Schismatrix
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Schismatrix
Schismatrix, by Bruce Sterling, is a perfect example of Cyberpunk Literature. In the time line of Sci-Fi it is nestled comfortably after Neuromancer and before the genre had matured into what it is today. Exemplified by works such as The Matrix or literary works by Charles Stross.
Book Background
The novel Schismatrix was written by Bruce Sterling and published originally in 1985 by the Arbor House Publishing. In 1985 it was nominated for the Nebula Award for best novel.
Author
Bruce Sterling was born on April 14th in 1954. He is considered one of the lead authors in the Cyberpunk genre. In 2003 he was appointed a Professor at the European Graduate School. He has instigated several projects in his life two of which are the Dead Media Project (http://www.deadmedia.org), and the Viridian Design Manifesto (http://www.viridiandesign.org). He has written dozens of short stories and several books and currently teaches design at the European Graduate School.
Synopsis
The main character Lindsey begins the novel as a member of a political group with his friend Constantine. To solidify their groups station in history two of it’s main members wish to commit suicide. When Lindsey fails at committing suicide with his girlfriend, Vera, he is sent into exile on a lunar man-made satellite. He repeats this instinctive self-exile throughout the novel. During his stay on the People’s Zaibatsu he befriends another shaper called Kitsune. To begin his manipulation he begin a play company called Kabuki Intrasloar and use stock manipulation of the fake company to take advantage of numerous political groups on the Zaibatsu. When the play comes to an end he is confronted by an assassin sent by his best friend Constantine. In an escape that leaves the assassin dead and Kitsune liberated of her puppet business face he escape with a group of space pirates that call themselves the Fortuna miner’s democracy. He stays on their ship until they find an asteroid inhabited by a small force of Shapers. Instead of outright war they pick one another off until only Lindsey and one of the shaper women, Nora, remain. They are rescued by a new alien race and taken to a new home called Goldreich-Tremaine where he an Nora raise a family and he admittedly has the best years of his life. The peace of his new home collapses and instead of staying and defending his family he decides to escape to a Mech Cartel called Dembowska. On the way there he witnesses an alien destroying her own egg, something that he uses later to build his own Satellite community Constantine shows up and challenges Lindsey to a duel to the death. Both agree to fight in the arena, an alien technology that simulates dimensions and reality differently than humans are supposed to perceive. Lindsey wins and spends five years being rebuilt mentally, Constantine doesn’t die either though. When he becomes somewhat normal he returns to the Dembowska and to Kitsune, who has become a huge posthuman organism that encompasses many tons of flesh in the space station. He negotiates for Vera Constantine, Vera and Lindsey’s genetically rebuilt child to become a social exile. She initially meant to kill Lindsey but finds that she is more of a daughter to him than anything. During Constantine and Lindsey’s final meeting they declare their friendship and both attempt to apologize and Constantine commits suicide. He offers a dose to Lindsey but Lindsey refuses him. At the novels end he builds a new aquatic race for humanity to colonize Europa and instead of transforming himself into an aquatic he becomes one with “The Presence” an unknown alien race that cannot die. It invites him to witness the rest of everything. He agrees.
Major Themes
Posthumanism – The main theme of the Shaper/Mech Universe and of Schismatrix is that of Posthumanism. The evolution of Humans past their physical and genetic boundaries via science and technology. Sterling argues that this is the future of humanity and that this technology will force humanity apart and then bring humanity together again with the fifth level of complexity. It allows people to express themselves and their genetic without boundaries. It allows people to live longer or indefinitely and lead more fulfilling lives. Sterling also explores what that means to die in a species that has evolved past dying. Constantine chooses death because it’s the truly courageous thing to do.
Humanism – Every character in Schismatrix has an ideology of sorts and all of those fall under this category somehow. The Zen Serotonists believe emotion and fast reaction are bad and use chemicals to maintain their mental Alpha State. The Cataclysts believe that daily life distracts from true humanity and purpose and practice Ice Assassination. As the novel comes to a close theories of Prigogian physics that paralleled to human thought become predominant. Sterling explores many different ways that humanity could be at peace and work towards a unified goal, many of these are explored further in other books. Zen Serotonin in the film Equilibrium, Prigogian theory in Blood Music, and Kitsune’s, sensuality is evident in much literature and film.
Young Vs. Old – A huge part of this novel is the ideologies of their characters and those ideologies more often than not seem affected by a character’s age. A movement starts with the younger generation and moves into power as that generation comes to power. Each new ideology denounces the older generation as short sighted and imbecilic. These ideologies may or may not depend on technology but most do. Zen Serotonists on their drip feed alpha state drugs, The Lifeseekers on Green Rapture and PDKL-95 or ‘shatter’ from the Cataclysts. Sterling comments on age and how age affects both ideology and the practice of the ideology. Lindsey seems rather removed from all the ideologies even Preservationism, the one he planned to martyr for.
Deus Ex Machina – Sterling uses ‘god in the machine’ more as a method to explain the next level of human evolution than to resolve his plot. The Presence allows Lindsey to exile himself to a point where he is finally comfortable, Posthumanism and become a sort of a deity. It also represents death in a scientific manner.
Major Characters
Lindsey – The main character of the novel. He is a skilled Shaper who uses kinesics to manipulate diplomatic situations. He is not loyal to anyone but himself and when he is constantly going into exile. As the novel progresses he ages and we get to see how age and power affect him. He is motivated more by the actual moment of manipulation than the success that follows and when given a chance to abandon his family and life goals to become immortal and invincible he takes it.
Constantine – Lindsey’s once great friend and mortal enemy he is the antagonist of the novel. He is a very powerful man at one point and risks it all in a duel with Lindsey. He is motivated primarily by Lindsey’s betrayal of the suicide pact and because of Lindsey’s infallible success wherever he goes. When his brain is finally rebuilt after the duel he commits suicide as a final act of independence and strength against Lindsey.
Kitsune – The secret owner/operator of the geisha bank who helps Lindsey and becomes his friend and lover. She embraces extremely Posthuman technology and alters herself to become a several ton living organism by the end of the novel. She represents the absolute in shaper technology and embraces her erotic purpose to a point of self mutation. Her augmentations are her primary self and she considers emotion distant and wasteful.
Vera – One of the three main instigators in the Preservationist party loyal to the shaper ideology. She commits suicide as a political act against the Mech overlords. She represents the absolute dedication to an ideal that Lindsey can never have. She also serves to motivate the antagonist Constantine to try to hunt down and kill Lindsey, who gave up Vera for Lindsey and planned to live on and take advantage of the two lover’s sacrifices.
Vera Constantine – The genetic clone of Vera and Lindsey that Constantine fathers. At the end of the novel she brings the Presence to Lindsey from a stint in an alien embassy. She accepts Lindsey as a father figure instead of killing him, like Constantine had ordered. She is the successor in Lindsey’s life and allows him to follow the Presence.
Nora – Nora represents the golden age in Lindsey’s life. He loves her and raises a family. I believe this is because she is a Shaper trained in the same way he is so they identify very strongly. She is the second love in Lindsey’s life who gives her life for a purpose while Lindsey goes into exile.
The Presence – An alien that follows Vera Constantine back from an alien embassy that is amorphous and is unaffected by gravity, heat, or space travel. He speaks with the Presence and it invites him to join it exploring the universe, an infinite observer that is unaffected by the reality it watches. It is the final evolution in Lindsey and represents the final exile he needs to take.
--ConCrete
