Distraction

Rating:
Summary: Keep the SciFi, Lose the Romance
Review: First, I must admit that I didn't finish this book. I tried very hard, but just couldn't do it. I can read Greg Bear and Neal Stephenson, but I couldn't make it through my first Sterling novel.

Things started off good, with Sterling expanding on the idea of the "cult of personality". In this world, anyone who is anyone has a krewe: a stylist, a media person, a PR person, and a security person. Only proles and scientists dress down.

Turns out this structure is a result of hyperinflation and the complete collapse of the American economy. The Chinese accomplished this by making "all English-language intellectual property available on their nets at no charge". As Sterling says, "The American people would just have to get over the fact that software no longer had any economic value". Now that's an idea to start a novel with!

But just when things get cookin', Sterling introduces a love affair between Oscar, the man around whom the krewe revolves, and Greta, a scientist. Separately the two characters are fine, but together, they make no sense. There is no reason for them to be together, and they aren't together,...

There are all sorts of great ideas in this book, but the pieces never come together as a compelling whole...

Rating:
Summary: My copy is missing pages.....
Review: I was reading this book on a cross-country flight last night and discovered that I am missing pages 217-248. I still can't decide if that matters or not.....

This is a truly weird book. I keep getting a feeling like I'm in a room with a group of people sharing inside jokes that they aren't letting me in on.

Still, I'm enjoying it - I think.

Rating:
Summary: Not up to Sterling's best
Review: Sterling is very good at coming up with plausible (but crazy) high-tech (but chaotic) and above all *interesting* future worlds. In some previous books, he's done a good job of showing us those worlds through the eyes of someone not directly in the center of the action, someone who is (like us) at least partly tangential. (Contrast this with Vernor Vinge, say, whose hero often *is* the center of the action [overgeneralization mode off].)

In "Distraction", Sterling carries this a step too far. While the future world is interesting and full of wild and fascinating characters and phenomena, virtually all the cool stuff happens far off-camera, and we're sentenced to following around a fast-talking but basically rather clueless and shallow political operative, Oscar Valparaiso, as he wanders in and out of various artificial situations for no particular reason.

The frustrations caused by this are numerous. One glaring example: Oscar's main love interest is Greta, a top cognition scientist working in (and sometimes running) a cool government research center inside a big glass dome. At one point in the book, we discover that a neat strange cool cognitive technology has been developed. Sounds like it should all fit together? No, as it turns out the technology was developed sometime before the book started, in some other state, by scientists who used to work at Greta's lab but quit.

The only thing the tech has to do with Oscar and Greta is that it's used on them, as passive victims, near the end of the book, when Sterling seems to be grasping for enough new plot to fill out the page count. Tsk! Greta's character, and the title of the book, suggest that Sterling may have started out with some tighter idea about the technology and function of human attention and distraction; but if so the idea got abandoned somewhere along the way.

I'd love to read a book set in this world, from the viewpoint of one of the proles who travel the country in gangs living off harvested roadside weeds, or one of the people trying to put out Wyoming (which is on fire), or someone in Holland (with which the US is conducting a Cold War). Stuck with Oscar Valparaiso, I could only writhe in frustration.

Sterling fans will want to read this; I don't particularly recommend it to anyone else. Read "Schismatrix", read "Crystal Express", read "Islands in the Net", read "The Artificial Kid". If you've read all those and are dying for more Sterling, read this, but don't set your expectations for it too high...

Rating:
Summary: Fun read but falls off at the end
Review: There are a few authors on my Buy-On-Sight list and Bruce is one of them. His vision of the future is always plausible, entertaining and rich with detail and depth, his characters are engaging and entertaining. Although Distraction is no exception, the book is more stream-of-consciousness than narrative. Since Oscar Valparasio the protaganist lives life in fast-forward mode, this can be a little challenging for the reader.

This reader supposes that "distraction" is as much a metaphor for the book itself as it is about the story. Oscar is a guy who likes to imagine himself as being in control, if not of his destiny then at least of the current situation, but in fact is hopelessly adrift in the currents of life. Most of the characters do not seem to quite understand their own motivations for what they do. Ultimately distractions bubble up from fractal depths: unsettling events disturb the characters individually, the various sub plots, the main story and finally the reader.

At the end, several subplots are wrapped up but the main story drifted off and I found myself looking for more pages. I was confused and didn't know at first what to make of it. Finally, I realized Bruce had written me into the story. The book was my distraction and I was an unwitting participant! I give a good 4 stars for a great job with a tough narrative style. I would like to see more of this style from Bruce but I would suggest prolonged exposure to Firesign Theatre beforehand to get that coved 5-star rating.

Rating:
Summary: I just couldn't remain focused on "Distraction"
Review: Although I am not an avid reader of books that speculate about "near-future" events, the incredible reviews I read about this book made me believe that I wouldn't be able to put this story down. Unfortunately, it seems that the reviewers were simply trying to sell this book rather than actually critique it. I was simply fooled.

The main problem with "Distraction" is that the main characters have little or no personality. Face it: if the reader doesn't find the characters interesting, the rest of the story will mean nothing. The story itself contains elements that are just plain hokey, serving little or no purpose other than to take up space. I realize that this book takes place in the future, but some of the "modern" inventions should be at least somewhat believable (i.e., there is a meaningless scene which involves the main character going out in the middle of the night and constructing a huge building out of some kind of do-it-yourself kit. This is the near-future? Right!). Some of these elements make Star Wars seem more realistic.

As for the advertised mind-blowing plot....well, that isn't evident until well into the book, and at the point that it may or may not be figured out the reader has long since ceased to care about anything aside from the last page. The only politics that have an interesting "spin" on them is the advertising campaign for this book.

For fans that crave futuristic yet somewhat believable stories I suggest the Otherland series by Tad Williams. Williams' creation of a virtual-reality internet world has a chilling sense of possibilty to it. Then again, any distraction from "Distraction" is worthy of praise.

Rating:
Summary: Sterling has lost his edge
Review: Starting with Holy Fire, and now Distraction, Sterling has hit a slump. Gone is are the captivating plots of Heavy Weather and Islands in the Net. Replacing them is a somewhat disjointed snapshot of a future time. Sterling's technology predictions are intriguing and believable, as always. But in Distraction, and Holy Fire as well, one gets the feeling that once he had two-thirds of the story-arc in mind, he started writing. The result is that there is little tension and little convergence. In point of fact, in Distraction and Holy Fire there is nothing to 'converge'. Sterling picks a single character and sticks with them. The lack of intertwining of major characters or plot lines yields a very flat, one-dimensional story. Another reviewer said 'Sterling eats Neal Stevenson's lunch'. Not hardly. Stevenson has proven himself a Di Vinci, and unfortunately, Sterling himself a Worhol. Read this book if you are a Sterling fan, if not, there are much better Sterling books to read. If I could give half-star ratings this would've been a 2 1/2.

Rating:
Summary: Good political satire
Review: Welcome to the United States in November 2044. If you think thinks are bad now, hang on. Global warming is causing the seas to rise. Pollution spilling out of the Mississippi River has created a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The information economy has crashed after a bloodless war with China. We're in the midst of a Cold War with the Dutch. The Air Force is broke and forced to run a "bake sale" extortion racket. Enter political operative Oscar Valpariso, a guy with an agenda who wants to get something done.

If you like immersing yourself in future landscapes or enjoy political satire, then this is the book for you. Bruce Sterling does a great job of realizing the surroundings and a better job explaining how they managed to get all messed up. "Distraction" is a wild ride through an all too plausible political landscape. Be warned this is not heavy science fiction. This is dark, cynical satire.

And, by the way, I have no trouble with Oscar's personal problem.

Rating:
Summary: Not distracting enough
Review: It was pretty difficult to get into this book, and I'm a big Bruce Sterling fan, but the characters were so jaded that I couldn't muster up enough interest to keep turning the pages and find out what happened next. Heavy Weather was much, much better... skip this one unless you have a long bus ride ahead.

Rating:
Summary: A Lit of Ideas
Review: I think my brain is wired to Sterling's style. Even when his story endings are not completely satisfying (as in Holy Fire), I always enjoy the ride. I personally enjoyed the sort of meandering way he started Distraction and then led up to the actual story around page 90. He has the ability to create worlds that I find constant pleasure in exploring. Even little things like the description of the small riot at the beginning of the novel, or the politics of science (not so little). I loved the manic "doable"ness of Oscar, and the story definately picked up for me (even though I was enjoying it anyway) when he first returns to D.C. I always like it when a writer (especially a science fiction writer) takes a character or situation, and pushes it beyond the limits of the conventions set up by the author. This is also why I enjoyed Greg Egan's "Distress". Too many science fiction writers create these worlds, amd then seem terrified to change them too much. Gibson hasn't done it for me since "Neuromancer", but Sterling always provides me with clever bit's of dialogue to chuckle over, funny notions to ponder, and other fascinating ideas that manage to scratch that one itch buried somewhere in my grey matter that few other writers can access.

Rating:
Summary: Not A Distraction
Review: Full disclosure: I put the book down after 90 pages. I'd like to tour Bruce Sterling's mind sometime; it must be one hell of a ride. But Distraction, although chock full of Sterling's usual future visions, doesn't work. By the time Oscar got around to confessing his origin to Greta I knew I'd had enough -- it just wasn't working for me. If you're looking for a compelling distraction, look elsewhere. Great ideas or not, it's still the story that matters. If you must have this book opt for the paperback and save a few bucks.