Overview
I'm a science fiction writer. This is a golden opportunity to get up to most any mischief imaginable. With this fourth collection of my stories, I'm going to prove this to you. With these words, Bruce Sterling—author of New York times Notable Books of the Year and one of the great names in contemporary fiction—introduces his latest collection of thirteen tales. If you're familiar with his cyberpunk creations you won't be disappointed, but these stories range far beyond the limits of future technology. Visionary in Residence takes the reader to places never imagined and certainly where no one has ever been.
Synopsis
"I'm a science fiction writer. This is a golden opportunity to get up to most any mischief imaginable. With this fourth collection of my stories, I'm going to prove this to you."
With these words, Bruce Sterling—author of New York times Notable Books of the Year and one of the great names in contemporary fiction—introduces his latest collection of thirteen tales. If you're familiar with his cyberpunk creations you won't be disappointed, but these stories range far beyond the limits of future technology. Visionary in Residence takes the reader to places never imagined and certainly where no one has ever been.
The Washington Post - Martin Morse Wooster
Sterling has been writing for 30 years, but he still remains invigorating. Visionary in Paradise is a fine introduction to one of sf's brightest talents.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewBruce Sterling confesses in his fourth collection of stories: "I'm a science fiction writer. This is a golden opportunity to get up to most any mischief imaginable." And that's exactly what he does in Visionary in Residence, a compilation of 13 bite-sized speculative literary gems.
Noteworthy selections include "Code," in which a programming geek inherits a load of LSD from his recently deceased Deadhead boss and, in the process of deciding what to do with the hallucinogenic bounty, uncovers the secrets of "decoding" the opposite sex; and "The Growthing," a brilliant work of architectural fiction set in a Texas energy refinery where the lines between biotechnology and structural design are practically nonexistent. A firefly named Vinnie and his jumping spider pal discuss life and love in "Luciferase," a lighthearted look at the nature of relationships -- like Sex and the City meets A Bug's Life, except in this story Carrie Bradshaw injects her lovers with venom and then laps up their vital fluids. A whiskey-swilling plumber and the underage daughter of an Iranian mullah become romantically involved in "In Paradise," an unlikely love story about how technology (cell phones with real-time language translators) can bring people together -- for better or for worse.
Like Sterling's other short story collections (Globalhead, A Good Old-Fashioned Future, et al.), this one is as thematically diverse as it is wildly provocative. Brimming with sardonic social commentary and razor-sharp wit, the aptly titled Visionary in Residence is, well, a simply sterling collection. Paul Goat Allen
Martin Morse Wooster
Sterling has been writing for 30 years, but he still remains invigorating. Visionary in Paradise is a fine introduction to one of sf's brightest talents.— The Washington Post