Holy Fire: A NovelThe 21st century is coming to a close, and the medical industrial complex dominates the world economy. It is a world of synthetic memory drugs, benevolent government surveillance, underground anarchists, and talking canine companions. Power is in the hands of conservative senior citizens who have watched their health and capital investments with equal care, gaining access to the latest advancements in life-extension technology. Meanwhile, the young live on the fringes of society, ekeing out a meagre survival on free, government-issued rations and a black market in stolen technological gadgetry from an earlier, less sophisticated age. Mia Ziemann is a 94-year-old medical economist who enjoys all the benefits of her position. But a deathbed visit with a long-ago ex-lover and a chance meeting with a young bohemian dress-designer brings Mia to an awful revelation. She has lived her life with such caution that it has been totally bereft of pleasure and adventure. She has one chance to do it all over. But first she must submit herself to a radical--and painful--experimental procedure which promises to make her young again. The procedure is not without risk and her second chance at life will not come without a price. But first she will have to escape her team of medical keepers. Hitching a ride on a plane to Europe, Mia sets out on a wild intercontinental quest in search of spiritual gratification, erotic revelation, and the thing she missed most of all: the holy fire of the creative experience. She joins a group of outlaw anarchists whose leader may be the man of her dreams...or her undoing. Worst of all, Mia will have to undergo one last radical procedure that could cost her a second life. In Holy Fire, Bruce Sterling once again creates a unique and provocative future that deals with such timeless topics of the human condition as love, memory, science, politics, and the meaning of death. Poginant, lyrical, humorous, and often shocking, Holy Fire offers a hard unsparing look into a world that could become our own. |
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Page 18
... Mercedes was in the apartment , cleaning the bathroom . Mercedes came into the front room , carrying her mop and her septic sampling equipment . Mercedes wore her tidy civil - support uniform , baby blue jacket with red epaulets ...
... Mercedes was in the apartment , cleaning the bathroom . Mercedes came into the front room , carrying her mop and her septic sampling equipment . Mercedes wore her tidy civil - support uniform , baby blue jacket with red epaulets ...
Page 21
... Mercedes . " Mercedes shrugged . " I tidy up . Tidiness is my life . " Mercedes was always very patient . " I can see there's some- thing else you want to get off your chest . What is it ? ” " Nothing , not really anything . " " You ...
... Mercedes . " Mercedes shrugged . " I tidy up . Tidiness is my life . " Mercedes was always very patient . " I can see there's some- thing else you want to get off your chest . What is it ? ” " Nothing , not really anything . " " You ...
Page 22
... Mercedes looked at her solemnly . The silence stretched . Mercedes was not deceived . No woman could be a heroine to her maid . " By the way , " Mercedes said at last , " that nasty strain of fungus is back in your bathroom . Where have ...
... Mercedes looked at her solemnly . The silence stretched . Mercedes was not deceived . No woman could be a heroine to her maid . " By the way , " Mercedes said at last , " that nasty strain of fungus is back in your bathroom . Where have ...
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