:cyberpunk: /books/

"If poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world, science-fiction writers are its court jesters. We are Wise Fools who can leap, caper, utter prophecies and scratch ourselves in public. We can play with Big Ideas because the garish motley of our pulp origins makes us seem harmless." - Bruce Sterling

stimuli > books

literary beginnings

cyberpunk truly springs from the literature - the other parts followed. the seeds developed independently, but it was really the books that pulled it together to create something that could be described as a "movement". the term "cyberpunk" was really used to describe the fiction, and the other things were soon grouped together under that umbrella. imo. if you're really interested in cyberpunk, get thee to thy local library. the classics should be there, at least.

authors/reviews

bruce bethke | william gibson | john courtenay grimwood | phillip k dick | rudy rucker | neal stephenson | bruce sterling

anthologies | while you're at it

where to start?

i worked for a time in a science-fiction bookstore. it was fun, but i think i spent about half of what i earned. no matter. so anyway, if you like cyberpunk but don't know where to start reading; i used to recommend the following order to people and it seemed to work.

  1. Neuromancer - William Gibson. If you like that, read his other works; the Burning Chrome anthology is a good one when you're new to his work.
  2. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson. Then The Diamond Age and his other works (although some are not cyber at all).
  3. Anthologies, especially Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (Bruce Sterling, Ed.) if you can find a copy. of course, if you don't like short stories then you don't have to do this.
  4. Use Of Weapons or The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks. Then every other Banks novel you can lay your paws on :) Note that Banks writes both as Iain M. Banks and simply Iain Banks. the "M" indicates his more identifiably science-fiction stories.

After that you'll probably have an idea if you like what you're reading. The next step depends a bit on what aspect of Gibson and Stephenson you liked most; and also whether you like hard-arsed cyberpunk fiction or wacky ideas. So in any case, the following are all excellent.

After that, you - as a regular buyer - should be friends with your local booksellers. They can advise further :)

steampunk

"steampunk", aka "gaslight fantasy", is a worthy genre close to cyberpunk's silicon heart. basically take cyberpunk and have it driven by steam engines; and you're on your way. steampunk is often mixed into cyberpunk recommendations and personally i'm quite happy to let them co-exist. some people think they're utterly different and never the twain should meet. that's nice for them. in the meantime; check out the following:

don't just take my word for it...

some of the following seem to be out of print at time of writing. but most of it is not - you should be able to find most of this at a decent science-fiction bookseller.

Cyberpunk 2020's "cyberpunk bibliography" (1990)

the alt.cyberpunk FAQ's picks:

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