Spiggot writes:

"(Subject: could you please send me a list of all the cyberpunk authors/books that you)

consider must read?

That includes any other, not necessarily computer related, but hard-edged, realistic stuff like that one about the roof-dwelling people.

Somebody asked me for a list, and other than Neuromancer, I drew a blank. Speaking of Gibson, include any others of his as well that you consider canon."

doggo replies:

"(Subject: Re: could you please send me a list of all the cyberpunk authors/books that you)

That's a pretty tall order...

And you'd be better off posting to the WGB. But here's a good start:

1. The attached PDF
2. Roofworld, Christopher Fowler
3. Dhalgren, Samuel Delany

Roofworld isn't particularly cyberpunk, it's supposedly horror. But it is unique-ish. Dhalgren I would call proto-Cyberpunk.

Then you got yer Neal Stephenson, who I'm not a fan of.

The defining volume is Sterling's Mirrorshades anthology. The Sprawl Trilogy is the finest in my opinion, Neuromancer, Count Zero, & Mona Lisa Overdrive. Then there's the Bridge Trilogy, which is not covered in Cyberpunk 101, since the novels came out long after the Signal article. Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrows Parties.

And I recommend Slam, by Lewis Shiner. Which is a far cry from vat-grown ninjas and console cowboys. But nevertheless speaks to fringe society & information as a tool/weapon/source of enlightenment-ish-ness-thing.

But my take on the sub-genre is more humanistic. I find a lot of so-called 'cyberpunk' is cheesy novels about shiny things. Feh. I'm not the best person to ask, really.

But like I said, the sage denizens of the WGB would be better able to define/suggest than me, and you'll get a wider sampling of opinion, including an international perspective. So look at the thread. I'm posting in Random Thoughts because that's where the wise old ones dwell. And by old, I mean in terms of... length of time on the board... er, and age, chronologically. Who needs fanboys spouting off about The Matrix, eh?"

I always recommend Alfred Bester. Always. Even though he's pre-cyberpunk. The Demolished Man and Stars My Destination are the two novels to read.

I'm giving the new short story collection [Redemolished] the official HTTF seal of approval for readers interested in an intro to Bester himself. It has several notable short stories, and a few essays and introductions. It's not strictly a slice of pleasure, though. Some of the stories are rough early ones, and may not be enjoyable if you're not already in love with Bester, as I am. For simple pleasure reading to tempt your palate, try Virtual Unrealities, which is better put together from a marketing point of view. Know though, that my all-time favorite short story collection is Starlight, which is a combination of two books put out in 1976 (Star Light, Star Bright and The Light Fantastic). In this collection, Bester writes a short blurb about reminiscing about writing each story to introduce the story itself. You get an idea of his writing process, which I found very interesting. Unfortunately, all three of those editions are difficult to find.

But if you're ever in the bay area I've got pretty much every single Bester publication there is! [big grin] Multiple editions of some of them...

I recently read Vurt by Jeff Noon and I thought it had some definite shades of cyberpunkism woven through it. Less to do with technology, though it's definitely one of those "think outside the box" kinda stories and the world created in Vurt has that distinct we're-all-fucked-but-it's-gonna-be-okay-in-the-end feel, which I've always felt was the crux of cyberpunk.

Tom Clancy's "Net Force".

Interesting. What it's like when a rightwinger writes cyberpunk instead of ex-hippies.

quote:

1. The attached PDF

I couldn't open that one.

quote:

Tom Clancy's "Net Force".

Did he really write those, or is that "Tom Clancy presents..."
like 'Op Center' ?

(all rightwing that he is, I still read a lot of his books, and liked them)

quote:

I couldn't open that one.

Sorry David, made on a Mac with the built-in PDF functionality (print to PDF). I'll try to re-do it with Acrobat at work today.

And I want to make special note of the Budayeen novels of the late George Alec Effinger, When Gravity Fails, A Fire In The Sun, and The Exile Kiss. I can only describe them, at least the first, Gravity, as delicious. Turkish Delight, if you will. Especially in this time with such controversy over Islam.

If you haven't read When Gravity Fails, I encourage you to seek it out.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: doggo,

Huh... i never had any problems opening files made with that function before. Odd.

I'd add more Sterling to that list - at least Schismatrix and Crystal Express, and maybe Holy Fire too - because he's done the most interesting stuff (IMO) with 'post-humanism' and the intimate effects of technology.

Oops, and I'd definitely be recommending Jack Womack's stuff in the 'not necessarily canonical but related and damn good and worth reading' category.

quote:

Originally posted by ArkanGL:

quote:

Tom Clancy's "Net Force".

Did he really write those, or is that "Tom Clancy presents..."
like 'Op Center' ?

(all rightwing that he is, I still read a lot of his books, and liked them)

I think he wrote the first few, with Steve Piezcnik (sp). And there was a movie with Judge Reinhold (Judge as baddie=GOLD!). After that, though, I think it is just ghostwriters.

I think his series, in terms of cyberpunk as some sort of...movement, is important. It represents the other side - the zaibatsus and oppressive governments, of a possible future.

I'll take a look at it, then.

The 'Op Center' movie was so unbelievably bad,
that I'm reluctant to try the 'Net Force' adaptation.
Judge Reinhold or not.
Unless you promise it's good.

I can't remember. But I assure you, the Judge sections are top-notch.

The Kris Kristofferson parts aren't bad, either. (Him in this movie is what makes me think he'd make a good Dixie Flatline - there is the biggest goddamn Dixie Flatline reference in regards to Kris's character in this movie).

But it's cyberpunk! But dated. It's set in 2005!

Probably mentioned but I find Tron to be cyberpunk-ish in that it established a visual world abstracted from inside a computer system (roughly 4 years before Neuromancer).

Books Crash, literary cyberpunk.

David, I just ran that PDF through Acrobat. It opens fine on my WinXP machine at work. Maybe you just need to wait for it to load? It's small-ish though, 192KB.

FYI, the PDF is the Cyberpunk page from Signal, Communication Tools for the Information Age, a Whole Earth Catalog. Signal was my introduction to cyberpunk, both literarily, and literally. Though this book is out of date, nearly 20 years old, and out of print, it's worth having in your collection. It fired up my long-standing interest in computers and introduced me to Neuromancer.

And though much of the tech is out of date, what is it that Johnny Mnemonic says? "If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude."

How about books about cyberpunk? Storming The Reality Studio springs to mind, I expect Amazon will lead to more.

Good suggestion, Krad.

Books like this one?

But, holy simoleons! There are a ton of books with the word "cyberpunk" in the title. Cyberspace too. Egad!

But, I suspect, if I know my friend Spiggot, he's looking for fiction. Otaku completeness is not out of the question, but I would lean toward fiction.

I mentioned this elsewhere, but this may be helpful too:

Beyond Cyberpunk!

Proto CBRPNK

Verne.- Master of the World, The Incredible Adventure of the Balzac Mission
30s-40s
Hammet- Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest
Any Black Mask magazine anthology.

50s
Pohl- Kornbluth- Merchants of Venus
Kornbluth -THE SYNDIC
Bester- Demolished Man
Sheckley- The 10th Victim
Fritz Lieber- Coming Atraction (short story)
Any anthology of Galaxy Magazine of the era, the seem to have had all the Beatnik SF...
60s- New wave
Aldiss- Barefoot in the Head
Ballard- Comsat Angels (short), The Voices of Time (collection)
Moorcock- The Final Programme
Any New Worlds (60s) anthology.

70s
Pohl- The Cool War, Man Plus
Varley- The Ophiuchi Hotline, All my Sins Remebered


CBRPNK era

80s
Shirley-City Come A walkin
Cheap Truth newsletter (its STILL online)
WG- The Sprawl Trilogy

Ill add some later...

Hey Doggo! Your 'org' doesn't like www.

EDIT: Gah! Now the bloody thing is working... (I swear it wasn't about 90 seconds ago when I first posted.)

EDIT EDIT: My Internet name is Chief EditPostManyTimes