Holy Fire (Bantam Spectra Book) - Bruce Sterling

Get young and bum around Europe

Overall the idea of turning into a young person again when nearly at the twilight of your life is perhaps the dream of everyone, yet when Maya gets this chance it seems she doesnt do anything with it.
The book started out strong with her escaping to find her own way but quickly the book lost its way and just like the main character just kept wandering back and forth.
This to me is too bad as I normally consider this author very strong in his writing but I get the feeling he just want sure what to do with this so he kept writing and writing till the book was filed.

My favorite Sterling book

I actually took a class in SF as Literature in college learned that the best SF was supposed to tell you something about people. Unfortunately, there is a lot of SF that doesn't even try, but this book was a nice example of setting up a futuristic setting and then looking at people. Think about what would happen to a very old woman if she REALLY did have the same body AND brain of a teenager again. Would she act in ways her 60 something children would approve of? Sterling is not my favorite, but this is worth a read.

Not Free SF Reader

A realised version of the old people are boring meme. Rejuvenation
treatments are available to those that can afford them, and these lead
to, of course, those very elderly being in control through wealth and
influence. They tend to lead static, safe, placid lives to protect
their investment in themselves.

So, any change can only come through the young who avoid any of the
existing technology. Here, one of the former group crosses to the
latter, slumming to some degree.

Like an Altman movie

Previous reviewers here have touched most of the bases. This is a meander, not a nail-biter. It reminds me of one of the Sprawling Robert Altman films like "Nashville" with numerous characters and set pieces strung loosely together.

Sterling occasionally seems to be trying to show how witty he is. But I found much to enjoy in this book. One pleasure, a cyber-punk mainstay, is utter confidence in the wordplay depicting the fabulous computer networks of a future world, with wearable super-power communication hardware, etc.

I appreciated, actually, that the story took more interest in its amusing characters than in plot development to some sort of climax. That said, there is occasional action and excitement. It's true the central Mia / Maya character wasn't deeply drawn, but I liked her and her adventurous spirit.

Altogether a fun, light read that made me think a bit.

Surprisingly Excellent

This book was a big surprise to me. I have been a fan of the Cyberpunk or Movement genre since the 80's, and while Gibson and Rucker have captivated me with almost every book they write, Sterling's work has always... lacked something for me. I've enjoyed his short stories more than I have his novels, and have given them a fair shot. Most of them I would rate about a 3.

This novel however, I place squarely in the full 5 star category. The best works of fiction, be they SciFi, Horror, Literature or what have you, are those which make one reflect upon oneself and the nature of existence. This book falls into such august company. A few of the reviews here mention the lack of action or resolution, but I think that they have missed the point. Mia/Maya is discovering both what it means to be an individual and what the nature of life is. She is both an observer and a participant as she is neither truly old or young. Her "wanderjahr" is an exploration and evolution of self and as such, despite the futuristic trappings resonates with the individual quest for the self and what lies beyond it in all of our lives no matter where we are on life's journey. I would hope that everyone makes such a journey in their lives (whether literally or metaphorically), or better yet, experiences life as a continuous unfoldment of same. Highly recommended, in my opinon Sterling's absolute best.