Heavy Weather

by Bruce Sterling

Overview

A near-future eco-thriller from the bestselling author of Schismatrix Plus and The Difference Engine.
 
The Storm Troupers are a group of weather hackers who roam the plains of Texas and Oklahoma, hopped up on adrenaline and technology. Utilizing virtual reality, flying robots, and all-terrain vehicles, they collect data on the extreme storms ravaging an America decimated by climate change. But even their visionary leader can’t predict the danger on the horizon when a volatile new member joins their ranks and faces a trial by fire: a massive tornado unlike any the world has seen before.
 
“A remarkable and individual sharpness of vision . . . Sterling hacks the future, and an elegant hack it is.” —Locus
 
“Lucid and tremendously entertaining. Sterling shows once more his skills in storytelling and technospeak. A cyberpunk winner.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“So believable are the speculations that . . . one becomes convinced that the world must and will develop into what Sterling has predicted.” —Science Fiction Age
 
“A very exciting coming-of-age story in a wild future America . . . What’s it got? Cyberpunk attitude, genuine humor, nanotechnology, minimal sex but some cool medications and very big weather systems.” —SFReviews.net
 
“Brilliant . . . Fascinating . . . Exciting . . . A full complement of thrills.” —The New York Review of Science Fiction

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504063074
Publisher:	Open Road Media
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	148,169
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Bruce Sterling is an American author and one of the founders of the cyberpunk science fiction movement. He began writing in the 1970s; his first novel, Involution Ocean, about a whaling ship in an ocean of dust, is a science fictional pastiche of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. His other works, including his series of stories and a novel, Schismatrix, set in the Shaper/Mechanist universe, often deal with computer-based technologies and genetic engineering. His five short story collections and ten novels have earned several honors: a John W. Campbell Award, two Hugo Awards, a Hayakawa’s SF Magazine Reader’s Award, and an Arthur C. Clarke Award. Sterling has also worked as a critic and journalist, writing for Metropolis, Artforum, Icon, MIT Technology Review, Time, and Newsweek, as well as Interzone, Science Fiction Eye, Cheap Truth, and Cool Tools. He edits Beyond the Beyond, a blog hosted by Wired. 

Sterling is also involved in the technology and design community. In 2003 his web-only art piece, Embrace the Decay, was commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and became the most-visited piece in the museum’s digital gallery. He has taught classes in design at the Gerrit Reitveld Academie in Amsterdam, Centro in Mexico City, Fabrica in Treviso, Italy, and the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Sterling lives in Austin, Texas; Belgrade, Serbia; and Turin, Italy. 
 

Editorial Reviews

Cyberpunk prophet Sterling, whose last book was a nonfiction exploration of computer hackers and the law (The Hacker Crackdown), returns to SF with a near-future thriller. In 2031, the world suffers from ``heavy weather''-tornadoes and typhoons caused by a runaway greenhouse effect. While most people wisely try to avoid the storms, one group of counterculture techno-enthusiasts calling themselves the Storm Troupe chases them through the badlands of Texas and Oklahoma. Led by the visionary scientist Jerry Mulcahey, the Troupe studies the storms with an array of high-tech equipment, trying to document what Mulcahey believes is coming soon-a superstorm, the ``F-6,'' a tornado far more powerful than any ever seen and which might even prove unstoppable, a perpetual violent disturbance ravaging the landscape. When Mulcahey's lover, Juanita (``Jane'') Unger, drags her brother Alex (who suffers from some strange disease as well as an irritating anomie) from an illegal Mexican clinic back to the Troupe's camp, tensions are ignited among the Troupers. But those plot threads are abruptly dropped when the F-6 hits, and the Troupe pulls together to fight the elements. Some similarities between this book and Sterling's previous fiction are evident: the Troupe uses the word ``hack'' as computer users do, saying they ``hack'' heavy weather, and they've got a similar case of technophilia, but it lacks the scope and the big, innovative ideas that gave novels like Islands in the Net their power. This one has some sharp moments and intriguing characters, but it never offers that exciting sense of vision. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A dying young man and his renegade sister find acceptance and meaning in the company of the Storm Troupers, a nomad band of computer hackers and atmospheric researchers who spend their days and nights chasing and documenting the frequent tornadoes that rampage across the Texas landscape. One of cyberpunk's most gifted authors, Sterling (Islands in the Net, Ace Bks., 1989) creates a drama of real world and virtual adventure set against the stark landscape of postgreenhouse America. Along with John Barnes's Mother of Storms (LJ 6/15/94), this high-tech disaster novel should appeal to a wide readership.

Library Journal

In 2031, mankind has ravaged the climate, and tornadoes roam the Texas plains. Following them are the Storm Troupers, a nomadic group of hackers led by a charismatic mathematician. They are attempting to predict the F-G, a supertornado that may overwhelm the entire world. Alex, the brother of one of the Troupers, must battle the heavy weather and his own desperate illness as he attempts to find his own place in the Troupe and the world. Sterling moves far beyond cyberpunk in this tornado-paced story, exploring not only humanity's relationship with the planet but also the intricate connections and bonds of a group of people dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge.

Dennis Winters