Cyberpunk Novels

[Lopunny]

So, im a sucker for violent cyberpunk novels, but i find it really hard to tell from the blurb/back of a book if its got what im looking for.

I've read William Gibsons Neuromancer and Johnny Mnemonic
all of Richard K. Morgans books ie the Takeshi Kovacs Series and the standalone Market Forces
Do androids dream of electric sheep? by Phillip K.Dick

so if any of our resident literati here can advise me? I would be much obliged and I do read ALOT, so it can be as complicated as hell

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

Google is your friend.

I reckon you'd find something there.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

Heard good things about Neal Stephenson's stuff. Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon and Diamond Age are a couple of titles I remember.

Transmetropolitan is meant to be good as well. Don't let the fact it's a comic put you off.

These may be post-cyberpunk, but I'm not too sure about the distinction. Meant to be good anyway.

 

[oliveira8]

Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive and Snow Crash.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I recommend pretty much anything by Charles Stross. Start with Accelerando or The Atrocity Archives if you like James Bond and Cthulhu. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester is more like cyberpunk than Philip K Dick and a good read.

 

[Alex_P]

I recommend pretty much anything by Charles Stross. Start with Accelerando or The Atrocity Archives if you like James Bond and Cthulhu.

Stross is not very big on the violence, though. Like, it's there, but it's not what I would call violence in the cyberpunk-y sense (which I associate with a certain kind of matter-of-fact brutality).

Also, depending on what you like about cyberpunk, the singularity-s.f. movement that Stross represents is either its natural continuation or an unfortunate inversion of everything that's good about cyberpunk (a good barometer is whether or not you think Stephenson is an improvement upon '80s cyberpunk).

...

For cyberpunk works in general (i.e. not just the violent stuff), I strongly recommend Tiptree's short story The Girl Who Was Plugged In. Written in 1974, it's a major foundation-builder for the genre; stylistically, it's "New Wave" -- probably some of the best, actually.

-- Alex

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I recommend pretty much anything by Charles Stross. Start with Accelerando or The Atrocity Archives if you like James Bond and Cthulhu.

Stross is not very big on the violence, though. Like, it's there, but it's not what I would call violence in the cyberpunk-y sense (which I associate with a certain kind of matter-of-fact brutality).

Also, depending on what you like about cyberpunk, the singularity-s.f. movement that Stross represents is either its natural continuation or an unfortunate inversion of everything that's good about cyberpunk (a good barometer is whether or not you think Stephenson is an improvement upon '80s cyberpunk).

I don't like Stephenson at all really. Stross does stories of oddballs and outsiders doing big things with strange technology in an adventure format and that is a cyberpunk sort of thing that I do like. Decapitating people with monofilament whips before decking into the ultranet while wearing PVC and aviator shades is all right but not really my thing.

I suppose I failed to think of really violent science fiction. Richard Morgan is hard to beat there. There are the Punktown stories by Jeffrey Thomas, that even has punk in the name. The Star Fraction by Ken MacLeod could be another good one.

 

[quack35]

Man, I was going to suggest Takeshi Kovacs.

That's really the only cyberpunk series I know.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

There are plenty other Philip K Dick ones you can choose from. Pick another one.

 

[Nutcase]

Transmetropolitan is meant to be good as well. Don't let the fact it's a comic put you off.

Great suggestion, didn't occur to me to recommend a comic. Transmetropolitan *is* that good, I've read all of it maybe 3-4 times now.

I have one of mine to add: When Gravity Fails, by George Alec Effinger.

 

[HoneyVision]

Glad there's a thread on this topic. Cyberpunk has always been a favourite sub-genre of mine. I find hard Sci-Fi to be slightly too geeky and technological for me. I very much prefer something that focuses on the relationship between technology and society etc. So my question is, what are some good suggestions for some contemporary cyberpunk book work? And I say contemporary because Sci-Fi can become outdated very quickly.

 

[Albino Boo]

Lucius Shepard: life during wartime (his zombie novel, green eyes is worth a read too)
Bruce Sterling: Anything by him
Rudy Rucker: the ware series
John Shirley: anything that does not sound like its a horror novel
(Trivia: Shirley was in a band called the Panther Moderns, who appear in neuromancer)
Lewis Shiner: the early works
Pat Cadigan: Anything of hers.
K W Jetter: Dr Adder
There is a good anthology edited by Bruce Sterling called mirror shades. It has most of the authors from the above list in it.

As a side note Philip K Dick isn't really cyberpunk. Dick's work is more about the nature of reality and identity. His work has got the cyberpunk label because of Bladerunner's use of film noir in a sci-fi setting. This isn't in the book and the plot of Bladerunner is significantly different from the original book. His works are worth a read but don't go expecting anything cyberpunk.