Coming your way in March 2021, ROBOT ARTISTS AND BLACK SWANS: THE ITALIAN FANTASCIENZA STORIES collects many of Bruce Sterling’s acclaimed Bruno Argento tales. Complete with an introduction by Neal Stephenson, foreword by Bruno Argento, an afterword from famed fantascienza author Dario Tonani, and cover and interiors by visionary artist John Coulthart, ROBOT ARTISTS AND BLACK SWANS will be your first must-have book of 2021.

ROBOT ARTISTS AND BLACK SWANS: THE ITALIAN FANTASCIENZA STORIES

by Bruce Sterling
Introduction by Neal Stephenson
Foreword by Bruno Argento
Afterword by Dario Tonani
Cover by John Coulthart

ISBN: Print ISBN: 9781616963293; Digital ISBN: 9781616963309

Published: March 2021

Available Format(s): Hardcover and Digital

The Godfather of Cyberpunk has emerged in this new collection of Italian-themed fantasy and science fiction stories. Bruce Sterling introduces us to his alter-ego: Bruno Argento, the preeminent writer of fantascienza. As always, Sterling is a speculative innovator, skillfully combining technology with art, mythology, and history.

It’s as if Sterling is the only writer paying attention.

—Locus

In the Esoteric City, a Turinese businessman’s act of necromancy is catching up with him. The Black Swan, a rogue hacker, programs his way into into alternate versions of Italy. A Parthenonpean assassin awaits his destiny while he nestles in the arms of a two-headed noblewoman. Infuriating artists and scientists alike, the wandering robot-wheelchair confounds all with his uncategorizable creations.

Bruno Argento is the acknowledged master of Italian science fiction. Yet that same popular fantascienza author also exists in America. English-speaking readers are familiar with Bruno Argento as Bruce Sterling, and Italians are acquainted with Bruce Sterling as Bruno Argento. In Robot Artists and Black Swans, we have their visionary short stories, including fiction never before published in English.

“[H]is highly caffeinated energy is hard to resist.”

—Publishers Weekly

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword: “Storia, Futurità, Fantasia, Scienza, Torino” by Bruno Argento
Introduction by Neal Stephenson

• Kill the Moon
• Black Swan
• Elephant on the Table
• Pilgrims of the Round World
• The Parthenopean Scalpel
• Robot in Roses
• Esoteric City

Afterword: “Bruce Sterling, Erudite Dreamer and Pirate” by Dario Tonani