Just comments on a few stories in Globalhead by Bruce Sterling, not the whole book.

“Our Neural Chernobyl” – I remember reading this in its original appearance in Fantasy and Science Fiction, and it just gets better on the second time. A mock review of a pop science book from 2056, Bruce is transliterating the background and research from his The Hacker Crackdown into a future where genetic hacking replaces computer hacking. But that’s just the starting point, and when he reveals the disaster set off by the neural chernobyl, I can only shake my head in admiration for his imagination. There’s not much story here, but when the imagination runs this wild, it doesn’t matter.

“Storming the Cosmos” – A funny story, made even funnier by my recent reading of East Europe and Russia. This is another one that I read in its original publication, and believe that it is better the second time as well.

“The Compassionate, The Digital” – Great title, wonderful idea, but this one doesn’t make as complete a story as “Our Neural Chernobyl.” There’s just not as much plot here; instead, this is a scene from an unlikely (?) scenario. Interesting, yes. A story, no.

[Finished 18 September 2002]