Good fiction may be timeless, but I love sci-fi that captures the zeitgeist. This collection of short stories from the '80s is pretty much nostalgia material. You can tell what was on Sterling's mind at the time - there's plenty of Russia, Islam and genetic engineering. Although Bruce Sterling is known for cyberpunk, it does seem more for the feel of his writing, and who he hangs out with, than for the actual topics he tackles. This book is no exception, containing little in the way of computer references, but keeping the genre close in spirit. It reads well as an historical document as well as a piece of sci-fi. Also, it's quite nice to see a couple of Leggy Starlitz stories, with the character who later became the protagonist of Zeitgeist. You can certainly see the character developing. Overall, not a bad little book, although I prefered A Good Old-fashioned Future.
Posted 2006-07-05.