Crystal Express

by Bruce Sterling

Short stories which depict worlds full of scientific advancement, genetic and surgical modifications of people, colonization of the solar system and alien contact. But they also show concern for the future of real people.

CONTENTS:

Swarm (1982)
Spider Rose (1982)
Cicada Queen (1983)
Sunken Gardens (1984)
Twenty Evocations (1984)
Green Days in Brunei (1985)
Spook (1983)
The Beautiful and the Sublime (1986)
Telliamed (1984)
The Little Magic Shop (1987)
Flowers of Edo (1987)
Dinner in Audoghast (1985)

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

278 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Bruce Sterling is an author, journalist, critic and a contributing editor of Wired magazine. Best known for his ten science fiction novels, he also writes short stories, book reviews, design criticism, opinion columns and introductions to books by authors ranging from Ernst Jünger to Jules Verne. His non-fiction works include The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier (1992), Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years (2003) and Shaping Things (2005).

Reviews

[Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hacía mucho que no daba un cinco porque sí, porque me da la gana, uno de esos cincos que designan los favoritos personales aun sabiendo que la nota es exagerada, pero esta antología ha superado todas mis expectativas y desarmado uno a uno los juicios preconcebidos y el aparato crítico. Lo cual es doblemente notable tratándose de un libro de relatos, a los que difícilmente otorgo la nota máxima salvo que el conjunto sea consistente, sin ninguna fisura. Muy a menudo, cuando me siento a reseñar alguna colección excelente, un solo cuento flojo condena al resto sin piedad; y mientras leía Crystal Express a cada rato estaba temiendo, casi esperando, que eso pasara. Pero no: Bruce Sterling exhibe en este libro una imaginación portentosa y todas sus historias funcionan bien. Sus propuestas e imágenes me han llegado al tuétano y me han transmitido un muy buen rollo, incluso aquellas piezas con líneas menos espectaculares, más mundanas. Si digo que "Días verdes en Brunei" es mi relato favorito (a pesar de que todos me han gustado) creo que queda clara mi impresión. Es muy agradable, a estas alturas, seguir encontrando lecturas capaces de sorprenderle a uno de manera genuina.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like reading Sterling's Mechanist/Shaper stories is like passing some sort of science fiction Rubicon: once you've read them you are officially a nerd, no backsies.

Crystal Express contains, among other short stories, all of Sterling's Mechanist/Shaper stories outside of the novel Schismatrix, and while some of the non-M/S pieces didn't quite do it for me, this collection gets five stars anyway--the quality of the far future M/S world is so vivid and compelling, the alien-ness so amazingly alien (as in Swarm, where two human Shapers live inside an asteroid among large hive-mind insects), that some of the minor faults (the sometimes incoherent off-scene politics, the occasional cypher character) are easily overlooked.

[Olethros · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Muchas temáticas, buenas direcciones.-

Género. Relatos.

Lo que nos cuenta. Recopilación de relatos escritos por el autor entre 1982 y 1987 en los que prima la Ciencia-Ficción (por un lado, como parte de un planteamiento conocido como Formador/Mecanicista, y por otro lado ejercicios de género sin hilo común) pero que tiene lugar también para la Fantasía.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Anna Mocikat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book lying around in my house for years and never got to it. Most of the time I'm busy reading fellow indie authors' works and don't have the time for classics.
Finally, I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did!
Crystal Express is a collection of short stories written by Bruce Sterling in the late 80s and early 90s. Sterling is one of the pioneers of the cyberpunk genre. Some of the stories were cyberpunk, others more space opera and some were fantasy, but most of them were really interesting to read.
Often it is difficult to get into classics when not used to reading them anymore and it took me a bit to get into this book. The prose and art of storytelling have changed quite a bit since the early 90s.
Whereas nowadays most authors try to write as simple and digestible as possible to reach a wide audience, this book has been written at a time when authors expected their readers to make some effort to get into their works.
No author can afford that anymore nowadays, especially not indies. If that's good or bad, I don't know.
As it always is with short story collections, I liked some more than others. I think it's interesting that stories set in the far future age better than the ones in the near future.
The cyberpunk stories in the collection basically got everything wrong that happened between the 90s and now, culturally and technologically, whereas the stories set in the distant future in space still feel relevant.
Some of the stories wouldn't be published today because of PC censorship, which is also interesting to note.
In many ways old books like this one show very clearly why it's important for the cyberpunk genre to become modernized and lose its 80s retro-futurism stigma.
All in all this was an enjoyable and interesting read. I recommend the book to fans of sci-fi classics and early cyberpunk literature.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential collection of early Sterling shorts. Complete TOC above, details at
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?8394
Many of these stories have multiple reprints, and include such classics as
• Swarm • [Shaper/Mechanist] • (1982) • novelette
• Green Days in Brunei • (1985) • novella
• Flowers of Edo • (1987) • novelette
• Dinner in Audoghast • (1985) • short story

Check out this cool cover art for "Cicada Queen" (1983):
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I...
Tech-Medusa! I should reread it.

[Lucy Batson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok collection of misccellaneous storeis from cyberpunk pioneer Bruce Sterling. I was hoping for more, but this was fine.

[A.M. Steiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rock solid collection of short stories split into three sections. The first covers Sterling's own twisted SF universe, the second is more generic SF and the third is history-tinged fantasy.

His style is very sophisticated and intellectual. He manages to combine big ideas with human level interaction in a way few genre authors are capable of.

I didn't know Sterling before reading this, other than as the co-author of The Difference Engine, and I was blown away by how good it was. I will definitely be reading more by him in the future.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

-SHAPER/MECHANIST- Set in Sterling's science fiction universe of the same name, this volume contains all of the short stories from the Shaper/Mechanist universe. It leaves out only the novel, Schismatrix.

Swarm (1982) 5/5 Stars
Captain-Doctor Simon Afriel takes an alien ship out to a colony known as the Swarm. Within it, he meets up with Doctor Minry and they commence their study of the Insectoid Swarm. They hope to harness its power to elevate humanity's status in the universe.
A creepy tale of man's desire for expansion coupled with the pride that comes from brilliance. Several moral issues are touched on and left for the reader to decide what's right. The ending is straight out of a science fiction horror and is a perfect end to the tale. This collection opens with my favorite story of them all.

Spider Rose (1982) 3.5/5 Stars
A woman dulled by medication and loneliness runs an asteroid mining operation with her genetically altered cockroaches. She discovers a large gem and wants to trade it with the alien Investors. However, rather than the usual currency of energy or even advanced tech, she decides to get a pet.
This is definitely one of the stranger tales with a fascinating first half. However, the ending just disappointed me. I think this could have done with being a bit longer.

Cicada Queen (1983) 4/5 Stars
Landau is inducted into the higher levels of his society and comes out from under their direct watch. However, their society has begun to crumble with the rumors of the Queen's abandonment of the colony. With his loyalties split between his mentor's Mars terraforming project and his young love. He must decide what he wants to do as his world crashes in around him.
I'm sure a lot of men can relate to Ladau's struggles with immature love. That, coupled with the lush culture of the colony make this story an excellent read. It is a bit confusing at sections, but it culminates in a harrowing end.

Sunken Gardens (1984) 3/5 Stars
Outcasts are taken in by the regal faction. They participate in terraforming competitions for the Regals and the Lobster King of Mars. Mirasol is trying to win life for herself and her Patternist faction.
An interesting spin on the competition for survival. The idea of altering parts of a planet as sport is really interesting. The moral twist at the end was interesting, but a bit underdeveloped.

Twenty Evocations (1984) 3.5/5 Stars
The life of Nikolai in twenty segments.
This fleshes out of the Shaper/Mechanist universe in much broader strokes than the other short stories.

-SCI-FI- A collection of tales set in the future, but not in the Shaper/Mechanist universe.

Green Days in Brunei (1985) 4.5/Stars
Turner Choi has come to Brunei to repair shipbuilding robots. As he goes about his work he meets a mysterious woman in a bar who turns out to be the princess of Brunei. However, their family obligations interfere with their romance. The country is poor and the internet only allows for text based chat, so the lovers converse through instant message. Finally things come to a head and both must make a choice: their family or their love.
A fantastic love story that reminds me of my younger days talking to girls I liked over MSN messenger. The setting and the characters are rich and the plot is great if a bit overly romantic.

Spook (1983) 2.5/5 Stars
A man called Eugene is given the task of stopping some upstarts in South America. He is cybernetically enhanced and doesn't care about much of anything.
The biggest issue with this story is the main character's lack of identity and care. It is part of the plot and necessary, but it kills any attachment or care about what happens to him. I applaud Mr. Sterling for attempting to write this kind of story and this is certainly the best outcome that could have come from it.

The Beautiful and the Sublime (1986) 1.5/5 Stars
Rich assholes vie for the attentions of noble ladies by embarrassing their rivals.
There are some great love stories in this collection, this is not one of them. All the men are unlikeable bastards, the women are flirtatious bitches and most of them get happy endings... seriously? About the only cool thing in this story is the dragonfly glider. This is definitely the worst story of the lot.

-FANTASY- Some tales featuring one magical thing or event per story.

Telliamed (1984) 3/5 Stars
An interesting tale about a man coming to terms with the meaning and results of his life. Short and decent.

The Little Magic Shop (1987) 3/5 Stars
A surprisingly flippant story about the price of immortality.

Flowers of Edo (1987) 3.5/5 Stars
Several men reflect on the past after a night of drinking in Meiji era Edo. It is basically a night of drunken adventures with travel, forgein liquor and demons.
This probably would have gotten four stars, but the end gets a bit murky... Other than that, I loved the Japanese flavor and how the story treated the protagonists as another group of guys.

Dinner in Audoghast (1985) 3/5 Stars
Men deal with an angry psychic over dinner who predicts bad futures for all of them. Interesting and amusing.


This collection is definitely worth the read even if the most of the best stuff is at the beginning. I really need to read Schismatrix now, but I don't have it! Ah well, all things in good time.

[Carlos González · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imprescindible para todos aficionados al transhumanismo. La serie de Formador/Mecanicista para mí es la mejor que se ha escrito.
Luego encontramos dentro de la recopilación de relatos otros de ciencia ficción y fantasía que no están nada mal.

100% recomendable.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's important to me to not know what a book is about too much before I read it, and so I had no idea this was a short story collection! I was a bit surprised, but rolled with it. I was not feeling great about this book after the first ten pages, but the ending of the first short story was a delight, so I kept going.

The book is divided into sections, with the first part being stories that center around a collective world of Shaper/Mechanists/Investors. I would have been fine if the whole book had been located there. A few of the stories in the other sections felt haphazardly placed, but were engaging enough to ignore this disconnect.

There is a definite 80's vibe and Heinlein flavor to the whole book (the throwaway comment about normally being nude, for instance), although it stretches beyond this pulpiness into deeper, more original territory as the book goes. Word choice and tone remain tight and advanced throughout. This is dense reading, but a rewarding exercise in letting yourself dive down those layers.

[Israel Laureano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro de cuentos del cienciaficcioñero Bruce Sterling. Está dividido en 3 secciones:

Formador/mecanicista
Que a su vez consta de cinco cuentos. En un futuro lejano, la humanidad ya ha conquistado el sistema solar y empieza a hacer viajes interestelares. Hacen contacto con varias especies inteligentes, principalmente los reptiloides "inversores", cuyo interés principal es el comercio, el lucro y las ganancias. Los humanos ya saben que para habitar en estaciones espaciales, colonias extraterrestres o simplemente para viajes espaciales prolongados, tienen que adaptar sus cuerpos. Los formadores defienden que las adaptaciones y cambios se deben hacer alterando la genética humana. Los mecanicistas sostienen que debe hacer modificándose mediante máquinas y convirtiéndose en ciborgs. Los cuentos relatan las aventuras y vivencias de humanos cada vez más modificados y grotescos, tanto genéticamente como por alteraciones biomecánicas mientras las rivalidades entre las dos facciones evolucionan desde las amenazas, la política y el comercio ayudado por los Inversores. Es interesante ver la evolución literaria cada vez más grotesca y lírica de Sterling al escribir estos relatos. Destaca mucho el primer cuento, "Enjambre", llevado a la animación en la 3ª temporada de "Love, Death + Robots" de Netflix.

Ciencia Ficción
Tres cuentos un poco más convencionales, pero situados en un ambiente futurista. No hay mucho que decir, excepto que el primero es bastante estándar y el segundo demasiado futurista y abigarrado. Destaca el tercero, situado en un ambiente decimonónico alternativo.

Fantasía
Cuatro cuentos muy convencionales, algunos apoyados en un ambiente mágico, y los últimos dos casi sin asomo de fantasía, pero con una narración muy agradable del Japón decimonónico y una ciudad de África Occidental en la cumbre de su esplendor durante el siglo X. El primero raya en lo obvio, pero destaca el segundo, con un ambiente bastante fantástico, aunque merecería mejor tratamiento literario.

[Felina Margetty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crystal Express by Bruce Sterling. A Dazzling Cyberpunk Short Story Collection. Sterling brought out Crystal Express in 1989. This vibrant collection pulls together twelve of his best short stories from the 1980s. The book organizes them into three lively sections. The opening group dives deep into the Shaper/Mechanist world. Standouts like Swarm and Spider Rose capture fierce clashes between genetic innovators and cybernetic builders. Alien traders bring sharp wit and unexpected twists to these tales.
This collection truly shines with its creative energy and wide imagination. Sterling captures the raw excitement of cyberpunk while pushing boundaries far beyond typical limits. Readers move from intense solar-system adventures to clever near-future commentaries. Pieces like Green Days in Brunei add humor and insight. Even fantasy entries such as Dinner in Audoghast deliver wonder and cultural depth. Every story brims with fresh ideas about technology and human growth. The writing stays sharp and forward-thinking. Sterling blends hope with thoughtful warnings in ways that inspire.
Crystal Express deserves more spotlight among cyberpunk favorites. Short stories sometimes fly under the radar compared to novels. The bold jumps across styles can surprise readers at first. Yet this variety reveals Sterling's remarkable skill and range. It makes a perfect companion to his longer works like Schismatrix.
Anyone who enjoys Gibson's intensity will love this book. Crystal Express sparks new ideas and opens wider doors to future worlds. It brings pure joy through inventive storytelling. This collection stands as a true highlight of the genre. Five stars out of five.

[Leguti Basasta]

For me the transition from 80's to 90's cyber fiction was a rocky road. Crystal Expressis both the perfect goodbye to the 80's and the new hello of cyberpunk in the 90's. Released the same year as Gibson’s Mona Lisa Overdrive, it was instantly seen as the capstone that closed ta wild foundational phase of the movement. Yet with every story it also kicks the door open to something larger: the classic mirrorshades sprawl gives way to planetary bio-engineering, ideological schisms, and outright post-human weirdness.
Sterling’s Shaper/Mechanist tales (“Swarm,” “Spider Rose,” “Twenty Evocations”) and the Third-World cyberpunk of “Green Days in Brunei” distil the genre’s purest essence, while the quantum, probability-surfing title story already feels like the first page of whatever comes next. Compared to Gibson’s noir cool, Sterling’s cyberpunk is wetter, stranger, more politically savage, and far more alien; proving the movement belonged to him just as much. In one slim volume he buried 1980s cyberpunk and invented its future at the same time.

[MMC_ensemble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this collection of short stories at a second-hand book store following watching Sterling’s many lectures on tech art, new technology, and futurism. Despite his style having been labeled cyberpunk, these stories cover a wide range of genres. I enjoy his references to art and music. Also, many of the stories seem Transrealist. I feel as if I am present…suspending the narrative of now while still consciously observing the pushing operations of the present, formatting new interpretations in immediate currents transverifying the activity of transference of the present real. I hope to write some interdiscliplinary sonic realizations of the Shaper stories. I also really enjoy “Green Days in Brunei”, as it seems right out of “Warm Worlds and Otherwise”. What a creative and imaginative author whose aesthetic is always consciousness of the contemporary while remembering the past. Great references to Heordotus in some of the stories.

[Jorge L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brillante!!!!
Es la primera vez que leo una coleccion de historias cortas y vaya que fue una muy grata experiencia.
Las historias, diverss ,dispares, intrigantes, atrapantes y lógicas dentro de su universos me han llevado por diversos mundos en un solo bote...
Ha sido como realizar un viaje alrededor del mundo von escala en cada continente y en diferentes épocas.
Cada historia está muy bien estructurada y en tan pocas páginas quiero conocer más de cada mundo, desde el rey langosta en marte hasta los demonios de la modernidad de Edo...
Altamente recomendado, buscaré mas de este genial escritor

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bruce Sterling is one of the pioneers of that variety of science fiction where technology and human beings fuse together to create something new— cyberpunk! This book contains some of the greatest examples of that subgenre, best among which is 'Spider Rose'— a sublime and haunting story full of grim violence and beauty.
It also contains several non-scifi stories, which actually dragged the collection down. But then again, like the proverbial ending sting, it gifted us with the astonishing fantasy— 'Dinner in Audoghast'.
Overall, a truly delightful collection of sff. Recommended.

[Taseen Muhtadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was led to this book while looking for the short stories that were the inspiration for the Love, Death and Robots series. Some of the stories I'd read before as part of Schismatrix Plus, some were new to me. It's a bit of a mixed bag. I loved some of the stories, some didn't work me. DINNER IN AUDOGHAST and SWARM left an impression on me. I'd already read the Shaper/Machinist short stories and they were fairly good. The rest didn't really stand out to me. A moderately short collection, nothing to write home about.

[Adjnaandja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zbirka prica objavljivanih po casopisima fantastike. Zanimanne za ovu zbirku proizaslo je iz kratkog animiranog filma inspirisanog pricom iz ove zbirke u Netflixovoj seriji nezavisnih kratkih filmova 'Love, death and robots'. Pomenuta prica je 'Swarm'. Radi se o naucniku futuristicne ljudske rase koji dolazi na planetu-leglo vanzemaljskih rasa koje funkcionisu kao savrseni ekosistem, ili simbioza organizama gde se njihova ponasanja i uloge kontorolisu nekom vrstom hormona. Koja nisu svesna i nemaju osecanja a sastoje se od raznih rasa vanzemaljaca gde svaki ima svoju ulogu u sistemu. Vec neko vreme jos jedna zena ljudske rase, biolog, zivi u leglu i proucava nacine funkcionisanja. Naucnik dolazi pod parolom da zeli da razume leglo, medjutim tajni plan je da u kapsuli smestenoj u njegovoj cevanici prokrijumcari genetski materijal, kako bi reprodukovao slican ekosistem koji ce koristiti za potrebe ljudi. Pre toga je potrebno da izvrsi eksperiment sa uzorkom koji je doneo koji ima namenu da porveri da li se pod uticajem uzorka jedinke ekosistema ponasaju kako je ocekivano. Naizgled sve ide po planu i naucnik planira da uskoro napusti leglo sa uzorkom po koji je dosao. Medjutim nakon ekspirementa razvija se novi deo sistema, eksperiment je trigerovao reprodukciju intelignetnog dela legla koje se razvija velikom brzinom i koje na kraju zarobljava naucnicu i konzimiranjem njenog mozga dobija sve informacije o zaveri koju planira da spreci. Naucnik ima dve opcije da bude ubijen i kloniran za potrebe legla ili da se reprodukuje i bude ucitelj svojim pokoljenjima koja ce takodje raditi za potrebe legla. Naucnik pristaje na drugu opciju sa nadom da ce uspeti da se otrgne iz legla ...
Knjiga se sastoji iz tri dela, prvi deo su price iz istog sveta odakle je i 'Swarm', relativno zanimljive. Drugi deo mi se nije svideo, radi se o futuristicnim pricama raznih likova na zemlji. Treci deo su fantasy price i svaka je drugacija i jako su zanimljive.

[Carlos Piélago Rojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5
Otro libro encontrado en una librería de segunda mano y ha sido una grata sorpresa. Es un libro de relatos y se divide en varias secciones: Formador/mecanicista, Ciencia Ficción y Fantasia. Los primeros tratan sobre un mundo de ciencia ficción creado por el autor, donde varias facciones se disputan el poder en el universo, todo muy cyberpunk, los relatos de ci-fi son los que me han parecido más flojos, aún así mantienen el interés y "Días verdes en Brunei" me ha parecido un relato largo de lo más interesante, y los relatos de fantasía me han parecido de lo mejor, son todos muy buenos.

[Aaron Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plus:
The Shaper/Mechanist stories are definitely the big selling point/highlight here.

Minus:
Some misses at times. I wasn't big on Spook and some of the other non-Shaper/Mechanist stories.

Interesting:
The use of real historical figures and places in some of the stories is neat addition to the fantasy stories.
Reading about those figures then adds some extra context and/or insight about those times.

[Durval Menezes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious short story collection. It's been a long time since I've read anything from Sterling, and it's good to read him again. I came originally for the ser of Shaper vs Mechanist stories, but the others are also very good. Will have to read more Sterling soon, he has something unique on his style which is very pleasing.

[Baronne Samedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this too late: the themes covered are not original enough for me anymore, as I read a lot of other science-fiction before I met this book, to the point of having "déjà-vu" feelings. However the writing style is excellent and sensitive, so I might read a more recent book from the same author.

[Lord Humungus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. It included I think several shaper/mechanist stories plus other golden nuggets I had read in year's best collections. Though I hadn't learned it yet, eventually it would become clear to me that Sterling was best served in these small, propulsive doses rather than the more indulgent, sometimes aimless wanderings of his novels.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/10. media de los 3 libros leídos del autor: 4/10

Considerado uno de los padres del ciberpunk (corriente de la CF que, en general, me gusta). Pues bien, lo será pero no me ha aprobado ninguno de sus tres libros leídos.

[Mellon Collie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me pasa como con GRRM: mundos originales, acción, muchísima descripción al detalle de todo que hace que me cueste avanzar o meterme en profundidad y así como si nada termina. Imposible que no me deje un sabor amargo.

[Angel B.A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sterling es más interesante que Gibson, pero para mí el cyberpunk realmente entretenido no está en ellos.

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good collection of short stories. As usual, some are mediocre, some are good and some are very good.

[Earl Truss · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were only three stories in this book that I had not read before. They were OK, not the best though.

[Jon Pennycook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not very good value for money. I love the Shaper/Mechanist stories. The other SF stories varied in how much I enjoyed them (I skipped the last), and I didn't read any of the Fantasy stories.

[Fraser Burnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dinner in Audoghast" is one of my favourite stories, that's it.
'Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!'