Recommend me some CyberPunk

[starbob84]

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. I haven't read it yet but i hear good things.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Ah HA! Found the books I was looking for - Interface by Stephen Bury (a pseudonym for the work of Neal Stephenson and J Frederick George)... Not cyberpunk but not up-it's-own-arse enough to be called a 'techno-thriller' - politics, spies, conspiracies, hi tech and febblehemmers.

 

[thenuminator]

The sad thing is Cyberpunk was never really a big genre (content wise), sure it was massively influential but not many writers and directors made cyber punk and even less who continued to after the Dotcom bubble burst. If you have an itch that only cyberpunk can scratch you might need to get into anime or manga which is the only medium where cyber punk is still massive. There are hundreds of TV shows, movies and books from the nineties that were directly influence by and have elements of cyber punk but their just not the same.

 

[Kyogissun]

Yeah, Ghost in the Shell will probably give you your fix. Very 'srs' and mature series. No bullshit, good voice acting, lots of drama and plot, it's all a good experience.

But god 'help' you if you miss too many episodes of Season 2, cause you'll have no fucking clue what's going on.

 

[Najal]

System Shock 2!

oh wait, literature. crap.

shamus young's free online system shock 2 novel!

http://www.shamusyoung.com/shocked/

 

[Layz92]

This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cyberpunk_works#Print_media] should help. I have read a couple but sadly forgotten them. I'm not a big sci-fi fan outside of Warhammer 40k.

Just look through a couple of them then see if a local library has them.

 

[Cyan.]

You will have fun.

 

[xXAsherahXx]

I have never heard of a cyber punk book. as far as i know they are two different things. where have i been lately

I think a better question would be where have you been since the mid-80s when cyberpunk literature started (and that's if we discount the works of Philip K Dick)?


Oh yeah, anyone who liked Snow Blind should also check out Diamond Age. Stephenson takes a bunch of concepts from the first and goes crazy with them ending up with a fucked up 2nd Boxer Rebellion.

Any of Paul J McAuley's Fairyland setting stories are good CP as well.

What is Snow Blind? I might check it out along with Diamond Age I know the punk music revolution with the Sex Pistols, Ramones, The Clash etc. just never realized there was a literature phase

 

[Doitpow]

Neuromancer of course, or was I ninja'd.

 

[Lisolet]

Well the man is often regarded as the 'godfather of cyberpunk' so anyone interested in the genre should pick up a few of his books... I wouldn't call his work either sci-fi or cyberpunk but Existentialist Headfuckery.

Brilliant description of Dick ... "Existentialist Headfuckery". Thanks!

Stephenson is just great, all of his books are excellent. Well-written, thought-provoking and really fun reads.

For some cyberpunk written before there was cyberpunk (huh?) check out John Bruner - Stand on Zanzibar, The Sheep Look Up, Shockwave Rider - all spectacular and tres cyber-punky.

What about the man - Vernor Vinge? If you can find True Names check it out. A short story but one of the first written about on-line culture. I adore all his books, but some like Rainbow's End and The Peace War, though not technically cyberpunk, deal with concepts considered to be cyberpunk - a digitized, online world.

More bio- than cyberpunk, but Greg Egan is quite spectacular.

 

[The Shade]

Check out Accelerando by Charles Stross. Lots of AI, weird and powerful characters, "living in the machine" sort of stuff. Doesn't quite capture the "grittiness" that proper cyberpunk has.

Lack of grit aside, sounds good! I'll check it out.

Diamond Age. Stephenson takes a bunch of concepts from the first and goes crazy with them ending up with a fucked up 2nd Boxer Rebellion.

Oddly enough, I think I own Diamond Age, but I haven't read it. I'll have to go dig it up now.

For some cyberpunk written before there was cyberpunk (huh?) check out John Bruner - Stand on Zanzibar, The Sheep Look Up, Shockwave Rider - all spectacular and tres cyber-punky.

These look interesting - I'd never heard of them before, but I'll have to check 'em out.

 

[Lisolet]

...check out John Bruner - Stand on Zanzibar, The Sheep Look Up, Shockwave Rider - all spectacular and tres cyber-punky.

These look interesting - I'd never heard of them before, but I'll have to check 'em out.

oops - I spelled his name wrong! John Brunner - 2 n's. Sorry

 

[Catalyst6]

Neuromancer, definitely.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

What is Snow Blind? I might check it out along with Diamond Age I know the punk music revolution with the Sex Pistols, Ramones, The Clash etc. just never realized there was a literature phase

Fuuuuuuuuuuck. I meant Snow Crash... although Project Snow Blind is a good cyberpunk game. I'm an Australian, snow easily confuses us.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Blade Runner, perhaps?

It's called 'Do androids dream of electric sheep?' by Philip K Dick. Any of his stuff is good but that one to me was his best.

IIRC, there's also a film adaption novel.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Well the man is often regarded as the 'godfather of cyberpunk' so anyone interested in the genre should pick up a few of his books... I wouldn't call his work either sci-fi or cyberpunk but Existentialist Headfuckery.

Brilliant description of Dick ... "Existentialist Headfuckery". Thanks!

Almost every one of his stories has an ending that can either be taken at face value or picked apart and run through with various hints throughout the story that shit is not as it seems. That was his real genius right there - he never forced 'the twist' on his readers, he left it as a question readers could come to ask themselves after various events in a story and never have a conclusive answer for. The potentially real and the potentially delusional are left unlabelled.

Stephenson is just great, all of his books are excellent. Well-written, thought-provoking and really fun reads

I enjoy his writing style, it's almost conversational in tone.

 

[ThaBenMan]

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. I haven't read it yet but i hear good things.

I can second this, great book (here's my review [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.81194-Book-Review-Altered-Carbon#1076224] - shameless self-promotion ftw!) I've been meaning to read the other books in the series, too.

Sadly, my experience with the cyberpunk genre is lacking. I've been meaning to check out the seminal authors, like Stephenson and Gibson. Some day, hopefully...

 

[Lisolet]

Almost every one of his stories has an ending that can either be taken at face value or picked apart and run through with various hints throughout the story that shit is not as it seems. That was his real genius right there - he never forced 'the twist' on his readers, he left it as a question readers could come to ask themselves after various events in a story and never have a conclusive answer for. The potentially real and the potentially delusional are left unlabelled.

100% agree. Whichever way you read him he delivers a fantastic story. Some of his books took me more than one reading, whether to be able to finish it or to finish it and understand it. Even when it took more than 1 try to 'get' it, it was still a great read. And once you sync'd up with him, he took you for a wild ride. I never questioned my sanity as much as I did while reading Valis. Or that scary day when A Scanner Darkly made perfect, logical, sense.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

Cyberpunk is dead, but it could be reborn!

(Deus Ex has some Cyberpunk in it)