Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''
Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...
subgenre.
Sterling's first science-fiction story, "Man-Made Self", was sold in 1976. He is the author of science-fiction novels, including ''
Schismatrix'' (1985), ''
Islands in the Net'' (1988), and ''
Heavy Weather'' (1994). In 1992, he published his first non-fiction book, ''
The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier''.
He has been interviewed for documentaries such as ''
Freedom Downtime'', ''
TechnoCalyps'' and ''
Traceroute''.
Writing
Sterling is one of the founders of the
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...
movement in science fiction, along with
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...
,
Rudy Rucker
Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (; born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known f ...
,
John Shirley
John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...
,
Lewis Shiner, and
Pat Cadigan. In addition, he is one of the subgenre's chief
ideological
An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...
promulgators. This has earned him the nickname "Chairman Bruce". He was also one of the first organizers of the
Turkey City Writer's Workshop, and is a frequent attendee at the
Sycamore Hill Writer's Workshop. He won
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
s for his novelettes "
Bicycle Repairman" (1996) and "
Taklamakan" (1998). His first novel, ''
Involution Ocean'' (1977), features the world Nullaqua where all the
atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...
is contained in a single, miles-deep
crater
A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...
. The story concerns a ship sailing on the ocean of dust at the bottom and hunting creatures called dustwhales. It is partially a science-fictional
pastiche
A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...
of ''
Moby-Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' by
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
.
In the early 1980s, Sterling wrote a series of stories set in the
Shaper/Mechanist universe: the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
is
colonized, with two major warring factions. The Mechanists use a great deal of computer-based mechanical technologies; the Shapers do
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...
on a massive scale. The situation is complicated by the eventual contact with
alien civilization
A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...
s; humanity eventually splits into many subspecies, with the implication that some of these vanish from the galaxy, reminiscent of the
singularity in the works of
Vernor Vinge. The Shaper/Mechanist stories can be found in the collections ''
Crystal Express'' and ''Schismatrix Plus'', which contains the novel ''Schismatrix'' and all of the stories set in the Shaper/Mechanist universe.
Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Preston Reynolds (born 13 March 1966) is a Welsh science fiction author. He specialises in hard science fiction and space opera.
Early life
Reynolds was born in Wales and spent his early years in Cornwall before moving back to Wales, ...
identified ''Schismatrix'' and the other Shaper/Mechanist stories as one of the greatest influences on his own work.

In the 1980s, Sterling edited the science fiction critical fanzine ''
Cheap Truth'' under the alias of Vincent Omniaveritas. He wrote a column called ''Catscan'' for the now-defunct science fiction critical magazine ''SF Eye''. He contributed a chapter to ''Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture'' (MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller, a.k.a.
DJ Spooky
Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American Electronic music, electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". ...
. From April 2009 through May 2009, he was an editor at ''
Cool Tools''.
From October 2003 to May 2020 Sterling blogged a
"Beyond the Beyond" which was hosted by ''
Wired
Wired may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976
* ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993
* ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017
* "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street''
* "Wired ...
'' until the COVID-19 pandemic led
Condé Nast
Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...
to cut back because of an advertising slump. He also contributed to other print and online platforms, including ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...
''.
Writing projects
He has been the instigator of three projects which can be found on the Web:
* The
Dead Media Project: A collection of "research notes" on dead media technologies, from
Inca
The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...
n
quipus, through Victorian
phenakistoscopes, to the departed
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
and home computers of the 1980s. The Project's homepage, including Sterling's original ''Dead Media Manifesto'' can be found at deadmedia.org.
* The
Viridian Design Movement: His attempt to create a "green" design movement focused on high-tech, stylish, and ecologically sound design. The Viridian Design home page, including Sterling's ''Viridian Manifesto'' and all of his ''Viridian Notes'', is managed by
Jon Lebkowsky. The Viridian Movement helped to spawn a popular "bright green" environmental weblog
Worldchanging. WorldChanging contributors include many of the original members of the Viridian "curia".
* Embrace the Decay: A web-only art piece commissioned by the Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in 2003. Incorporating contributions solicited through The Viridian Design 'movement', Embrace the Decay was the most visited piece/page at LA MOCA's Digital Gallery, and included contributions from Jared Tarbell o
levitated.netand co-author of several books on advanced
Flash programming, and Monty Zukowski, creator of the winning 'decay algorithm' sponsored by Sterling.
Neologisms
Sterling has coined various
neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
s to describe things that he believes will be common in the future, especially items which already exist in limited numbers.
* In the December 2005 issue of ''Wired'' magazine, Sterling coined the term buckyjunk to refer to future, difficult-to-recycle consumer waste made of
carbon nanotubes
A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with a diameter in the nanometre range (nanoscale). They are one of the allotropes of carbon. Two broad classes of carbon nanotubes are recognized:
* ''Single-walled carbon nanotubes'' (''SWC ...
, a.k.a. buckytubes, based on buckyballs or
buckminsterfullerene
Buckminsterfullerene is a type of fullerene with the formula . It has a cage-like fused-ring structure ( truncated icosahedron) made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, and resembles a football. Each of its 60 carbon atoms is bonded to i ...
.
* In his 2005 book ''Shaping Things'', he coined the term
design fiction which refers to a type of speculative design which focuses on
worldbuilding
Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world or setting (narrative), setting, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing the world with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, culture and ecology is a k ...
.
* In July 1989, in ''SF Eye #5'', he was the first to use the word "
slipstream
A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or water) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving object, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is moving. The term slips ...
" to refer to a type of speculative fiction between traditional science fiction and fantasy and mainstream literature.
* In August 2004, he suggested a type of technological device (he called it "
spime") that, through pervasive
RFID
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...
and
GPS tracking, can track its history of use and interact with the world.
Bibliography
Sterling's novels include:
* ''
Involution Ocean'' (1977)
* ''
The Artificial Kid'' (1980)
* ''
Schismatrix'' (1985)
* ''
Islands in the Net'' (1988)
* ''
The Difference Engine'' (1990; with
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...
)
* ''
Heavy Weather'' (1994)
* ''
Holy Fire'' (1996)
* ''
The Zenith Angle'' (2004)
* ''
The Caryatids'' (2009)
* ''Love Is Strange'' (2012)
Personal life

In the beginning of his childhood he lived in
Galveston, Texas
Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...
until his family moved to India. Sterling spent several years in India and has a fondness for
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
films. In 1976, he graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism.
In 1978, he was the
Dungeon Master for a ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'' game whose players included
Warren Spector, who cited Sterling's game as a major inspiration for the game design of
''Deus Ex''.
In 2003, he was appointed professor at the
European Graduate School where he is teaching summer intensive courses on media and design.
In 2005, he became "visionary in residence" at
ArtCenter College of Design
The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California.
It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...
in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
. He lived in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
with Serbian author and film-maker
Jasmina Tešanović for several years, and married her in 2005. In September 2007 he moved to
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
, Italy.
Both Sterling and artist and musician
Florian-Ayala Fauna are
sponsors for
V. Vale's
RE/Search
RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fa ...
newsletter.
Awards
* 1989
John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner for the novel ''
Islands in the Net''
* 1997
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
winner for the novelette "
Bicycle Repairman"
* 1999
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
winner for the novelette "
Taklamakan"
* 1999
Hayakawa's S-F Magazine Reader's Award
The is an annual poll conducted by ''SF Magazine, Hayakawa's S-F Magazine'' for the best Japanese short story, illustrator, and foreign short story, voted by the readers from their issues in the previous year. The honor has been awarded since 198 ...
for Best Foreign Short Story winner for the novelette "
Taklamakan"
* 2000
Arthur C. Clarke Award winner for the novel ''Distraction''
References
External links
Wired Blog : Beyond the beyondWolf in Living Room- blog about domestic ubiquitous computing
*
* - the Open Source connected apartment.
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, Bruce
1954 births
20th-century American essayists
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Living people
Moody College of Communication alumni
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