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Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which defined the cyberpunk genre. He writes Catscan , for the SF Eye . In 2003 he was appointed Professor at the European Graduate School where he is teaching Summer Intensive Courses on media and design.1 Writings
Sterling is widely considered to be, along with William Gibson, Rudy Rucker, John Shirley, Lewis Shiner , and Pat Cadigan, one of the original founders of the early 1980s creators of the pessimistic and dystopian cyberpunk genre of science fiction.
His first novel, Involution Ocean, published in 1977, featured the world Nullaqua where all the atmosphere was contained in a single, miles-deep crater; the story concerned a ship sailing on the ocean of dust at the bottom, hunting creatures called dustwhales that lived beneath the surface. It is a science-fictional pastiche of Moby-DickMoby-Dick is a novel by Herman Melville, first published in expurgated form as The Whale on October 18, 1851, and then in full on November 14, 1851, in the United States. Moby-Dick's style was revolutionary for its time: descriptions in intricate, imagina by Herman MelvilleHerman Melville ( August 1 1819 September 28 1891) was a U. novelist, essayist, and poet. During his own lifetime his early novels, South Seas adventures, were quite popular, but his audience declined later in his life. By the time of his death he had nea.
In the late 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends onwards, Sterling wrote a series of stories set in the Shaper/MechanistThe Shaper/Mechanist universe is the setting for a series of science fiction short stories (and the novel Schismatrix written by the author Bruce Sterling. The stories combined cover approximately 350 years of future history, for the period ranging from A universe: the solar systemA generic solar system (or planetary system consists of at least one star and various orbiting objects (such as asteroids, comets, moons, and planets). The term originated to describe the planetary system around Sol, the Latin name for our sun. The planet is colonised, with two major warring factions. The Mechanists use a great deal of computer-based mechanical technologies; the Shapers do genetic engineeringGenetic engineering genetic modification GM , and gene splicing (once in widespread use but now deprecated) are terms for the process of manipulating genes in an organism, usually outside of the organism's normal reproductive process. It often involves th on a massive scale. The situation is complicated by the eventual contact with alienFor the 1979 movie, see Alien (movie). For live organisms which are not from Earth, see Extraterrestrial life Aliens are foreigners to their surroundings. The word is commonly used in law to denote non- citizens of the country of their whereabouts, and in civilisations; humanity eventually splits into many subspecies, with the implication that many of these effectively vanish from the galaxy, reminiscent of The Singularity in the works of Vernor Vinge. The Shaper/Mechanist stories can be found in the collection Crystal Express and the novel Schismatrix Plus.
In his hometown of Austin, Texas, the author is known for an annual Christmas yard party that features digital art.
In the 1980s, Sterling edited a series of science fiction newletters called Cheap Truth, under the alias of Vincent Omniaveritas.
He has been the inspiration for two projects which can be found on the Web -
- The Dead Media Project - A collection of "research notes" on dead media technologies, from Incan quipus, through Victorian phenakistoscopes, to the departed video games and home computers of the 1980s. The Project's homepage, including Sterling's original Dead Media Manifesto can be found at http://www.deadmedia.org
- The Viridian Design Movement - his attempt to create a Green movement without his perceived self-righteousness of the current Green movement. He called his proposed design movement the Viridian movement, to signify its desire for high-tech, stylish, and ecologically sound design. The Viridian Design home page, including Sterling's Viridian Manifesto, is at http://www.viridiandesign.org
