Jared Shurin: Big Book of Cyberpunk (2023, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)
English language
Published Sept. 1, 2023 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
A genre-defining--and redefining--collection of fiction's boldest, most rebellious, and most prescient genre, featuring a smorgasbord of stories from all over the globe.
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." Almost forty years ago, William Gibson wrote the line that began Neuromancer and, more importantly, cyberpunk--a movement that would change the face of science fiction.
Award-winning anthologist Jared Shurin brings together over a hundred stories from more than twenty-five different countries that both establish and subvert the classic cyberpunk tropes and aesthetic--from gritty, near-future noir to pulse-pounding action. Urban rebels undermine monolithic corporate overlords. Daring heists are conducted through back alleys and the darkest parts of the online world. There's dangerous new technology, cybernetic enhancements, scheming AIs, corporate mercenaries, improbable weapons, and roguish hackers. These tales examine the near-now, extrapolating the most provocative trends into fascinating and plausible futures.
We live in an …
A genre-defining--and redefining--collection of fiction's boldest, most rebellious, and most prescient genre, featuring a smorgasbord of stories from all over the globe.
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." Almost forty years ago, William Gibson wrote the line that began Neuromancer and, more importantly, cyberpunk--a movement that would change the face of science fiction.
Award-winning anthologist Jared Shurin brings together over a hundred stories from more than twenty-five different countries that both establish and subvert the classic cyberpunk tropes and aesthetic--from gritty, near-future noir to pulse-pounding action. Urban rebels undermine monolithic corporate overlords. Daring heists are conducted through back alleys and the darkest parts of the online world. There's dangerous new technology, cybernetic enhancements, scheming AIs, corporate mercenaries, improbable weapons, and roguish hackers. These tales examine the near-now, extrapolating the most provocative trends into fascinating and plausible futures.
We live in an increasingly cyberpunk world--packed with complex technologies and globalized social trends. A world so bizarre than even the futurists couldn't explain it--though many authors in this book have come closer than most. As both an introduction to the genre and the perfect compendium for the lifelong fan, The Big Book of Cyberpunk offers a hundred ways to understand where we are, and where we're going--or simply venture down some dazzling, neon-slicked streets.
So I am pretty ruthless about devouring anything cyberpunk-related and yet probably 80% or more of these stories were new to me. (And also, a lot of good ones!) Pretty highly recommended if you like cyberpunk as a genre!
Just be warned, it is loooong at about 1180 pages of stories. It took me literally all my possible reserves at the library to make it through this giant tome, lol.
Note: This is a summary, as a review of each of the stories may be too long for BookWyrm to hold. The full review can be read at my website [ sohkamyung.github.io/reviews/fiction/2023/20231212-BigBookCyberpunk.html ].
A fabulous anthology of stories centred around the genre of Cyberpunk, as seen by the editor. The stories here centre around technology and its possible effects on people and society and range in style from contemporary to the more ‘punkish’ which involve a lot of cyber-slang, sometimes to the point where I have trouble understanding the story.
The book is divided into several sections, each with stories related to that section. It starts with a story that the editor considers the precursor to the kind of cyberpunk stories in that section. And the book starts with a story the editor considers a precursor to the whole field of cyberpunk.
With such a huge anthology, it would not …
Note: This is a summary, as a review of each of the stories may be too long for BookWyrm to hold. The full review can be read at my website [ sohkamyung.github.io/reviews/fiction/2023/20231212-BigBookCyberpunk.html ].
A fabulous anthology of stories centred around the genre of Cyberpunk, as seen by the editor. The stories here centre around technology and its possible effects on people and society and range in style from contemporary to the more ‘punkish’ which involve a lot of cyber-slang, sometimes to the point where I have trouble understanding the story.
The book is divided into several sections, each with stories related to that section. It starts with a story that the editor considers the precursor to the kind of cyberpunk stories in that section. And the book starts with a story the editor considers a precursor to the whole field of cyberpunk.
With such a huge anthology, it would not be possible for the reader to enjoy every story, but I personally found myself enjoying most of them, and seeing the kinds of speculations that the field of cyberpunk has (and still is) contributing to contemporary speculative fiction.
