
Schismatrix Plus
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Narrated by:
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Pavi Proczko
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By:
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Bruce Sterling
About this listen
The Nebula-nominated novel of “a brave new world of nearly constant future shock” - plus all the short fiction of the Shaper/Mechanist universe (The Washington Post).
Acclaimed science fiction luminary and a godfather of the genre’s remarkable offspring - cyberpunk - Bruce Sterling carries readers to a far-future universe where stunning achievements in human development have been tainted by a virulent outbreak of prejudice and hatred.
Many thousands of years in the future, the human race has split into two incompatible factions. The aristocratic Mechanists believe that humans can only achieve their greatest potential through technology and enhancing their bodies with powerful prosthetics. The rebel Shapers view these “improvements” as abominations, and their faith in genetic enhancements over mechanical ones has led to violent, even murderous, clashes between the two sects.
One man is caught in the middle. The child of Mechanists, Abelard Lindsay is a former Shaper diplomat who was betrayed and cast out of the fold. Scrupulously trained in the fine art of treachery and deceit, he travels freely between the warring camps during his never-ending exile, embracing piracy and revolution all along the way. But while saving his own skin is Lindsay’s main motivation, a greater destiny awaits him, one that could offer a bold new hope for a tragically sundered humankind.
A breathtaking flight of unparalleled imagination, Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix Plus also includes every subsequent excursion into the Mechanist and Shaper universe, complementing his acclaimed novel with the complete collection of mind-boggling Schismatrix short fiction. The result is is a total immersion into the Mechanist/Shaper universe from the Hugo, Campbell, and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author called “a writer of excellent fineness” by Harlan Ellison and “one of the very best” by Publishers Weekly.
©1996 Bruce Sterling. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“A brave new world of nearly constant future shock.... Ambitious.... Fast-moving. Sterling’s real forte lies in the evocation of technological and human strangeness.” (The Washington Post)
“Spectacular.... A marvelous feat of invention.” (Booklist)
“Absorbingly original.... Highly imaginative.... An arresting slice of future history.” (Kirkus Reviews)
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Story
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.
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Cloned Sisters Rule!
- By Vicki In Crete on 03-15-10
By: Bruce Sterling
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Ascendancies
- The Best of Bruce Sterling
- By: Bruce Sterling
- Narrated by: Pavi Proczko, Brian Nishii, Mikael Naramore, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Two dozen tales of future shock and twisted history from an undisputed king of cyberpunk science fiction, including Nebula Award finalists “Sunken Garden” and “Dori Bangs.”
By: Bruce Sterling
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Burning Chrome
- By: William Gibson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Dennis Holland, Kevin Pariseau, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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William Gibson's dark visions of computer cowboys, bio-enhanced soldiers of fortune, and hi-tech lowlifes have won unprecedented praise. Included here are some of the most famous short fiction and novellas by the author of Count Zero and Neuromancer.
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abstract art
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 04-05-14
By: William Gibson
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When Gravity Fails
- Marid Audran Trilogy, Book 1
- By: George Alec Effinger
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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For a new kind of killer roams the streets of the Arab ghetto, a madman whose bootlegged personality cartridges range from a sinister James Bond to a sadistic disemboweler named Khan. And Marid Audrian has been made an offer he can't refuse.The 200-year-old godfather of the Budayeen's underworld has enlisted Marid as his instrument of vengeance. But first Marid must undergo the most sophisticated of surgical implants before he dares to confront a killer who carries the power of every psychopath since the beginning of time.
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Neuromancer in the Middle East
- By David on 07-28-13
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Idoru
- By: William Gibson
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Colin Laney is here looking for work. He is an intuitive fisher for patterns of information. But Laney knows how to sift for the dangerous bits. Which makes him useful - to certain people. Chia McKenzie is here on a rescue mission. Her idol is the singer Rez, of the band Lo,Rez. When the Seattle chapter of the Lo,Rez fan club decided that he might be in trouble in Tokyo, they sent Chia to check it out. Rei Toei is the idoru - the beautiful, entirely virtual media star adored by all Japan. Rez has declared that he will marry her. This is the rumor that has brought Chia to Tokyo.
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The narrator made me turn this off in 10 seconds
- By Rob on 12-02-18
By: William Gibson
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Accelerando
- By: Charles Stross
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The Singularity. It is the era of the posthuman. Artificial intelligences have surpassed the limits of human intellect. Biotechnological beings have rendered people all but extinct. Molecular nanotechnology runs rampant, replicating and reprogramming at will. Contact with extraterrestrial life grows more imminent with each new day.
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Hardest of hard SF...
- By DLee on 11-24-14
By: Charles Stross
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Martian Time-Slip
- By: Philip K. Dick
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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On an arid Mars, local bigwigs compete with Earth-bound interlopers to buy up land before the Un develops it and its value skyrockets. Martian Union leader Arnie Kott has an ace up his sleeve, though: an autistic boy named Manfred who seems to have the ability to see the future.
By: Philip K. Dick
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Involution Ocean
- By: Bruce Sterling
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The powerful narcotic syncophine, commonly known as Flare, comes from only one source: the oil of the gargantuan whale-like beasts that swim the dust sea of Nullaqua. It was John Newhouse’s addiction to the substance that made him a dealer and forced him to move to this airless, inhospitable planet. But when the all-powerful galactic Confederacy declares Flare illegal, the needs of Newhouse and his clientele leave the desperate off-worlder no choice but to sign on as an able seaman aboard a dustwhaler and hunt the giant creatures himself.
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I miss Bruce Sterling
- By Amazon Customer on 06-26-22
By: Bruce Sterling
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The Diamond Age
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Jennifer Wiltsie
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Neal Stephenson, "the hottest science fiction writer in America", takes science fiction to dazzling new levels. The Diamond Age is a stunning tale; set in 21st-century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens what a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life, and the entire future of humanity, is about to be decoded and reprogrammed.
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The rock could use a bit more polishing
- By Tango on 05-19-13
By: Neal Stephenson
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The Escher Man
- By: T. R. Napper
- Narrated by: Nick Atkinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Your name is Endel ‘Endgame’ Ebbinghaus. It is Saturday, 3 September, 2101. You’re head of security for Mister Long, boss of the Macau Syndicate, a drug cartel. Your memories are being wiped and rewritten. You keep this log because you’re hard-pressed to remember what day it is. But today is a special day, mate. This is your last day on the job.” ‘Endgame’ is a violent man, the perfect enforcer. But Endel is also a father and husband—haunted by the memories of his estranged family, and the life they once had.
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Solid cyberpunk
- By Ian Cooper on 03-24-25
By: T. R. Napper
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Stand on Zanzibar
- By: John Brunner, Bruce Sterling - foreword
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Niblock House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of a few all-powerful corporations. His work is leading General Technics to the forefront of global domination, both in the marketplace and politically - it's about to take over a country in Africa. Donald Hogan is his roommate, a seemingly sheepish bookworm. But Hogan is a spy, and he's about to discover a breakthrough in genetic engineering that will change the world...and kill him. Society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers and mass-marketed psychedelic drugs.
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perfect audio experience
- By Darryl on 03-24-14
By: John Brunner, and others
Interesting ideas no payoff
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Couldn’t get through it…..
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Lacking payoff
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great book.
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Mediocre characters, cool setting
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awesome story
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Might be an epic to some people, but I couldn’t make myself stay interested and engaged
Disjointed
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A drab story that never seems to grab you.
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didn't grab me
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Sci-fi should be weird but...
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