Heavy Weather

I recently reread this book, and I like it much better than some of Sterling's more recent books like Holy Fire or Distraction. The plot is less meandering than the other books, but does have many intersting diversions. Sterling casually throws off some ideas and commentaries about technology and society that could provide whole books for lesser writers. The tone of the book, while describing some scary and intense events, is nevertheless wry and affectionate toward the characters. I think this one holds up well.

Maybe this is controversial but I would say that this is his best book in the following sense: it has real characters that are sympathetic, it balances his tendency towards over abstraction with a more plot driven approach, and it retains all the best elements of well researched hard sf. Even if you haven't liked him before, but you like more action oriented hard sf, you will like this book.

"Heavy Weather" is one of Bruce Sterling's finest novels. Of his recent efforts, I found it almost as satisfying and mesmerizing a tale as his critically acclaimed "Holy Fire". In both books he creates very appealing, well-rounded characters whose believable actions quickly move their plots along. Both Alex and Janey Unger are two of his most memorable characters; the plot unfolds through their eyes. Admittedly, Sterling's meteorology seems a bit far fetched, yet it is grounded well in science; it may be an accurate prediction of a future adversely affected by the "greenhouse effect". Sterling's dense prose is quite vivid, and among his most lyrical to date. Naturally comparisons to William Gibson's early work can be made, but that should not detract from Sterling's thoughtful, inspired view of a potential American future. It certainly should be regarded as among the finest works of cyberpunk fiction, written by one of its foremost proponents.

This book slipped up on me. In 1997/98 El Nino was leading to many of the meterological concepts that are in the book becoming common knowledge through news analyses. At first I had thought Sterling was making some of them up. His book took on new meaning, thanks to this fortuitous timeliness. Or was it fortuitous? But the book stayed with me, occupied my thoughts and my imagination off and on, long after I had finished it, longer than El Nino lasted, and it was not because I had learned what an F-6 tornado might be. It is easy to overlook or underestimate the fact of Alex's age while reading this book. If you keep his age in mind, you may agree that this character study is superior to Catcher In the Rye in many ways (well, of course, it has better science than Catcher!). All the characters are carefully drawn. There is a sense of wonder in this book; and it has good science, good SF ideas, and an appropriately developed corresponding social milieu. I think, perhaps, the word brilliant is deserved; certainly, the book is one helluva read. Sterling has a distinctive voice, and it is a good one. There is a place or two where the action is not quite on the mark or an immaturity is evidenced that is not Alex's, and that-- along with the book's genre status-- might be enough to keep it off an English professor's shelf of "literature". But my copy will be on my shelf of literary works.

Several months after reading this book, my brother put the movie "Twister" on, and having seen it before, he tried to get me to watch it, claiming all sorts of good things about it. Well, I hung around for a few minutes, so as not to be rude, but immediately upon seeing it, the first thing that hit my mind was "Hey, this is a rip off of Bruce Sterling's Heavy Weather!" And while I'm sure the makers of "Twister" had no intention of emulating Sterling's novel, the similarities are very striking. Still, the sad fact remains that Heavy Weather did the topic first, better, and pulled it off with more ease and ideas. But this isn't a comparsion review, so let's forget "Twister" and talk about Heavy Weather. With this book, it appears that Sterling breaks away from the cyberpunk roots of Gibson and others, but at the same time he remains true to those same routes. Heavy Weather does not have computers, or people fighting the huge Man who is trying to keep the little guy down using only their knowledge and wits. There are elements of that, of course, but Sterling tries to convey something different here, a sense of the weather as a force. Computer, they are constructed by men, and we can understand them. Who can understand the weather? And that is the main pursuit of the Storm Troupe, to understand, explain, and comprehend, all while having a little fun at the same time. Sterling should be congratulated on such a fine book that clearly was ahead of its time, seeing the success of "Twister" a few years later (oops I said I wasn't going to compare. Oh, well). It ranks among his finest