Wed 16 Sep, 2009 01:36 pm
What cyberpunk book would make a great introduction to the subgenre?
I'm thinking of diving into the notoriously heady subgenre of science fiction called cyberpunk. Which work attributed to this tech niche should I start from?
My only concern: Will the earliest examples of the subgenre be hurt by the current state of technology? Has reality surpassed the visions of these works of far forward looking works of fiction, making them culturally and technologically obsolete? Or art they so far ahead of the technological curve, we have decades, if not centuries to develop the internet and other personal technologies to catch up to their visions? Or is the technology used in the fiction just the mere tools to build the architecture of the story and characters depicted in the books?
~
It takes at least two to dialogue. Anything less is just a rant.
@tsarstepan,
bumping this up so djjd will see it when he gets a chance to check back in
(good to see you, tsarstepan)
Seems the most obvious book to start with is Blade Runner.... at least in my mind it is.
@littlek,
Hmmm. That's a very intriguing idea.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the original published title to Blade Runner) probably a grandfather if not in blood but in spirit to the cyberpunk subgenre.
@tsarstepan,
I'm finally getting around to reading my first cyberpunk novel. Presently reading I'm reading William Gibson's Neuromancer.
Can any computer expert tell me what the author (if the technology has a real world or hypothetical application) means when he references the computer term ICE? Is it some kind of high grade industrial/commercial high security hardware firewall?
@tsarstepan,
Not directly on subject, but John Barns'
Mother of Storms is interesting and informative. It will also probably tell you as much as you you ever want to know about weather and climate - maybe even more than you want to know.
One chapter on gratuitous and explicit sex probably killed his career. Hard to believe such an outstanding writer could be so dumb.
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