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Holy Fire by Bruce Sterling (1997-03-03) Paperback

by Bruce Sterling (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 244 ratings
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Bruce Sterling, named "one of the best thinkers in science fiction today" by Newsweek, now presents a cutting-edge novel about the beginning of the transformation of the human race. "Brilliant . . . fascinating . . . exciting . . . a full complement of thrills."--The New York Review of Science Fiction.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.
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01HC1FVAS
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 244 ratings

About the author

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Bruce Sterling

Bruce Sterling

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Bruce Sterling, author, journalist, editor, and critic,

was born in 1954. Best known for his ten science fiction

novels, he also writes short stories, book reviews,

design criticism, opinion columns, and introductions

for books ranging from Ernst Juenger to Jules Verne.

His nonfiction 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).

He is a contributing editor of WIRED magazine

and writes a weblog. During 2005,

he was the "Visionary in Residence" at Art Center

College of Design in Pasadena. In 2008 he

was the Guest Curator for the Share Festival

of Digital Art and Culture in Torino, Italy,

and the Visionary in Residence at the Sandberg

Instituut in Amsterdam. In 2011 he returned to

Art Center as "Visionary in Residence" to run

a special project on Augmented Reality.

He has appeared in ABC's Nightline, BBC's The Late Show,

CBC's Morningside, on MTV and TechTV, and in Time,

Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times,

Fortune, Nature, I.D., Metropolis, Technology Review,

Der Spiegel, La Stampa, La Repubblica, and many other venues.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
244 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rico Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2024
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I enjoyed the biotechnology presented in this work. One could call the novel "Biopunk."
Without revealing too much, Holy Fire is a philosophical book. Often, I would find myself pondering the various ideas about spirituality, the effects of life-extending biotechnology, and living by taking risks.
Holy Fire is recommended for deep thinking, cyberpunk readers.
Thank you.
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Michael G Kurilla
4.0 out of 5 stars Gerontocratic overreach
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2020
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Bruce Sterling's Holy Fire is a turn of the 22nd century tale of boomers' holy grail. Medicine has advanced to to the point where humans stay healthy and productive well beyond the century mark. As such, there has been little to no generational transfer of wealth and the youth (<50) are getting restless. An older medical economist (in her mid 90's) uses her resources to undergo a still experimental rejuvenation procedure, only to escape and embark on a a youthful adventure filled with sex, drugs, fashion, photography, and a bit of crime and sedition. Along the way, she experiences the stifling and smothering effects on the younger generations as the gerontocrats refuse to yield.

Sterling rather accurately depicts the societal stagnation that accompanies the interruption of the normal generational transition and the societal stagnation that results. The resulting bread and circus for the youth allows for the older generation to simply cruise along with more of the same. The data palace was also quite prescient for the eventual cloud based dispersal of readily available information and storage.
8 people found this helpful
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Katie Sullivan
5.0 out of 5 stars Heady, thought-provoking, compelling.
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2023
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This is Francis, actually. Katie doesnt often stray from non-fiction. This book contains everything I love in a book. It explores deeply the scientific, philosophical, artistic, ethical, and spiritual implications of humanity and post-humanity. I was totally immersed in the main character and completely absorbed, experiencing her adventure first-hand. I was entertained and left pondering both her world and the world around me. Ten thumbs up!!
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Used books on Amazon? Be careful!
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2021
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Content is great, but this is a book club copy. Seller should have shared this info in description.
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GRINGO
5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Fire?
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2012
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The best Sterling EVER. Only flaw is that it was edited down to a sketch of what it could have been. Well maybe then it would have been an overly-long-and-in-need-of-editing Neal Stephenson book. ;) I take it back. Holy Fire was perfect in so many ways. But there were a few loose and undeveloped threads that could have been more developed ... Like what was Holy Fire...really. Holy Fire seemed to imply more than just having a competence to take your place in the world...yet that is all I can glean that it really meant in this book. The title of the book should have had something to do with the plot and theme of the book dontcha think? ...Not just be another throwaway bit of show offy prose. So many amazing ideas and glimpses of the near future that would have been enough in themselves for many writers to pursue in a book. For Sterling it is merely texture. What a painter of texture... a plot may lack ... but the texture is worth the read. What a world we may have to look forward to if only a bit of his vision comes true. The youth Maya hangs with in Europe, so facile with technology yet under employed and yet to find a place in the world, are great metaphor for the disempowered youth of today who showed us their plight in the Occupy Movement recently. Loved the view of the future Art and Fashion worlds and the world of Artifice...neither Art nor Science. Loved the Artspeak and philosophizing about reality vs. artifice. Thought provoking.
7 people found this helpful
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Ed
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting.
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2023
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It is a very interesting story. I do not know why. Try it for yourself. Some tiresome vocabulary. C v
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glassdimly
5.0 out of 5 stars A book written in the sci-fi tradition: "literature of ideas"
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2016
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In a post-plague world, the medical establishment has fused with the government to extend the lives of the most useful, practical and healthy of its citizens. Mia Zimmerman is truly one of these: a gerontocrat. But when a surgery strips off her skin and remakes her brain and body molecule-by-molecule, she is reborn: young again. And it turns out the new Mia craves the youth she never had. Among the druggies and fashion addicts who throw their lives away, the dead-at-forty who resent the rule of the old, by the old, she sees her world from another perspective. Brilliant with age's wisdom and vivid with youth, Mia will find her way up from nothing. Unless the medical establishment can find her and reclaim their investment...

THE GOOD
Bruce Sterling truly writes sci-fi as "a literature of ideas." Holy Fire contains masterful ideas. New technological embellishments crackle from every page in a world with an economy and a history that breathe. Sterling knows his future.

THE BAD
The plot slows about midway through, and the characters lack the vivacity of Sterling's ideas. In the end all the characters show up rather suddenly to opine in various ways, which is great for the book's ideas.
One person found this helpful
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Coder
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2017
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Better than your typical sci-fi but not as good as the average Bruce sterling
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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Prophetic and visceral
Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2024
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I think I like Sterling's short fiction more then his novels, but this was still an entertaining read. If you like his work, you'll like this book, it's full of Brucie goodness
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unclechristo
5.0 out of 5 stars Rereading 20 years on - still takes me there.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2022
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Read this 20ish years ago or more and rereading now on Kindle. It has great atmosphere and a style that is effortless to read, so takes me right THERE.
Recommended for those new to Bruce Sterling.
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AK
4.0 out of 5 stars A bit of holy fire is lacking in Sterling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2010
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The book is a highly intriguing piece of writing and the world Sterling creates - a 2095 Earth, where life extension treatments have created a society run and designed by gerontocrats poses some very real and interesting questions about our future.

Mia Ziemann (aka Maya) - the book's protagonist - is a typical responsible gerontocrat working for the medical-industrial complex. Eventually she decides to participate in a relatively new medical treatment, which promises better life extension possibilities (at a greater risk) and she emerges with the body, urges and desires of a 20 year old woman, with most of her 95 year old mind and experience remaining intact. In the sense of the conflict created that way, Sterling does a wonderful job in the book. He also directionally points out most of the issues that would arise from a gerontocratic society - issues that are slowly creeping up even now.

Where I find him less convincing is that I cannot shake the impression that a lot of this 2095 world is hedged bets, in an attempt to make it more similar to the world of today and hence more easy for current readers to identify with. In that ense some more holy fire on his part, where he jumps into the world a bit more wholeheartedly, would be welcome in my opinion.

The other reason I feel the book is not quite a 5 star in my opinion is the somewhat rushed ending - as if there was a maximum page number to work with and the book had to come to a close.

Overall this still makes for a very fascinating read and should be on every futurologists to read list.
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G D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Holy fire re read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 16, 2017
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A little rambling but that’s the energy of youth...I read this a long time ago, and now, I am much older. Great perspective for this particular novel. He managed something quite special here. Worth a go.
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Mellish
5.0 out of 5 stars What a dude
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2013
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I know Bruce Sterling is world famous, but I still think he's under-rated. Holy Fire is a virtuoso performance, a display of human imagination rarely rivalled. I'm reading everything I can by him - Distractions is also gobsmackingly good.
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