'Cyberpunk' novels to recommend?

[IndianaJonny]

Hi all,

Seeing the latest Deus Ex trailer and revisiting Ghost in the Shell recently has put me in a bit of a 'cyberpunk' mood. Can anyone recommend any good cyberpunk novels/authors for me? (Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is the only noteworthy one I've read to date)

 

[York_Beckett]

Read "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. Bloody amazing.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Read "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. Bloody amazing.

WHAT?! /thread in the first reply?! Damn you... sir!

EDIT: Now that I've calmed down, read the whole Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero & Mona Lisa Overdrive). Actually, most of William Gibson's stuff is pretty solid (and one of the few proper 'cyberpunk' authors who was consistently good).

 

[Tallim]

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. But only after all the above Gibson stuff.

It's a very good novel and has the best named main character in existence. Hiro Protagonist.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

Slight nitpick--Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? isn't really a cyberpunk novel per se; it predates the movement by fourteen years or so. That being said, most of what I'd recommend has been taken already, but here's some slightly more obscure stuff:

When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger (There are two sequel novels, too, but I seem to remember them being not quite as good.)

Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams

Little Heroes by Norman Spinrad

 

[tigermilk]

Read "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. Bloody amazing.

WHAT?! /thread in the first reply?! Damn you... sir!

This, the first and second replies.

 

[II2]

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Sorta like a more humorous Neuromancer. Great read... Oh bloody ninjas.

Some of J.G. Ballards stuff isn't exactly Cyberpunk, but surrealist Sci Fi with a similar vibe.

Also, Philip K Dick's A Scanner Darkly fits the bill.

 

[arsenicCatnip]

Moxyland by Lauren Beukes is one I definitely recommend. Like Snow Crash, but from even more viewpoints.

 

[Trevillian]

Dystopian novels

When I was researching/writing for my novel The A-Men, I read a lot of dystopian stories to get just the right balance of future world and collapsing society. I wanted to use the trope of the main character entering a riot-torn corporate-run city while mixing this with strong fantasy elements/stories.

Gibson was an early influence for me... but the final list included:

Cloud Atlas*
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Battle Royale
Brave New World
A Clockwork Orange
Count Zero*
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Roadside Picnic*
Neuromancer
Perdido Street Station*
The Running Man
The Children of Men

The ones with asterisks are my personal favourites --- though am starting to read China Mieville now, and guess these will be on the list soon...

 

[4173]

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

Written 25-30 years before the cyberpunk movement, and rarely surpassed even now. Neil Gaiman and William Gibson endorse it, what more can I add...