Near future (2031), Texas.
"It's 2031, and no one doubts any longer that the atmosphere's been wrecked...
"The Storm Troupers -- media unit, scientists, techno-freaks -- get their kicks from weather. In their fleet of second-hand buses -- customized computer labs and portable weather stations -- and the occasional state-of-the-art dream craft, they chase after storms. Hooked up to drones through virtual-reality rigs, Storm Troupers can plunge like maddened darts into the eye of a storm, to surf a ride from hell. There's no thrill like it.
"In a world of marvels -- and of awesome problems -- they're following a nomadic course across central USA, in pursuit of the holy grail: an 'F6', a tornado of an intensity completely off the scale. This is dangerous in the extreme. Also dangerous: the bad tensions within the Storm Troupers that just might meet up with some of the craziness beyond. And some people's dreams are full of tornado trails, of shining insane paths of endless howling destruction..." [jacket blurb, UK trade pbk, 1994]
"The real goods of the novel are the condensed sociological essays Sterling hangs onto his plot hooks. Prisons retrofitted as medical quarantine centres. Talking cars. Paper suits for the world's refugee population. The Library of Congress on disc. Luddite 'structure hitting'. Digital cash. Post-disaster 'evacuation freaks'. Design gurus. The 'chlorophyll hack'. If you want more on any of these, then read Heavy Weather". --Steve Beard (in i-D, No.136, January 1995).
