Patterns

In Pat Cadigan's tales, social issues morph into monstrous fantasy--like the what happens to Milo, the kid who's always left out, in the chilling "Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie." The story "Heal" will keep the likes of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker awake at night, pale and unblinking in their beds. Particularly harrowing is the tale "My Brother's Keeper," in which a girl's struggle to rescue her brother from heroin addiction uncovers something far uglier going on in the dark recesses of the inner city.

Patterns is reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's short stories, but with malevolent twists and psychotic turns that leave the reader waiting on tenterhooks for the final punch line. Fans of Cadigan's work will particularly enjoy the introductions she has written for each story. Those wanting to read her for the first time may find her novels a better introduction. --Jhana Bach

Product Description

My favorite story here is "Rock On," a tale of music and ownership, the trap of job and ability. Gina, a synner (synthesizer), is on the run from her normal band, Man O'War. But Gina's problem is that she only knows how to syn, and that she loves it, even if she views it as a trap. Another author would have gone on to great detail about living synthesizers, yet Cadigan's focus is on Gina and her addiction/loathe for the job that she does so well. "Rock On" goes beyond any future punk posturings; instead, it is a metaphor for the last decades--caught in our good intentions, we are slaves to our livelihoods. (Cadigan's novel Synners is an expansion of this story.)

Then there's Martha, a businesswoman on her first trip to New Orleans in "It Was the Heat." Caught between being just one of the guys and herself, Martha's carefully created working mother persona melts under the hot sun, and she discovers that control is a delicate thing. And China in "My Brother's Keeper," the big sister from college who receives a goodbye postcard from younger brother Joe, the heroin user. She rushes back to save him, but finds that she needs to save herself.

As indicated above, Cadigan gives us the much needed female perspective in science fiction, and her style is such that it doesn't alienate male readers. If only more male writers could do the same for their female readers, science fiction could become the exciting prospect that was the hope of the cyberpunks. Until then, we should thank god that Cadigan is around to show what life, and literature, could be like. This collection is only recently available as a paperback (before it could only be had in an expensive small press edition); buy it now before it is out of print again.


excellent   May 31, 2002
Thomas D. Gulch (Pennsauken, New Jersey United States)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

You can't describe this collection of stories. They are all
magnificent. Buy this book.


Fun to read   January 29, 2001
C. Bickford (Round Lake Beach, IL USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I don't mean fun in the normal sense of fun, of course. Theses are not what anyone would call fun stories by any stretch of the imagination.

They resemble the works of Bradbury or Dan Simmons. Normal everyday events, somehow out of kilter a bit, or taking that half step behind the everyday to show... something else.

Not quite as brooding as Simmons, and not quite as adjective happy as Bradbury. Somewhere in the middle.

Overall, well worth reading, but they don't seem to fit in any particular genre. A little like this, a little like that. Horror maybe. But they're much too subtle to be horror. At least the conventional kind of everyday horror.


It hurts so good!   May 3, 2000
W. Richman (on the couch, covered with cats, reading a book)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

With the stories in this collection, Ms.Cadigan calmly and methodically rips your beating heart from your chest and shows it to you. She puts it back, but it doesn't feel quite the same any more. My initial reaction to most of these stories was "Oh god - we should warn somebody!" but then I remembered - it's only a story. Or is it? Pat Cadigan just keeps getting better and better!


Pat Cadigan the Queen of Cyberpunk   April 11, 1999
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

In this collection are some of the best cyberpunk stories around. It is good to see this book finally back in print. All will see why Pat Cadigan is a well respected writer of science fiction and in the sub genre cyberpunk. If you want to read good short stories with a bite, then Patterns is the book for you.