Bruce Sterling is currently my favorite living science fiction
writer. He crams his books full of so many ideas that you're
constantly catching really cool concepts out of the corner of your eye
as the scenery streams past. In Zeitgeist the reader joins
international con artist Leggy Starlitz (I kept thinking of Ziggy
Stardust) as he attempts to foist his terrifically bad girl-group pop
phenomenon G-7 on the unsuspecting Third World. It isn't the music
that makes money, you see, it's the merchandise. Leggy seems poised
for success on the eve of Y2K until he notices that his own narrative
might be starting to unravel—literally. Sterling has something
to say about global pop culture, and it helps that he can knowledgably
reference everything from rave culture to Mariko Mori to skater
slang. Not as deep as Holy Fire or complex as
Distraction, Zeitgeist is nonetheless a thoroughly
giddy and enjoyable ride.
Heidi J. De Vries
Bruce Sterling is currently my favorite living science fiction
writer. He crams his books full of so many ideas that you're
constantly catching really cool concepts out of the corner of your eye
as the scenery streams past. In Zeitgeist the reader joins
international con artist Leggy Starlitz (I kept thinking of Ziggy
Stardust) as he attempts to foist his terrifically bad girl-group pop
phenomenon G-7 on the unsuspecting Third World. It isn't the music
that makes money, you see, it's the merchandise. Leggy seems poised
for success on the eve of Y2K until he notices that his own narrative
might be starting to unravel—literally. Sterling has something
to say about global pop culture, and it helps that he can knowledgably
reference everything from rave culture to Mariko Mori to skater
slang. Not as deep as Holy Fire or complex as
Distraction, Zeitgeist is nonetheless a thoroughly
giddy and enjoyable ride.
