's a quick read, so give it a crack if this sort of thing is your jam.
There's some interesting thematic work about fear of change in general and death in particular, with various characters living in mortal terror of the fungoid Mass and the titular Kid using hormone blockers to stave off his own maturity and, by extension, eventual death. The most interesting and, by the book's philosophical lights, evolved characters are the ones who embrace change fearlessly and wholeheartedly - Professor Crossbow and Moses Moses.
The problem is that Sterling's voice hasn't matured yet, and so the prose itself is flat and thudding. Likewise the dialogue, which is too concerned with imparting complex information to sound like anything actual people would say. And let's face it; any book that stops its narrative flow stone dead for three chapters so the main characters can soliloqise their histories and worldviews has some serious pacing and structural issues.
But, you know, it influenced a lot and it's a quick read, so give it a crack if this sort of thing is your jam.
January 1, 2023
Starting off the year with a banger. I previously tried to read this book several years ago and DNF’d. But I was convinced it was just the wrong time. I think I also went in cold turkey last time and this time I read the paragraph on the back. That’s all it took. This time I found it to be amazing and a superbly entertaining read. Sterling is definitely on my TBR for the coming year.
January 16, 2015
Pessimo come storia e scrittura.
Noioso e infantile
Noioso e infantile
February 25, 2026
The Artificial Kid is a weird but enjoyable book. I say weird because it's fascinating how it can contain so many of the cyberpunk genre's tropes, yet is clearly not that. Still, I wonder if the setting had been Earth, a little closer to our time (or rather, closer to 1980), would we be heralding this as the first true cyberpunk work ahead of Neuromancer?
July 26, 2013
This is it. The only Bruce Sterling novel I haven't read. So how does my guru's second novel hold up?
Well, it's original, aggressively stylized, and full of provocative ideas. In the distant future people are effectively immortal, with ennui a leading cause of death. The titular Artificial Kid inhabits the body of of a deceased politician, making his living as a combat artist, beating up other artists with his nunchuks and selling the tapes. He stumbles into a massive historical/scientific conspiracy, and a whole bunch of crazy stuff happens.
This isn't a perfect book. If the characters are a little flat, or the writing drags a little, then that's the price of journeyman work. But Sterling's obvious talent and energy is on display, and its definitely a fun read.
Well, it's original, aggressively stylized, and full of provocative ideas. In the distant future people are effectively immortal, with ennui a leading cause of death. The titular Artificial Kid inhabits the body of of a deceased politician, making his living as a combat artist, beating up other artists with his nunchuks and selling the tapes. He stumbles into a massive historical/scientific conspiracy, and a whole bunch of crazy stuff happens.
This isn't a perfect book. If the characters are a little flat, or the writing drags a little, then that's the price of journeyman work. But Sterling's obvious talent and energy is on display, and its definitely a fun read.
March 16, 2012
Just like it says, fast-paced and exciting--like so much else, but at least this is a satire.
May 26, 2019
Una novela entretenida, llena de acción, giros argumentales y detalles escabrosos. Sin embargo, me ha parecido bastante primitiva respecto al resto de la literatura cyberpunk. Es difícil no compararla con otras obras del mismo subgénero ante las cuales, por desgracia, palidece.
Trata del Chico Artificial, como se hace llamar un peleador artístico que siempre va custodiado por sus zumbadores (drones) equipados de cámaras. Actúa el día entero y su única preocupación es conseguir mayor audiencia. Eso es terroríficamente premonitorio, si tomamos en cuenta que la novela fue escrita en 1980, cuando las redes sociales, los vlogs y la popularidad en internet no se sospechaban siquiera como una posibilidad. En fin, que este chico en realidad tiene 300 años pues procede de una personalidad previa que se desintegró, pero decidió reinventarse, retroceder, volver a ser un adolescente. Se enemista con sujetos poderosos. Intentan matarlo. Huye. Tiene encuentros bastante inverosímiles. Está a punto de morir varias veces y regresa, para darse cuenta que ha triunfado, los malos han caído pero otros malos han tomado el lugar de los anteriores.
Un poco desarticulada y caótica, esta novela de Sterling posee, sin embargo, una fuerte dosis de crítica social. Chico (o Arti) es un sujeto que se desenvuelve en los bajos fondos y reivindica los derechos de los despojados, pero siempre comenzando por él mismo. El protagonista arquetípico del cyberpunk es un ser tangencial, periférico, profundamente narcisista y cuyo objetivo primordial es la búsqueda del placer. Siempre se prefiere a sí mismo sobre los demás y por ello resulta tan atrayente, pues es verdadero.
Trata del Chico Artificial, como se hace llamar un peleador artístico que siempre va custodiado por sus zumbadores (drones) equipados de cámaras. Actúa el día entero y su única preocupación es conseguir mayor audiencia. Eso es terroríficamente premonitorio, si tomamos en cuenta que la novela fue escrita en 1980, cuando las redes sociales, los vlogs y la popularidad en internet no se sospechaban siquiera como una posibilidad. En fin, que este chico en realidad tiene 300 años pues procede de una personalidad previa que se desintegró, pero decidió reinventarse, retroceder, volver a ser un adolescente. Se enemista con sujetos poderosos. Intentan matarlo. Huye. Tiene encuentros bastante inverosímiles. Está a punto de morir varias veces y regresa, para darse cuenta que ha triunfado, los malos han caído pero otros malos han tomado el lugar de los anteriores.
Un poco desarticulada y caótica, esta novela de Sterling posee, sin embargo, una fuerte dosis de crítica social. Chico (o Arti) es un sujeto que se desenvuelve en los bajos fondos y reivindica los derechos de los despojados, pero siempre comenzando por él mismo. El protagonista arquetípico del cyberpunk es un ser tangencial, periférico, profundamente narcisista y cuyo objetivo primordial es la búsqueda del placer. Siempre se prefiere a sí mismo sobre los demás y por ello resulta tan atrayente, pues es verdadero.
November 9, 2025
Bruce Sterling está considerado uno de los padres del cyberpunk y bueno sí, está claro por qué, en "El chico artificial" usa recursos que me han recordado un poco a Snow Crash. El mundo que plantea es un lugar bastante extraño, tecnificado, espectacularizado, donde "El chico" es una conocida estrella del "arte del combate" en la Zona Descriminalizada que siempre va rodeado de una nube de cámaras flotantes que graban todos sus pasos para luego editar vídeos que retransmitir a las masas. Es fácil entender la sátira que quiere construir Sterling con el sexo y la violencia estética, una sociedad de pornoestrellas, drogas sintéticas, grandes empresarios mecenas y un gobierno o desgobierno pseudo corporativo bastante difícil de comprender. Pero lo cierto es que la conjunción de elementos es muy loca y aleatoria, da la sensación de que mete cosas porque sí, solo para marcar la diferencia entre nuestro mundo y este.
El salvajismo, la violencia inicial del Chico y de su entorno se combina con otros aspectos de la historia confusos y alienígenas. Lo cierto es que resulta una novela un poco pueril. La primera mitad, al menos, con su acción y sus características de sociedad extrema del espectáculo me pareció una lectura ligera, pero después se va convirtiendo en otra cosa. Concretamente cuando aparece la isla flotante, de ahí en adelante a Sterling se le va muchísimo la olla y parece querer ser otra historia. En ocasiones no sabes qué estás leyendo ni a donde quiere ir a parar, hay demasiados elementos incomprensibles. Es una novela caótica y embarullada que no resiste muy bien el paso del tiempo.
El salvajismo, la violencia inicial del Chico y de su entorno se combina con otros aspectos de la historia confusos y alienígenas. Lo cierto es que resulta una novela un poco pueril. La primera mitad, al menos, con su acción y sus características de sociedad extrema del espectáculo me pareció una lectura ligera, pero después se va convirtiendo en otra cosa. Concretamente cuando aparece la isla flotante, de ahí en adelante a Sterling se le va muchísimo la olla y parece querer ser otra historia. En ocasiones no sabes qué estás leyendo ni a donde quiere ir a parar, hay demasiados elementos incomprensibles. Es una novela caótica y embarullada que no resiste muy bien el paso del tiempo.
October 27, 2021
Un romanzo difficile da recensire. Difficile anzitutto perché non sono riuscito neppure a capire se mi sia piaciuto, o meno, né perché… quindi, o sono impazzito io, oppure c’è qualcosa di anomalo nella creazione di Bruce Sterling. Dato il lignaggio dell’autore, sono certo che verrò rampognato ben benino per questa mini recensione, ma forse riuscirò a togliermi alcuni dei dubbi che mi ha lasciato questo testo.
Artificial Kid, romanzo di fantascienza pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1980, è risultato a mio avviso un mix di idee brillanti e scivoloni narrativi capaci di mandarmi in corto circuito. Non saprei neppure dire il target di riferimento, perché a guardare la trama risulta piuttosto banale, con alcune forzature talmente grossolane da non poter essere sottaciute. A tratti invece l’autore, per bocca dei suoi personaggi, si lancia in disquisizioni affascinanti, ricche di spunti di riflessione e capaci di dare al testo tutt’altra profondità. Insomma, un bel rompicapo.
L’ambientazione di tipo fantascientifico/distopico/cyberpunk sarebbe originale e ben congeniata, ma a mio avviso sfruttata poco e malamente, e lasciata colpevolmente sfumare in toni decisamente troppo soft, almeno per lunghi tratti del romanzo. Recensione completa su scrittorindipendenti: https://www.scrittorindipendenti.com/...
Artificial Kid, romanzo di fantascienza pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1980, è risultato a mio avviso un mix di idee brillanti e scivoloni narrativi capaci di mandarmi in corto circuito. Non saprei neppure dire il target di riferimento, perché a guardare la trama risulta piuttosto banale, con alcune forzature talmente grossolane da non poter essere sottaciute. A tratti invece l’autore, per bocca dei suoi personaggi, si lancia in disquisizioni affascinanti, ricche di spunti di riflessione e capaci di dare al testo tutt’altra profondità. Insomma, un bel rompicapo.
L’ambientazione di tipo fantascientifico/distopico/cyberpunk sarebbe originale e ben congeniata, ma a mio avviso sfruttata poco e malamente, e lasciata colpevolmente sfumare in toni decisamente troppo soft, almeno per lunghi tratti del romanzo. Recensione completa su scrittorindipendenti: https://www.scrittorindipendenti.com/...
July 22, 2023
Charitably this is a "difficult second novel". The two main problems are, firstly, that it could just as easily be set in a world of warlords and wizards. It is not really a future that hangs together let alone a plot that "needs" the future (compare Gibson's "cowboy" hacker style culture and commando head hunters.) The interesting ideas just seem like decoration rather than substrate. Secondly, and this is far worse, you can hardly move for dei ex machina and the plot pacing is all over the place. At one point the main protagonists spend several chapters floating in the sea swopping life stories (why?) and then in the last 30 pages or so major geopolitical change is wrapped up "and they all lived happily ever after" style. It really feels like the publishers sent him back to hit a word count and he padded it out too much in the middle and then went "Oh good. I can stop now." Sterling has written much better stuff so you can easily give this a miss.
December 22, 2020
It has a solid cyberpunk opening, the Artificial Kid, combat artist and entrepreneur, makes his leaving beating people up and selling the films that he personally edits of the combats. He has his brand and a place in the world. Then things fall apart as a new player enters the game and does not play by the established rules. So far, so good.
But then the middle half to two thirds is part of the survival on an alien world genre as the Kid and his friends try to escape and move from dangerous place to dangerous place on the world with things going from bad to worse.
Then, the Kid and his one surviving companion are rescued. The defeat of the enemy has all happened offstage, the Kid, now drastically changed by his experiences, is a hero and it just sort of ends after our hero has a revelation about what happened. Very unsatisfactory to me.
But then the middle half to two thirds is part of the survival on an alien world genre as the Kid and his friends try to escape and move from dangerous place to dangerous place on the world with things going from bad to worse.
Then, the Kid and his one surviving companion are rescued. The defeat of the enemy has all happened offstage, the Kid, now drastically changed by his experiences, is a hero and it just sort of ends after our hero has a revelation about what happened. Very unsatisfactory to me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2022
3.5 stelle
Il vero protagonista di questo romanzo è il pianeta di Reverie.. qui Sterling ha creato una realtà davvero tridimensionale, con la sua politica, i suoi costumi sociali, la religione, la biodiversità di intere aree.. la Massa è qualcosa di unico, con tutto il suo lisergico brulicare di vita.. anche i personaggi sono creati molto bene.. ci sono ingenuità qua e là e un enorme Deus ex machina a metà che mi ha fatto storcere il naso.. ma tutto sommato davvero interessante..
Quello che alla fine manca è la trama, troppo semplicistica e a volte invece un po' confusa.. se avesse avuto una trama un po' più complessa e ben costituita sarebbe stato davvero bello..
Resta comunque un libro che prende e di fa leggere in un attimo, con una chiara e moderna satira ai social e alla spasmodica ricerca di visibilità dei nostri giorni..
Il vero protagonista di questo romanzo è il pianeta di Reverie.. qui Sterling ha creato una realtà davvero tridimensionale, con la sua politica, i suoi costumi sociali, la religione, la biodiversità di intere aree.. la Massa è qualcosa di unico, con tutto il suo lisergico brulicare di vita.. anche i personaggi sono creati molto bene.. ci sono ingenuità qua e là e un enorme Deus ex machina a metà che mi ha fatto storcere il naso.. ma tutto sommato davvero interessante..
Quello che alla fine manca è la trama, troppo semplicistica e a volte invece un po' confusa.. se avesse avuto una trama un po' più complessa e ben costituita sarebbe stato davvero bello..
Resta comunque un libro che prende e di fa leggere in un attimo, con una chiara e moderna satira ai social e alla spasmodica ricerca di visibilità dei nostri giorni..
January 10, 2022
A compelling enough old-school cyberpunk story; like usual with stories of this type from this era it now seems equally filled with impossible concepts and things that we now consider mundane.
The early urban sequences are fun, but what held my attention more was the shift in the back half, as the characters flee across the landscape, a trek through a jungle, a swamp, and then a white fungus wasteland that replicates all life. There's some astonishing imagery in these sections, as what these characters think of as essential to their selves is gradually eroded by their journey. But although there's a couple of surprising developments towards the end, the actual conclusion felt disappointingly stale to me, which is never a nice way to go out.
The early urban sequences are fun, but what held my attention more was the shift in the back half, as the characters flee across the landscape, a trek through a jungle, a swamp, and then a white fungus wasteland that replicates all life. There's some astonishing imagery in these sections, as what these characters think of as essential to their selves is gradually eroded by their journey. But although there's a couple of surprising developments towards the end, the actual conclusion felt disappointingly stale to me, which is never a nice way to go out.
January 28, 2018
Full of great ideas and potential. This book seemed pretty advanced for its time and also was keyed in to some concepts that have become reality - his prescient focus on use of drones to capture people's lives is amazing (think of reality TV's Keeping up with the Kardashians and "Real Housewives"). I wondered if Jeff VanderMeer was inspired at all by this book when writing his Southern Reach series - there are some similarities to the "the Mass." I haven't read any other of Sterling's works, but am interested to see how his later novels read.
January 21, 2024
not a perfect book, sterling was still figuring out how to sustain a story for a whole novel, but a recommended read. not exactly cyberpunk, but with tinges - it still managed to be the most prescient of his early work. modified humans use follow drones to video themselves getting into violent performance art (street fights) and then edit and upload the videos for social media clout (keep in mind this was written a decade before the world wide web) - transhuman exploration, space venice masquerades, alien marine biology, dragonball super sayan hair - this book has it all
January 5, 2023
The prose style had potential, but I had to put it down after the first chapter took its gross homophobic "gay = CSA/predator" turn on a character obviously being set up as an antagonist. I was willing to put up with that in DUNE, cos the latter was well over a decade older, and Frank Herbert was twice as old as Sterling, when he published DUNE, but from someone that much closer to my age, I have no fupping patience.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2019
the problem with The Artificial Kid is that no matter how many times i read it, it never quite sticks with me. it's a lot of ideas and set pieces without much of a thesis. but those ideas and those set pieces are just so...cool. so i keep coming back to The Artificial Kid, i know i will again, and maybe then i'll write a review sooner than six months after the fact.
March 19, 2020
Artificial Kid is the second novel by Bruce Sterling. Written in 1980, the book is over the top and satirical, reminding me of the kung foo 80s films. The book's protagonist is a young clone, artificially born at an adult age. He's a big action star. He's a combat artist, where people fight on film, and people pay to watch. One of the Orwellian concepts Sterling uses is the idea of a constant surveillance state. In the world of Artificial Kid everyone films themselves doing everything: eating with friends at dinner, having sex, combat art, the works. All the plutocrats of this society used them constantly. The social structure of the society highly stratified. However, with Kid being a pop star combat artist, owning 4 shares of stock, he was super rich, and famous despite being young. This is something of a cyberpunk novel, as there are some pretty advanced technology.
But then bad things happen to Kid. This guy calls a blood feud on him, wipes Kids' maids mind [akin to murder], and has some goons beat him to a bloody pulp. Barely surviving, Kid and his entourage start living on the run. They find themselves getting blown up on a ship from another enemy sent by Angeluce, who's part of the Cabal, the society that controls the planet.
Moses Moses, Saint Anne-Twiceborn, and Kid end up swimming for hours and hours, only to somehow land upon a flying island. On the island kid miraculously finds his mentor, a scientist. They each take turns telling their personal story, as they might be about to die at any time. They were being hunted by Angeluce, because they knew about Moses Moses, who was out of cryosleep, and was apart of the original government some 300 years ago. Yes, none of this makes sense.
Although none of the middle and ending sections have too much action, this section where the characters tell their own stories is where Sterling shines at creating a character, even if we have to use a bit of suspension of belief. Saint Anne really comes off as a true loving woman and Kid realizes this. Moses Moses' story about how the world and government of Reverid came to be is fascinating, as it works as exposition for the world.
The story isn't executed nearly as well as the ideas themselves. Perhaps the outcome of a sophomore slump? I've read a lot of short reviews for Artificial Kid and reviews seem to be mixed. I think the novel is terrific. The plot is all over the place but I think the the characters were well written and the ending is quite nice.
Kid grows up as the story progresses. He starts off as an arrogant, drug addled, violent brute that smashes people with nunchucks, but in the end he turns into a loving guy and reciprocates the love of Saint Anne. Kid and Saint Anne raise Quade, the maid who got mind-wiped, up as a kid. But here we see that Kid gives up the combat artist lifestyle, and ends the novel living in peace with Saint Anne and Quade, on an island, his old mentor's house. Kid goes through an odyssey of his own to find out what the really important things are in life. There's even an alien eating a human head.
There are lots of novels with the theme used here. Candide comes to mind. The satirical aspects are strong here. The characters use 80s arcade slang and made-up slang jargon as well like, "Oh wau, holy death!" stuff like that. The gore described herein is pretty hardcore. At one point Kid kills a man for the first time and he ends up ripping up his skull, with grisly details. There is a science, technology, philosophy, and sociological intensity to the extensive dialogue of the characters and that's where the reader learns more and more, getting caught on turns of plot. I think that this is still a strong book from Sterling, and I've read a few of his books now so I can see where he's made his leaps and changes in writing.
I do think that the plot could have been written in a more elegant or smooth style. But I think rather than rely on plot Sterling used a lot of dialogue for the reader to learn more about the history and lore of the utopia/dystopia planet, as well as the backgrounds of each of the main characters. It worked, for me. I would even be interested to read this again at some point. As you can see from my list below of all the other Bruce Sterling books, I've read a lot of Sterling's work. I've even read his first novel Involution Ocean, a science fiction Moby Dick. I would say there's a good evolution from 1980 Artificial Kid Sterling to 1985 Schismatrix Plus Sterling. All great stuff relatively speaking, and definitely worth reading.
On a side note I couldn't find any good reviews for Artificial Kid on a google search. So that's why I decided to write my own. Sterling gets props for imagining a world everybody is constantly being watched by their own cameras. Its like he could see to the age of postmodernism where people enjoy watching Keeping up with the Kardashians and other reality TV popcorn bubblegum. Its an old trope for the state of a brutal regime, but its actually come to pass. Sometimes its good to turn off the cameras.
Check out my other Bruce Sterling novel reviews
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2...
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2...
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2....
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2...
But then bad things happen to Kid. This guy calls a blood feud on him, wipes Kids' maids mind [akin to murder], and has some goons beat him to a bloody pulp. Barely surviving, Kid and his entourage start living on the run. They find themselves getting blown up on a ship from another enemy sent by Angeluce, who's part of the Cabal, the society that controls the planet.
Moses Moses, Saint Anne-Twiceborn, and Kid end up swimming for hours and hours, only to somehow land upon a flying island. On the island kid miraculously finds his mentor, a scientist. They each take turns telling their personal story, as they might be about to die at any time. They were being hunted by Angeluce, because they knew about Moses Moses, who was out of cryosleep, and was apart of the original government some 300 years ago. Yes, none of this makes sense.
Although none of the middle and ending sections have too much action, this section where the characters tell their own stories is where Sterling shines at creating a character, even if we have to use a bit of suspension of belief. Saint Anne really comes off as a true loving woman and Kid realizes this. Moses Moses' story about how the world and government of Reverid came to be is fascinating, as it works as exposition for the world.
The story isn't executed nearly as well as the ideas themselves. Perhaps the outcome of a sophomore slump? I've read a lot of short reviews for Artificial Kid and reviews seem to be mixed. I think the novel is terrific. The plot is all over the place but I think the the characters were well written and the ending is quite nice.
Kid grows up as the story progresses. He starts off as an arrogant, drug addled, violent brute that smashes people with nunchucks, but in the end he turns into a loving guy and reciprocates the love of Saint Anne. Kid and Saint Anne raise Quade, the maid who got mind-wiped, up as a kid. But here we see that Kid gives up the combat artist lifestyle, and ends the novel living in peace with Saint Anne and Quade, on an island, his old mentor's house. Kid goes through an odyssey of his own to find out what the really important things are in life. There's even an alien eating a human head.
There are lots of novels with the theme used here. Candide comes to mind. The satirical aspects are strong here. The characters use 80s arcade slang and made-up slang jargon as well like, "Oh wau, holy death!" stuff like that. The gore described herein is pretty hardcore. At one point Kid kills a man for the first time and he ends up ripping up his skull, with grisly details. There is a science, technology, philosophy, and sociological intensity to the extensive dialogue of the characters and that's where the reader learns more and more, getting caught on turns of plot. I think that this is still a strong book from Sterling, and I've read a few of his books now so I can see where he's made his leaps and changes in writing.
I do think that the plot could have been written in a more elegant or smooth style. But I think rather than rely on plot Sterling used a lot of dialogue for the reader to learn more about the history and lore of the utopia/dystopia planet, as well as the backgrounds of each of the main characters. It worked, for me. I would even be interested to read this again at some point. As you can see from my list below of all the other Bruce Sterling books, I've read a lot of Sterling's work. I've even read his first novel Involution Ocean, a science fiction Moby Dick. I would say there's a good evolution from 1980 Artificial Kid Sterling to 1985 Schismatrix Plus Sterling. All great stuff relatively speaking, and definitely worth reading.
On a side note I couldn't find any good reviews for Artificial Kid on a google search. So that's why I decided to write my own. Sterling gets props for imagining a world everybody is constantly being watched by their own cameras. Its like he could see to the age of postmodernism where people enjoy watching Keeping up with the Kardashians and other reality TV popcorn bubblegum. Its an old trope for the state of a brutal regime, but its actually come to pass. Sometimes its good to turn off the cameras.
Check out my other Bruce Sterling novel reviews
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2...
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2...
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2....
https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2019
4/10. media de los 3 libros leídos del autor: 4/10
Considerado uno de los padres del ciberpunk (corriente de la CF que, en general, me gusta). Pues bien, lo será pero no me ha aprobado ninguno de sus tres libros leídos.
Considerado uno de los padres del ciberpunk (corriente de la CF que, en general, me gusta). Pues bien, lo será pero no me ha aprobado ninguno de sus tres libros leídos.
June 16, 2024
More "interesting" than good, there is power in ideas and imagery. A lot of it lapses into mechanistic, and ironically it is very clearly the work of a young man with all the biases therein. Will seek out more Sterling though.
October 1, 2024
Hyvin varhaista Sterlingiä. Ei ole kyberpunkkia vielä vaan sekavaa scifiä, johon on ahdettu vähän kaikenlaista. Kyberin elementtejä on kyllä jo mukana. Jännällä tavalla muutama asia sattuu tähän päivään aivan kohdalleen: luontokato ja ihmisten aiheuttama ympäristön tuhoaminen sekä huomio-some.
July 12, 2017
Phoa! This little piece of anime-infused cyberpunk somehow is rarely mentioned. It's a fucking classic man! Read it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2018
If there is such a thing as cyberPunkRock, this is it. Such a journey to go on.
January 8, 2019
weird toilet read bit can get you in
Read
June 17, 2019Finito nel 01/gen/1970 00:00:00
December 20, 2020
Will review at www.fantasyliterature.com.
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