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Interview: Ask Bruce Sterling What You Will
One of the founders of the cyberpunk genre, Bruce Sterling needs little introduction to science fiction fans.
You can read what "Chairman Bruce" has to say at Beyond the Beyond on Wired and the Sterling tumblr. He has agreed to to sit down and answer any questions you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one question per post.
Do you feel that a lot of what is happening right now is eerily similar to some of the "what ifs" which cyberpunk has been talking about for decades?
Some days, it seems like everything is unfolding right before our eyes straight out of Orwell and Huxley, and people are embracing it as normal.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Is it your favourite movie?
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The Enterprise, the SDF-1, the Andromeda, or the Galactica?
Looking at your bibliography, the books that I know I've read of yours are The Artificial Kid and Holy Fire. I actually think of bits (skull cannons and immaturity from longevity treatments) from these books on occasion, and was wondering what other books you would recommend from your publications that would attract a magpie?
SaberT
What is Alice and Bob's secret?
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
I have no idea who Bruce Sterling is and I'm a huge sci-fi fan too. Its quite possible to enjoy sci-fi without knowing who wrote, directed it or who created it's genre. Some introduction would have been nice or even just a link to his Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Sterling)
Do you use any formal method to writing, such as the snowflake method? Also, do you recommend any software tools for writing?
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
or is it Terry Gilliams "Brazil"?
(ignore the rules some more; question two).
Wouldn't you like to see a Studio Ghibli animation of the novel "Snowcrash".
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
I get a bit of pessimism from almost all near future sci-fi, but I'm wondering if you feel more pessimistic about where humanity is, and is headed, now.. or back when you started writing?
He tried to kill me with a forklift!
Back when you were wrote the Hacker Crackdown, you described a world where ham-handed and overly zealous law enforcement and hacker culture collided, and predicted more of the same in the future. How has modern day law enforcement evolved in terms of its approach since that time, in what ways is it more savvy, and in what ways does it still strike you as draconian or clumsy in its approach.
When you went on your little tirade back around 1984 regarding Jerry Pournelle & David Drake's writings and comparing them to Pornography, (I believe you used the term war-porn) we as a country were but 9 years past the Vietnam Debacle. Your intense dislike...one might use the word Hatred of these two authors in particular and anything having to do with the Military in general was something I never understood. Flash-forward to 2013...With over 2.5 Million Americans having been deployed to Afghanistan and/or Iraq (over 400,000 deployed three or more times and 37,000 of those deploying 5 times or more), are you still of the belief that Science Fiction stories written by veterans depicting combat are nothing more than "war porn?" For someone who has never served in the military, why do you believe you are an expert on what constitutes "war Porn" vs Military Science Fiction?
"Work is the curse of the drinking class" Oscar Wilde
In his Slashdot interview back in 2004, Neal Stephenson told us about the epic battles that he, William Gibson and you were fighting:
http://slashdot.org/story/04/10/20/1518217/neal-stephenson-responds-with-wit-and-humor
One of my psi blasts kicked up a large divot of earth and rubble, uncovering a silver metallic object, hitherto buried, that seemed to have been crafted by an industrial designer. It was a nitro-veridian device that had been buried there by Sterling. We were able to fly clear before it detonated. The blast caused a seismic rupture that split off a sizable part of Canada and created what we now know as Vancouver Island. This was the last fight between me and Gibson. For both of us, by studying certain ancient prophecies, had independently arrived at the same conclusion, namely that Sterling's professed interest in industrial design was a mere cover for work in superweapons. Gibson and I formed a pact to fight Sterling. So far we have made little headway in seeking out his lair of brushed steel and white LEDs, because I had a dentist appointment and Gibson had to attend a writers' conference, but keep an eye on Slashdot for any further developments.
So, can the story now be told? Who was the eventual winner?
What have you?
please mod up, would love to hear a response.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
Started following you with Islands in the Net, and loved The Difference Engine.
Do your older works still sell and how many copies?
Do you basically make a living from residuals at this point, such that your new work is for fun, or do you still have to write to put food on the table?
Looking back with a little bit of perspective (after the NSA revelations), what do you think of 'The Zenith Angle' now.
Your Mirrorshades anthology introduced me to so many great authors, and really just got me addicted to the entire cyberpunk sub-genre. Any chance you'll collect another great set of authors for a sequel?
Do you even lift?
Bruce, What you will?
Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
now that the internet is long over a decade old and all data is tracked and most companies are federalized except for publicly traded companies, do we need a new network? How do we start it again?
Hey, Bruce.
What is your current feeling on the current trends in fiction - in book form, manga, anime, TV, and film - have we gone away from hard SF towards science fiction focused on relationships and societies, or is this just a surface trend as we deal with the actual implications of reality and the near future?
And, in terms of that, do you think 2020 will be the way many writers thought it would be, or is it vastly different?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Was it that bad?
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Have you had (or received) any interest in bringing the Artificial Kid to film? Thanks.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
Some of my favorite stories were set in the world of the shapers and machinists. Stories such as 20 Evocations and ideas like the super brights. Do you plan to write any more stories dealing with that universe?
Is in this link near the bottom:
http://david-drake.com/2008/newsletter-45/
...why are you such a coporate stooge, and why can't you write any decent SF?
Just asking . . . .
....the three great submediocrities of SF, Sterling, Stephenson and Gibson.
What is your favorite novel that you have ever read? Favorite short story?
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
n/t
Why did you choose Turin, Italy? Just for food and wine, or some reason related to your interests?
I hope this isn't a sore subject, but I recommend your books frequently as examples of "hard" predicitive sci-fi, and I find they're getting harder to find in big bookstores. Some of your fellow "cyberpunks" seem to have complete back catalogs on display, while you often have none. Do you know why, and what we can do to help?
It stands out in your body of work as a steaming pile of used hay. It was written after your "retirement." I am quite pleased that y's theou've continued to write fiction - Zeitgeist would have been a fine last book, but I've enjoyed almost everything you've written since then. Zenith Angle, however, was a true stinker. After my friends and I read it, we would often smoke and speculate that Someone In Government paid you more than your usual per-word rate to come out of retirement to write some recruiting materials. Which were crap. What's the deal, yo?
Do you use emacs or vi?
I keep saying that if I were President, I'd appoint you head of the TSA. Would you accept? If not, who would you recommend for the job?
Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
Uncle Sterling, can you tell us the story about when we got to ask questions from James Gosling but never got the answers? Also, if you could make the story really dark and gloomy, that would be great.
The PC is dead, as you gloriously noted at SXSWi this year. Michael Dell is now officially back at the helm.
What is your advice to Michael Dell?
-l
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As a Czech guy living with an American girl in Prague I'd be interested to know what made you leave USA and what do you like about living in Serbia and Italy?
Assuming that you do read books, the dead-tree type, what genre of books do you like ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !