Divided into three sections; Shaper/Mechanist, Science-Fiction
and Fantasy, Crystal Express provides a series of vignettes
for the reader. Sterling's Shaper/Mechanist saga follows the
developments of the two parties through war, peace and nervous
antebellum. Starting with a story called the Swarm, the allegories
are firmly underway; justifications for Caananite slavery in the
name of science destroyed by sheer humanity (or entymology).
Through a series of characters neurotic about their own societies,
the Mechanists and Shapers represent the human need for
perfection - with the reptillian Investors acting almost as Greek
Chorus - and yet despite their advances we are still filled with
horror. Sterling is offering a grim caveat that we need to retain
our humanity, no matter what devices become viable to us. The
last Shaper/Mechanist, Twenty Evocations, is in itself a series
of short stories, encompassing the life of a Shaper and yet with
the twist of each sinking deeper to what we conceive to be our
souls. So much for the Shaper/Mechanists, then. What of the
rest of the book? Amongst them are the romance and beauty
of Green Days in Brunei; evocative and rich, though the storyline
somewhat askewed; the twist at the end also questions our
beliefs of what is beautiful and what should be pursued, and
Spook, a delightful thriller-macabre, is essentially Heart of
Darkness with an unexpected twist, and a few nods to the
inhumanity of medical technology. The Fantasy section
reinforces one's conception of Sterling as an iconoclast, his
sly yet almost whimsical story of a man who attains eternal
life without the expected regret destroys a thousand myths;
wise men of an ancient city discuss their eternal reign and;
in perhaps the strangest, yet most wildly exotic in its reality,
deals with the coming of electricity to Japan. In this last, there
are no allegories, aside from a sense that now Japan has lost
all its magic and wonder, just human beauty and rich, rich,
lovingly-researched detail