Bantam Books -- hc
New York -- ©1996 -- 294pp
ISBN: 0-553-09958-2
In an era when life expectancies stretch 100 years or more and adhering to healthy habits is the only way to earn better medical treatments, ancient "post humans" dominate society with their ubiquitous wealth and power. By embracing the safe and secure, 94-year-old Mia Ziemann has lived a long and quiet life. Too quiet, as she comes to realize, for Mia has lost the creative drive and ability to love--the holy fire--of the young. But when a radical new procedure makes Mia young again, she has the chance to break free of society's cloying grasp. (Amazon review)
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Ouch. A Bruce Sterling book that didn't work for me.
Like many of the other reviews here for this book, Sterling has some nifty concepts and a strong character and setting, but the follow-through is slow and meandering.
I never got the 'holy fire' aspect. Yes, I understand that it's our heroine's search for her 'holy fire' (art), but it isn't delivered strongly enough to carry on as the theme of the book (and if that isn't the book's theme, then what is?).
This book felt as though Sterling had a pretty good concept, but had trouble finding his own 'holy fire' to accomplish the goal and the publisher was breathing down his neck for a finished product.
Just not fulfilling.
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