Sterling paints a disturbing peek at the roots of the sadomasochistic ritual between Dalusa, an alien outcast fascinated by human blood, and Newhouse, a ruined addict who is only able to get in touch with another's feelings through pain. I've argued with friends and with Sterling himself about this book. He sees it as the typical trash a first-time, nineteen year old writer would come up with. Certainly, it has some of the narrative creakiness of a tyro's work, but it also has a satisfying and often hilarious mock-Melville voice that ultimately delivers. In the Net and, most recently, Distraction .
Involution Ocean is whaling punk.
Its excellent world building and superb narrative flow wrap around a radical juxtaposition of a hip, modern druggy subculture and the classic whaling genre, an often thorny fusion comparable to the works coming out of such sci fi movements as the crypto-Victorian Steampunks. This is a really enjoyable book. It's a great story that while getting a bit kitchen sink in the end, is a remarkable first novel that ably prefigures Sterling's future work. This is great science fiction, without spaceships or rayguns, a work that was at the wavefront of what became the new sci fi. If you would like to buy this book, search The Weird Bookshelf science fiction and fantasy online bookstore.