March Books 15) Mirrorshades
Well, after my disappointment with Again, Dangerous Visions, I'm glad that at least one classic sf anthology I've read this year has lived up to its reputation. I'm not a wild-eyed enthusiast for cyberpunk (and William Gibson's story here, "The Gernsback Continuum", which rather lacks an ending, reminded me why not) but I'm always ready to be convinced by a good story, and there are loads of them in here. I think the only one I'd read before was Sterling and Gibson's "Red Star, Winter Orbit" which is actually rather moving and nostalgic, qualities one doesn't really associate with cyberpunk (though perhaps it qualifies because of the note of libertarian triumphalism on which it ends). I was particularly gripped by James Patrick Kelly's "Solstice", which mixes Stonehenge with sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, and father-daughter cloning. But apart from my doubts about the first story, there isn't a dud in the book.