crumbz writes "It looks like the grand master of cyberpunk has a new novel coming out entitled Pattern Recognition. Apparently, reviewer copies have been making the rounds on ebay and the word on the street is that it is his best work in years."
Chill out, dude...
by
Akardam
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· Score: 3, Informative
You're a troll, but I'll bite.
I'm a fan of William Gibson (and other authors like him), but I don't have the time or the inclination to crawl the web for every bit of news about new books. That's what/. is for. A central place to collate news about stuff "we" like.
Akky
P.S. The story body ever so kindly provided you with a link to William Gibson's own website, where there is information about the new novel. I suggest you start there. You might even like some of his books.
I've read it. I got it through a used book store on amazon. (I know your not supposed to do this because the write gets no money from it, but I'm going to buy a copy in hard cover when it gets out)
I will say it is one of his best books. It takes place in modern day time. Which is unusual for him, but it talks about the usual information and the net. But this time there is a little spin in the motives driving the characters.
I would say that anyone that likes Gibson's stuff, should get this book.
Re:I've read it
by
SRMoore
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· Score: 2, Informative
I realize that, but most review/preview editions are not sold. They are given to people, so the writer doesn't get anything. So that is why I want to support him.
Diamond Age is by Neil Stephenson. Gibson wrote Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, The Difference Engine with Bruce Sterling, Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties, FYI.
Neuromancer, the movie.
by
I'm+a+racist.
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Cunningham is one of the best visual directors out there, and his style meshes really well with Gibson's prose. Cunningham worked with Kubrick while still in his teens. He did some of the initial design work for "A.I.", which is still visible even though Spielberg's usual crap surrounds it.
Of course, film is a collective artform, and a good director + good source material != good movie, in many cases. I don't know much about Cunningham's writing abilities, or how involved he is with the adaptation. Gibson's work has not been successfully adapted, yet (that's debatable, but most will agree with me).
It would be a real shame to see someone fuck up this project. I'm more forgiving of something like "Johnny Mnemonic" and "New Rose Hotel", because they were adapted from short stories, and therefore required a lot of reworking. I think "Neuromancer", with the right visual touch, could play really well without too much adaptation. One of the best things about Gibson's work, and "Neuromancer" in particular, is the viscerality of it all, the vividness... if they can capture that on film properly, there's a good chance it could be successful. The biggest danger in adapting this book is that there's great potential for the story to get really muddled.
--
Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
Re:Ask Slashdot? Other great sci-fi/cyberpunk auth
by
nomadic
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· Score: 5, Informative
A lot of sf fans are actively hostile to cyberpunk nowadays; all they want is multibook stories about the space navy (I swear, it seems that all they talk about on rec.arts.sf.written are Bujold and Weber). Bruce Sterling's still writing; I like his stuff, but tastes differ.
Stephenson is the darling of Slashdot, so you'll probably get a half-dozen people recommending him.
Gibson, Stephenson, and Sterling probably make up the Big Three of cyberpunk, with somewhat less famous authors like Pat Cadigan also contributing to the field.
I think the short story market is MUCH friendlier to cyberpunk--any given issue of F&SF or Asimov's will likely have a cyberpunk or cyberpunkish story.
I don't know what you mean by "recent"; last few years, or 1990 on, or what? If you haven't read C.S. Friedman's This Alien Shore, I highly recommend it. A cross between cyberpunk and space opera, and very, very good. But it's not from 1991, so not sure if you'd count it "recent".
Finally there are the novelizations of games such as Shadowrun or Cyberpunk. Never read them myself, but if that's your thing, who am I to judge?
John Varley: Cyberpunk Emeritus
by
handy_vandal
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· Score: 5, Informative
I like Gibson's work as much as the next reader, but for my money the grandfather of all cyberpunk writers is John Varley.
Varley's first novel, The Ophiuchi Hotline, has everything you could possibly want from a cyberpunk novel -- high tech, low tech, smartass computers, do-it-yourself cloning, alien invaders, polymorphous sex, plentiful drugs, multiple viewpoints, stylistic panache up the yingyang -- and was published way back in the dark ages of 1977, before anyone had heard the word cyberpunk.
-- -kgj
Re:Neuromancer on http://www.hsx.com
by
sbillard
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· Score: 1, Informative
MovieStocks® Neuromancer Symbol: NMANC Status: Active Genre: Thriller Phase: Concept
Often acknowledged as the inspiration of the cyber-punk movement, William Gibson's Neuromancer has existed as a possible film adaptation for several years. In November 1998, British director Chris Cunningham became attached to the project, though the production of the film seems to have stalled as of late. Neuromancer follows a high-level computer hacker who becomes embroiled in a series of double-crosses. Published in 1984, the sci-fi novel has won several of the genre's top awards.
NMANC
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THIS WEEK H$1.72 H$1.20
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THIS SEASON H$4.84 H$0.68
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Re:Ask Slashdot? Other great sci-fi/cyberpunk auth
by
technoid_
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· Score: 2, Informative
I also liked Rudy Rucker's Software and Wetware. It was a bit hard to get started reading Software, but once started I really enjoyed it.
The first 'cyberpunk' novel was clearly Shockwave Rider by John Brunner, published in 1975. His use of biological metaphor to describe a variety of invasive computer programs was a first; the term 'worm' was adapted from Shockwave Rider's term 'tapeworm' by researchers at Xerox PARC to describe the first self-replicating self-propagating computer program.
Shockwave Rider is why Robert Morris' hack is called the "Morris worm".
Re:Tessier-Ashpool
by
st.+augustine
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· Score: 5, Informative
CEO's and VP's are disposable plug-in modules, and hereditary family ownership of significant blocks of shares grows rare.
Even in Neuromancer | Count Zero | Mona Lisa Overdrive they're rare. Tessier-Ashpool is presented as a bizarre aberration, held together only by their weird cryogenic setup and the family AIs. Traditional corporations like Hosaka, Maas, and Sense|Net are the norm.
I don't think "transnational, less and less attached to physical reality, and... ever more like acerebral beasts" is anything but an accurate description of most of Gibson's corporations.
--
--
Some things are to be believed, though not susceptible
to rational proof.
John Brunner: Cyberpunk Emeritus
by
Xtifr
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· Score: 4, Informative
While I like Varley, I think that Brunner has a better claim to the title of "Cyberpunk Emeritus." He wrote a lot of dreck, but four titles (at least) redeem him and stake his claim to greatness: Stand on Zanzibar (1968), Jagged Orbit (1970), The Sheep Look Up (1972), and Shockwave Rider (1975). SOZ is my personal favorite (and the only one to win the Hugo), but SR is the most cyber- of them, and the one most often referenced on cyberpunk-related sites. My main problem with SR is that it was too short and didn't really cover enough (any?) new ground, in the context of having read the others already. But it's a fan favorite, and often quoted as the "first cyberpunk novel", so who am I to carp?
And, of course, the influence of Vernor Vinge's classic (and excellent) story True Names (1981) cannot be overlooked.
On the gripping hand, Gibson is a fine writer, and it's his works that really put the term "cyberpunk" on the map.
Re:Ask Slashdot? Other great sci-fi/cyberpunk auth
by
Bicoid
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· Score: 5, Informative
Mmph....I think it really depends on taste. Stephenson is more technical than other cyberpunk authors. But frankly, I like Gibson a LOT more...I even like Rucker more than him. Also, thogh not many people have read his work, Tom Maddox's stuff is quite good. He's a LOT like Gibson, but his future is more constructive than Gibson's.
Also, my favorite cyberpunk author besides Gibson is John Shirley. He has the same thick noir imagery which makes Gibson's work so beautiful. His more recent stuff has sort of slipped into horror (or what some pundits call splatterpunk, whatever that is).
I also like Sterling a lot, and though his work tends not to be technical, he IS highly politically-conscious and has also done some journalism as well. His stuff tends to focus on politics surrounding technology rather than the tech itself (consider Schismatrix....it's ALL about technology politics). His short stories are, indeed, his forte and I got a real kick out of his recent Deep Eddy stories.
There's also Rucker (whose cyberpunk is more transcendentalist than anything else). Software and Wetware are good, though the series sort of fizzles out. Cadigan is good, but I find her a little bland. Shiner is weird...really weird. And that's basically the movement right there.
There's also other people who've written assorted cyberpunk novels, such as Greg Bear's Blood Music or Greg Egan's Permutation City. You could even *potentially* call some Phil K. Dick books cyberpunk....A Scanner Darkly, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Ubik, and Valis are all more or less cyberpunk.
As for today, the only real "new" cyberpunk author is Charles Stross, who I personally find to be a fascinating author. Everyone else has been writing in the subgenre for 10-20 years.
--
If not all sentients are human, couldn't it be possible that not all humans are sentient either?
Re:Regular Expressions?
by
gray+code
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· Score: 2, Informative
Nothing you'd want to see. Try Burning Chrome, it's a book of his short stories, and includes the source works for the two movies that do exist ("Johnny Mneumonic" and "New Rose Hotel"). Both stories are pretty good, and the compilation as a whole is a fun read. I know you said you don't get into fiction, but they're short stories, so you won't be wasting much time on them if you don't like 'em.
Another couple of authors you might like...
by
Bodhammer
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· Score: 2, Informative
You might want to check out the following authors, I enjoyed their works during the time when I read Gibson, Sterling, and Stephenson.
Daniel Keys Moran - "Emerald Eyes", "The Long Run", "The Last Dancer"
A. A. Attanasio - "Radix"
There is another book by Neal Stephenson called "Interface" that was published under the name Stephen Bury that I enjoyed as well.
None of the above have the same "magic" memories as the first time I read Neuromancer but I enjoyed them.
-- "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Re:Ask Slashdot? Other great sci-fi/cyberpunk auth
by
kcollett
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· Score: 2, Informative
I haven't seen Walter Jon Williams mentioned. Two of his more cyberpunkish novels are Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind. Even better, I think, is Aristoi, a novel set in the far future. He has also written some pretty snappy short stories; you can find a collection of them in Facets. (I particularly like "Dinosaurs".)
Re:Tessier-Ashpool
by
Yokaze
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· Score: 3, Informative
> Traditional corporations [...] are the norm.
I thought that his description was, that there are essentially two kinds of companies left. Those transnational entities similar to T-A and little shark companies. Small, fast, flexible, biting. Traditional companies ceased to exist.
Tessier-Ashpool was only an exception, because they were still ruled and owned by a family, but not in other aspects. Actually, in being family-run, it was a remnant of the last century.
-- "Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
Re:Cyberpunk is dead
by
Yokaze
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· Score: 3, Informative
> punk died over a decade ago.
Did it ever live in the US? I think most people who could have been punks are now in NGOs like ATTAC. (FYI: I neither disrespect punks, nor ATTAC)
> Now that everyone has Internet access
I think, that it is hardly the net access, that is the most important theme of the book. It is the social enviroment. The characters are (or will be) drop-outs from the society, working against the establishement, the transnational companies. Hence, punk.
> We badly need a new vision of the future.
Neal Stephensons "Diamond Age" is post-cyberpunk and its vision differs greatly from cyberpunk-vision. But, considering the current fast pace, with that the world is changing, I think no vision would be satisfying.
-- "Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
Re:Ask Slashdot? Other great sci-fi/cyberpunk auth
by
Emil+Brink
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· Score: 3, Informative
Well, maybe there's something for you on this rather giant list of SF book reviews, then. It's not mine, but belongs to some other (attractively obsessive) reader of the good stuff. My collection is modest compared to that one, but they do overlap here and there, and I tend to agree with the reviews, which is why I recommend the list to you. Good luck.
Re:Ask Slashdot? Other great sci-fi/cyberpunk auth
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 1, Informative
Haven't read the entire thread, so I hope I'm not duplicating here (I did a find, but not a full manual search).
If you like "real" cyberpunk such as Gibson, with the dark gritty future idea, (I'm a bit of a purist and don't understand why "Blood Music" and "Schismatrix Plus" get put into cyberpunk), DEFINITELY check out Alastair Reynolds. Set very far in the future with a space opera tinge, but very dark and with a lot of cyber use and computer references (ever read another fiction book where they talk about firewalls?).
Labelled as "cyber-goth" on the back. I cannot recommend him enough. Chasm city, revelation space and some other one I can't recall. Possibly my favourite author, from someone who loves Gibson, Stephenson, Lovecraft.
Re:The ebay thing
by
mjj12
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· Score: 2, Informative
These are "Advanced Reader Not for Sale" copies of the book. These are given for free to reviewers, opinion makers, other writers, assorted famous people who might say something complimentary about the book etc. Once you give them away, the people you have given them to can do pretty much whatever they like with them, including sell them. As for the text, it is possible that it will change between these copies and the official first edition, but this is barely different from the situation between any two editions. New editions of books correct typographical errors, grammatical errers, the effects of violent disagreements between authors and editors and the like all the time, and getting a "correct" version of the text is an ongoing process, even for books that have been published for years. Read the Note on the Text at the start of a current edition of The Lord of the Rings for an (admittedly extreme) example.
Great Novel
by
PollyJean
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· Score: 3, Informative
I've read Pattern Recognition. I was lucky enough to get a review copy from a local independent bookstore. It is one of Gibson's best. The interesting thing about it is that it takes place in the present. My feeling while reading the book was that the reason it worked so well in the present is because so much of the present has become the future of Gibson's previous novels (Neuromancer was published in '84. Hard to believe, sometimes).
(a brief plot summary follows. It doesn't contain anything too spoilish, but if you don't like that kind of thing, skip it):
The protagonist's name is Cayce Pollard (her first name is pronounced "Case," which Gibson fans will recognize as a name he seems to like). As the novel opens, Cayce is on a job in London (she lives in New York). Cayce works in advertising, and has an ability to sense what will work on not work almost immediately in things like corporate logos. She's also a "cool hunter," not in the sense of middle-aged wannabe hipsters hanging out with teenagers to see what's "in," but in the sense that she can recognize what trends will be picked up by the general public and which ones won't. Her abilities are very valuable to ad agencies, and she makes a living hiring out her services. The down side to her ability is that she's very sensitive to the point of illness to the sight of some logos. She calls it an allergy. When she sees certain logos, she'll have a panic attack.
In her spare time, Cayce participates in an online discussion group revolving around clips of a film that have mysteriously and anonymously been turning up online. No one knows who made the film or in what order if any the the clips are supposed to be viewed, but underground interest in the clips has sprung up worldwide.
The plot revolves around Cayce's work in advertising and her footage interest coming together, which leads her around the world. There's also a subplot involving her father's disappearance (he was last seen taking a cab in the direction of the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11th, 2001), as well as several other subplots that all come together very nicely.
(end of summary bit)
If you've liked Gibson's other work, I strongly recommend picking this one up. It's interesting to read Gibson's writing style in a book that doesn't take place in the future (or, in the case of the Difference Engine in the past). As usual, it's the details and ideas that really make the novel. The characters are fascinating, too, particularly Cayce.
-- Think like a person of action, act like a person of thought. --H. Bergson
Re:Ask Slashdot? Other great sci-fi/cyberpunk auth
by
mvdwege
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· Score: 3, Informative
Try Peter F. Hamilton. A good writer who burst onto the scene in the middle of the nineties. His first novels are set in England after Global Warming, with a nice mix of cyberpunk, classic whodunit, and old-fashioned psi-talent scifi:
Mindstar Rising
A Quantum Murder
The Nano Flower
All feature psi-enhanced private detective (and more, but I'm not telling) Greg Mandel. They're not part of a trilogy, but still best read in order.
About the only weakness in the series is the plotting. While Hamilton tells a good story with engaging characters, a detailed setting and a fine command of the English language, especially the first two books suffer from having the ending being obvious at about three-quarters through. The other qualities of his writing more than compensate, but it is still obvious that these were his first full-length novels.
His other work, especially the Night's Dawn trilogy, is classic space opera, although the noir and cyberpunk elements do persist in his short stories. A nice bundling of some of his stories is 'A Second Chance at Eden' which might serve as a nice introduction to his style.
Mart
-- "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
The Stars My Destination = very cyberpunk
by
handy_vandal
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· Score: 2, Informative
Excellent observation about Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination -- remarkably cyber... a very punk story about amazing future technologies. Not so saturated in technical details, but a rich work of literature, both serious and comic, by a damned good writer.
He was diverse: among other things, Bester wrote the Green Lantern oath, in use to this day:
"In brightest day, in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
beware my power.. Green Lantern's light!"
(Qualifier: there were various oaths over time. Bester's oath is the classic among them.)
Slashdot Mirror
You're a troll, but I'll bite.
/. is for. A central place to collate news about stuff "we" like.
I'm a fan of William Gibson (and other authors like him), but I don't have the time or the inclination to crawl the web for every bit of news about new books. That's what
Akky
P.S. The story body ever so kindly provided you with a link to William Gibson's own website, where there is information about the new novel. I suggest you start there. You might even like some of his books.
I've read it. I got it through a used book store on amazon. (I know your not supposed to do this because the write gets no money from it, but I'm going to buy a copy in hard cover when it gets out)
I will say it is one of his best books. It takes place in modern day time. Which is unusual for him, but it talks about the usual information and the net. But this time there is a little spin in the motives driving the characters.
I would say that anyone that likes Gibson's stuff, should get this book.
Diamond Age is by Neil Stephenson. Gibson wrote Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, The Difference Engine with Bruce Sterling, Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties, FYI.
The best info on the movie, that I know of, comes from Coming Attractions. It appears that Chris Cunningham is still involved with the project (as of May '02), which is a good sign.
Cunningham is one of the best visual directors out there, and his style meshes really well with Gibson's prose. Cunningham worked with Kubrick while still in his teens. He did some of the initial design work for "A.I.", which is still visible even though Spielberg's usual crap surrounds it.
Of course, film is a collective artform, and a good director + good source material != good movie, in many cases. I don't know much about Cunningham's writing abilities, or how involved he is with the adaptation. Gibson's work has not been successfully adapted, yet (that's debatable, but most will agree with me).
It would be a real shame to see someone fuck up this project. I'm more forgiving of something like "Johnny Mnemonic" and "New Rose Hotel", because they were adapted from short stories, and therefore required a lot of reworking. I think "Neuromancer", with the right visual touch, could play really well without too much adaptation. One of the best things about Gibson's work, and "Neuromancer" in particular, is the viscerality of it all, the vividness... if they can capture that on film properly, there's a good chance it could be successful. The biggest danger in adapting this book is that there's great potential for the story to get really muddled.
Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
A lot of sf fans are actively hostile to cyberpunk nowadays; all they want is multibook stories about the space navy (I swear, it seems that all they talk about on rec.arts.sf.written are Bujold and Weber). Bruce Sterling's still writing; I like his stuff, but tastes differ. Stephenson is the darling of Slashdot, so you'll probably get a half-dozen people recommending him. Gibson, Stephenson, and Sterling probably make up the Big Three of cyberpunk, with somewhat less famous authors like Pat Cadigan also contributing to the field.
I think the short story market is MUCH friendlier to cyberpunk--any given issue of F&SF or Asimov's will likely have a cyberpunk or cyberpunkish story.
I don't know what you mean by "recent"; last few years, or 1990 on, or what? If you haven't read C.S. Friedman's This Alien Shore, I highly recommend it. A cross between cyberpunk and space opera, and very, very good. But it's not from 1991, so not sure if you'd count it "recent".
Finally there are the novelizations of games such as Shadowrun or Cyberpunk. Never read them myself, but if that's your thing, who am I to judge?
I like Gibson's work as much as the next reader, but for my money the grandfather of all cyberpunk writers is John Varley.
Varley's first novel, The Ophiuchi Hotline, has everything you could possibly want from a cyberpunk novel -- high tech, low tech, smartass computers, do-it-yourself cloning, alien invaders, polymorphous sex, plentiful drugs, multiple viewpoints, stylistic panache up the yingyang -- and was published way back in the dark ages of 1977, before anyone had heard the word cyberpunk.
-kgj
MovieStocks®
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Often acknowledged as the inspiration of the cyber-punk movement, William Gibson's Neuromancer has existed as a possible film adaptation for several years. In November 1998, British director Chris Cunningham became attached to the project, though the production of the film seems to have stalled as of late.
Neuromancer follows a high-level computer hacker who becomes embroiled in a series of double-crosses. Published in 1984, the sci-fi novel has won several of the genre's top awards.
NMANC
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THIS WEEK H$1.72 H$1.20
THIS MONTH H$2.11 H$0.68
THIS SEASON H$4.84 H$0.68
THIS YEAR H$7.96 H$0.68
I also liked Rudy Rucker's Software and Wetware. It was a bit hard to get started reading Software, but once started I really enjoyed it.
I see he has also written quite a bit more
Two wrongs don't make a right, but 3 lefts do - Lew of GO magazine
The first 'cyberpunk' novel was clearly Shockwave Rider by John Brunner, published in 1975. His use of biological metaphor to describe a variety of invasive computer programs was a first; the term 'worm' was adapted from Shockwave Rider's term 'tapeworm' by researchers at Xerox PARC to describe the first self-replicating self-propagating computer program.
Shockwave Rider is why Robert Morris' hack is called the "Morris worm".
I don't think "transnational, less and less attached to physical reality, and... ever more like acerebral beasts" is anything but an accurate description of most of Gibson's corporations.
-- Some things are to be believed, though not susceptible to rational proof.
While I like Varley, I think that Brunner has a better claim to the title of "Cyberpunk Emeritus." He wrote a lot of dreck, but four titles (at least) redeem him and stake his claim to greatness: Stand on Zanzibar (1968), Jagged Orbit (1970), The Sheep Look Up (1972), and Shockwave Rider (1975). SOZ is my personal favorite (and the only one to win the Hugo), but SR is the most cyber- of them, and the one most often referenced on cyberpunk-related sites. My main problem with SR is that it was too short and didn't really cover enough (any?) new ground, in the context of having read the others already. But it's a fan favorite, and often quoted as the "first cyberpunk novel", so who am I to carp?
And, of course, the influence of Vernor Vinge's classic (and excellent) story True Names (1981) cannot be overlooked.
On the gripping hand, Gibson is a fine writer, and it's his works that really put the term "cyberpunk" on the map.
Mmph....I think it really depends on taste. Stephenson is more technical than other cyberpunk authors. But frankly, I like Gibson a LOT more...I even like Rucker more than him. Also, thogh not many people have read his work, Tom Maddox's stuff is quite good. He's a LOT like Gibson, but his future is more constructive than Gibson's.
Also, my favorite cyberpunk author besides Gibson is John Shirley. He has the same thick noir imagery which makes Gibson's work so beautiful. His more recent stuff has sort of slipped into horror (or what some pundits call splatterpunk, whatever that is).
I also like Sterling a lot, and though his work tends not to be technical, he IS highly politically-conscious and has also done some journalism as well. His stuff tends to focus on politics surrounding technology rather than the tech itself (consider Schismatrix....it's ALL about technology politics). His short stories are, indeed, his forte and I got a real kick out of his recent Deep Eddy stories.
There's also Rucker (whose cyberpunk is more transcendentalist than anything else). Software and Wetware are good, though the series sort of fizzles out. Cadigan is good, but I find her a little bland. Shiner is weird...really weird. And that's basically the movement right there.
There's also other people who've written assorted cyberpunk novels, such as Greg Bear's Blood Music or Greg Egan's Permutation City. You could even *potentially* call some Phil K. Dick books cyberpunk....A Scanner Darkly, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Ubik, and Valis are all more or less cyberpunk.
As for today, the only real "new" cyberpunk author is Charles Stross, who I personally find to be a fascinating author. Everyone else has been writing in the subgenre for 10-20 years.
If not all sentients are human, couldn't it be possible that not all humans are sentient either?
Nothing you'd want to see. Try Burning Chrome, it's a book of his short stories, and includes the source works for the two movies that do exist ("Johnny Mneumonic" and "New Rose Hotel"). Both stories are pretty good, and the compilation as a whole is a fun read. I know you said you don't get into fiction, but they're short stories, so you won't be wasting much time on them if you don't like 'em.
Daniel Keys Moran - "Emerald Eyes", "The Long Run", "The Last Dancer"
A. A. Attanasio - "Radix"
There is another book by Neal Stephenson called "Interface" that was published under the name Stephen Bury that I enjoyed as well.
None of the above have the same "magic" memories as the first time I read Neuromancer but I enjoyed them.
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
I haven't seen Walter Jon Williams mentioned. Two of his more cyberpunkish novels are Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind. Even better, I think, is Aristoi, a novel set in the far future. He has also written some pretty snappy short stories; you can find a collection of them in Facets. (I particularly like "Dinosaurs".)
> Traditional corporations [...] are the norm.
I thought that his description was, that there are essentially two kinds of companies left. Those transnational entities similar to T-A and little shark companies. Small, fast, flexible, biting. Traditional companies ceased to exist.
Tessier-Ashpool was only an exception, because they were still ruled and owned by a family, but not in other aspects. Actually, in being family-run, it was a remnant of the last century.
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
> punk died over a decade ago.
Did it ever live in the US? I think most people who could have been punks are now in NGOs like ATTAC. (FYI: I neither disrespect punks, nor ATTAC)
> Now that everyone has Internet access
I think, that it is hardly the net access, that is the most important theme of the book. It is the social enviroment. The characters are (or will be) drop-outs from the society, working against the establishement, the transnational companies.
Hence, punk.
> We badly need a new vision of the future.
Neal Stephensons "Diamond Age" is post-cyberpunk and its vision differs greatly from cyberpunk-vision.
But, considering the current fast pace, with that the world is changing, I think no vision would be satisfying.
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
Well, maybe there's something for you on this rather giant list of SF book reviews, then. It's not mine, but belongs to some other (attractively obsessive) reader of the good stuff. My collection is modest compared to that one, but they do overlap here and there, and I tend to agree with the reviews, which is why I recommend the list to you. Good luck.
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Haven't read the entire thread, so I hope I'm not duplicating here (I did a find, but not a full manual search).
If you like "real" cyberpunk such as Gibson, with the dark gritty future idea, (I'm a bit of a purist and don't understand why "Blood Music" and "Schismatrix Plus" get put into cyberpunk), DEFINITELY check out Alastair Reynolds. Set very far in the future with a space opera tinge, but very dark and with a lot of cyber use and computer references (ever read another fiction book where they talk about firewalls?).
Labelled as "cyber-goth" on the back. I cannot recommend him enough. Chasm city, revelation space and some other one I can't recall. Possibly my favourite author, from someone who loves Gibson, Stephenson, Lovecraft.
These are "Advanced Reader Not for Sale" copies of the book. These are given for free to reviewers, opinion makers, other writers, assorted famous people who might say something complimentary about the book etc. Once you give them away, the people you have given them to can do pretty much whatever they like with them, including sell them. As for the text, it is possible that it will change between these copies and the official first edition, but this is barely different from the situation between any two editions. New editions of books correct typographical errors, grammatical errers, the effects of violent disagreements between authors and editors and the like all the time, and getting a "correct" version of the text is an ongoing process, even for books that have been published for years. Read the Note on the Text at the start of a current edition of The Lord of the Rings for an (admittedly extreme) example.
I've read Pattern Recognition. I was lucky enough to get a review copy from a local independent bookstore. It is one of Gibson's best. The interesting thing about it is that it takes place in the present. My feeling while reading the book was that the reason it worked so well in the present is because so much of the present has become the future of Gibson's previous novels (Neuromancer was published in '84. Hard to believe, sometimes).
(a brief plot summary follows. It doesn't contain anything too spoilish, but if you don't like that kind of thing, skip it):
The protagonist's name is Cayce Pollard (her first name is pronounced "Case," which Gibson fans will recognize as a name he seems to like). As the novel opens, Cayce is on a job in London (she lives in New York). Cayce works in advertising, and has an ability to sense what will work on not work almost immediately in things like corporate logos. She's also a "cool hunter," not in the sense of middle-aged wannabe hipsters hanging out with teenagers to see what's "in," but in the sense that she can recognize what trends will be picked up by the general public and which ones won't. Her abilities are very valuable to ad agencies, and she makes a living hiring out her services. The down side to her ability is that she's very sensitive to the point of illness to the sight of some logos. She calls it an allergy. When she sees certain logos, she'll have a panic attack.
In her spare time, Cayce participates in an online discussion group revolving around clips of a film that have mysteriously and anonymously been turning up online. No one knows who made the film or in what order if any the the clips are supposed to be viewed, but underground interest in the clips has sprung up worldwide.
The plot revolves around Cayce's work in advertising and her footage interest coming together, which leads her around the world. There's also a subplot involving her father's disappearance (he was last seen taking a cab in the direction of the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11th, 2001), as well as several other subplots that all come together very nicely.
(end of summary bit)
If you've liked Gibson's other work, I strongly recommend picking this one up. It's interesting to read Gibson's writing style in a book that doesn't take place in the future (or, in the case of the Difference Engine in the past). As usual, it's the details and ideas that really make the novel. The characters are fascinating, too, particularly Cayce.
Think like a person of action, act like a person of thought. --H. Bergson
Try Peter F. Hamilton. A good writer who burst onto the scene in the middle of the nineties. His first novels are set in England after Global Warming, with a nice mix of cyberpunk, classic whodunit, and old-fashioned psi-talent scifi:
All feature psi-enhanced private detective (and more, but I'm not telling) Greg Mandel. They're not part of a trilogy, but still best read in order.
About the only weakness in the series is the plotting. While Hamilton tells a good story with engaging characters, a detailed setting and a fine command of the English language, especially the first two books suffer from having the ending being obvious at about three-quarters through. The other qualities of his writing more than compensate, but it is still obvious that these were his first full-length novels.
His other work, especially the Night's Dawn trilogy, is classic space opera, although the noir and cyberpunk elements do persist in his short stories. A nice bundling of some of his stories is 'A Second Chance at Eden' which might serve as a nice introduction to his style.
Mart"I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
He was diverse: among other things, Bester wrote the Green Lantern oath, in use to this day: (Qualifier: there were various oaths over time. Bester's oath is the classic among them.)
Here's a nice little poem and bio page about Bester.
-kgj