Cyberpunk

You can have whatever elements you want, although hacking and some form of virtual reality are in most cyberpunk stories.



Obviously you have to read Neuromancer by William Gibson. I'd also suggest Idoru by the same author. Rudy Rucker's Ware Tetralogy is also fantastic. Walter John Williams has Hardwired and Voice of the Whirlwind. Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson, and Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling. Accelerando by Charles Stross, and Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan.

You might also consider Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age, which is technically post-cyberpunk, but might delineate some of the boundaries more clearly.

I'll echo, Neuromancer specifically and Gibson in general is the top of the list of required reading on Cyberpunk.

Regarding what makes something cyberpunk:

There are really two elements in my mind:

A blending of the digital and physical realities either through cybernetics, or virtual reality, or most likely some kind of combination of the two (see Neuromancer). The conflict in most good cyberpunk runs on two levels--the physical struggle, and the digital one--with your characters struggling to maintain their humanity between the struggles.

The second common thread is a political/social setting where there is a central, oppressive, power that more or less controls the physical and often digital worlds.

Now, the interesting thing to me is that, by those general definitions, a story like The Matrix would be Cyberpunk, and now thinking about it really, the Matrix should be cyberpunk. But I really don't want to call it cyberpunk and I'm not sure why...

Only reason I can think of for why The Matrix wouldn't be cyberpunk is the setting once they're unplugged. Cyberpunk tends to more real world-type settings, rather than hive colonies underground.

But tbh, it is cyberpunk in my head.

Also, doesn't cyberpunk usually have gangs rising up against the government in the form of hackers and actual punk hairstyles\clothing?
To me cyberpunk is somehow always mixed with a very 80's style of rebellion for better or worst. It was all about what we thought computers might be one day back when knowing code was almost a mythic superpower. Of course it's most likely changed a lot since then so don't mind my ramblings.

BookmarkUnicorn said:

Also, doesn't cyberpunk usually have gangs rising up against the government in the form of hackers and actual punk hairstyles\clothing?
To me cyberpunk is somehow always mixed with a very 80's style of rebellion for better or worst. It was all about what we thought computers might be one day back when knowing code was almost a mythic superpower. Of course it's most likely changed a lot since then so don't mind my ramblings.

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From what I heard about cyberpunk, yes. It's supposed to be "high tech, low life". It's also supposed to be somewhat dystopian--with the outcasts or lowlives fighting against the government, or struggling in a corrupt high-tech world. The "punk" part is the rebelling part, I believe.

Anything that does not have some of those factors may be considered post-cyberpunk or scifi, I think.

Yes, I second reading "Neuromancer" and "Snow Crash". "Neuromancer" is the "grandfather" of the cyberpunk subgenre, and is very worth reading. "Snow Crash" (and maybe "Diamond Age") have some aspects of cyberpunk or twists on some of the tropes.

Is cyberpunk still a thing in publishing? All the examples mentioned above are pretty old, and it has a very 80s vibe to me. I suspect the genre has evolved since then, and possibly re-branded as something else with a more contemporary flavor.

It's one type of dystopia, among many types. It happens to be the type I prefer. (Orwellian feels to boot in the face.)

Oh yea it would sort of be post cyberpunk now.

benbenberi said:

Is cyberpunk still a thing in publishing? All the examples mentioned above are pretty old, and it has a very 80s vibe to me. I suspect the genre has evolved since then, and possibly re-branded as something else with a more contemporary flavor.

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I don't really know, either. I think everything after that "phase" is considered post-cyberpunk.

I think one could still do cyberpunk, but I don't know if its definition has evolved or changed much since its creation.

There are a few videogames that seems to fit the cyberpunk subgenre (ex: Dues Ex Human Revolution; Shadowrun Returns, etc).

Of course, one can look at the endless pit that is TVTropes to see the tropes:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CyberPunk
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CyberpunkTropes
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/WriteACyberpunkStory

The most recent major cyberpunk novels came out before 2010. But I don't think it's a dead genre.


There have been plenty of recent short stories, too.

AngelsAvengeMe said:

Thank you everyone!

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Enjoy the reading.

Just to add: I saw a publisher (Entangled, I think?) that had cyberpunk romance as a subgenre under its YA Romance guidelines, so cyberpunk may be still alive?

bunny-gypsy said:

.... so cyberpunk may be still alive?

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Perhaps that should be... "so cyberpunk may be still online?"

Take a look at "Shadowrun", it's a role-playing game like Dungeons & Dragons and takes place in a world that's as cyberpunk as they come. Shadowrun is awesome and you will find endless inspiration and ideas:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936876515/?tag=absowrit-20

That game invented the idea of a "Matrix" long before that stale movie came out. You got people plugging themselves into the matrix by plugging some connector into their brains (an opening in their skull). Orc/Human hybrids on motorcycles. And much more.

Ride the Pen said:

Take a look at "Shadowrun", it's a role-playing game like Dungeons & Dragons and takes place in a world that's as cyberpunk as they come. Shadowrun is awesome and you will find endless inspiration and ideas:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936876515/?tag=absowrit-20

That game invented the idea of a "Matrix" long before that stale movie came out. You got people plugging themselves into the matrix by plugging some connector into their brains (an opening in their skull). Orc/Human hybrids on motorcycles. And much more.

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Apparently it had enough of a fanbase that a kickstarter project based on it (called "Shadowrun Returns") managed to be funded.

So, yes, cyberpunk is still online. People are still jacking in, anyway, lol.

benbenberi said:

Is cyberpunk still a thing in publishing? All the examples mentioned above are pretty old, and it has a very 80s vibe to me. I suspect the genre has evolved since then, and possibly re-branded as something else with a more contemporary flavor.

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Some things just never quite go away. I would say one aspect of Cyberpunk is borrowing as much coolness as possible from whatever as-yet-unmined-but-certified coolness is left out there. Japan used to be all that, but now -- who knows? -- maybe just not writing Cyberpunk would get you into an unmined coolness region in a snap, but paradoxically, if you aren't writing Cyberpunk you don't need such quite high doses of coolness anyway. It's a tough (but very cool!) judgment call.

Once! said:

Perhaps that should be... "so cyberpunk may be still online?"

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Just jack your YA jack into the generic jack and see if there is anything popping into your generic sensory arena.

From the Freedictionary.com:

jack (j k)
n.1. often Jack Informal A man; a fellow.
2. a. One who does odd or heavy jobs; a laborer.
b. One who works in a specified manual trade. Often used in combination: a lumberjack; a steeplejack.
c. Jack A sailor; a tar.

3. Abbr. J Games A playing card showing the figure of a servant or soldier and ranking below a queen. Also called knave.
4. Games a. jacks (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A game played with a set of small six-pointed metal pieces and a small ball, the object being to pick up the pieces in various combinations.
b. One of the metal pieces so used.

5. Sports A pin used in some games of bowling.
6. a. A usually portable device for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw, or hydraulic press.
b. A wooden wedge for cleaving rock.

7. A device used for turning a spit.
8. Nautical a. A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead.
b. A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality.

9. The male of certain animals, especially the ass.
10. Any of several food and game fishes of the family Carangidae, found in tropical and temperate seas.
11. A jackrabbit.
12. A socket that accepts a plug at one end and attaches to electric circuitry at the other.
13. Slang Money.
14. Applejack.
15. Slang A small or worthless amount: You don't know jack about that.

v. jacked, jack·ing, jacks
v.tr.1. To hunt or fish for with a jacklight: hunters illegally jacking deer.
2. a. To move or hoist by or as if by using a jack: jacked the rear of the car to replace the tire.
b. To raise (something) to a higher level, as in cost: "Foreign producers jacked up the price on some steels by over 100%" (Forbes).

3. Baseball To hit (a pitched ball) hard, especially for a home run.

v.intr.To hunt or fish for quarry by using a jacklight.

A cheap Mitsubishi quadcopter hovered outside my office window, reflections of neon kanji crawling over its rusted chrome hull. Data hit the darkwire fast and hard, an electronic knifewound in the perpetual rain. This was news - someone was talking about bringing back Cyberpunk.

I lit a Zhongnanhai and blew smoke over the array of consoles on the desk in front of me, adding to the patina of nicotine on the Lenovo logos. I had told Tyrell that Cyberpunk was special. No termination date. I didn't know how long we had together, but then who does?




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Sorry, I'll get my coat.

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester might be worth checking out. It is widely considered to be one of the prototypical cyberpunk novels. Some of the cyberpunk checkboxes it ticks are giant, all-powerful corporations, psionics, and cybernetic body enhancements.

PeteMC said:

A cheap Mitsubishi quadcopter hovered outside my office window, reflections of neon kanji crawling over its rusted chrome hull. Data hit the darkwire fast and hard, an electronic knifewound in the perpetual rain. This was news - someone was talking about bringing back Cyberpunk.

I lit a Zhongnanhai and blew smoke over the array of consoles on the desk in front of me, adding to the patina of nicotine on the Lenovo logos. I had told Tyrell that Cyberpunk was special. No termination date. I didn't know how long we had together, but then who does?




----




Sorry, I'll get my coat.

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OMG! Don't go! I forgot the whole hard-boiled lingo thing!
But then who doesn't?

Wikipedia's List of cyberpunk works is pretty good and lists works with the date created so you get a good feel for how the genre continues to mutate as realtime technology itself changes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cyberpunk_works

I enjoy cyberpunk. I find the challenge with creating it, is that the story needs to stay ahead of technology, which is transforming quickly. In this day and age, we have already reached the advances of digital information, bionic parts and early wetware.

Cyberpunk stories address the issues of how good technology can be used to cause harm.
Modern examples already exist - the hackers who figured out how to hack a heart pacemaker and change the pacing through a simple phone app.

Cyberpunk puts technology in the hands of bad or incompetent people. The good people, and the competent, have to stop them from causing harm, sometimes hampered by the very technology that's been compromised.

Have fun with it!

One interesting take I would enjoy seeing is not Film Noir but Hotel Noir - that is, with the hard-boiled language, the grim atmosphere, but entirely domestic problems and situations. MC has to give birth but the technology that has been appended to her is causing complications. There's a specialist out there but she has to get funds to get her there. The problem is that she is stuck in an industrial ghetto. . .

Xelebes said:

One interesting take I would enjoy seeing is not Film Noir but Hotel Noir - that is, with the hard-boiled language, the grim atmosphere, but entirely domestic problems and situations. MC has to give birth but the technology that has been appended to her is causing complications. There's a specialist out there but she has to get funds to get her there. The problem is that she is stuck in an industrial ghetto. . .

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That's where Post Cyerpunk sort of steps in. The best definition of the genre I've heard has been Cyberpunk has an MC who wants to overthrow the government/system/etc. Post-Cyberpunk has an MC who just wants to survive within the system. Essentially post cyberpunk is cyberpunk after it graduates college and gets a job then realizes it can't go out partying everyday and worries about it's 401k.

I write what I call "cyberpunk pulp adventure."

I take the elements of cyberpunk (the hacking, the biomods, the noir-esque mean streets, the tech-augmented gangers, etc) and mix in a generous helping of pulp adventure.

I describe my current, ongoing project as "XENA meets BLADE RUNNER meets BAD BOYS with a lot of John Woo gun-fu."

A fellow writer describes it as "John Woo stuffed between 2 slices of Michael Bay & wrapped in hand grenade-flavored bacon."

AceTachyon said:

I write what I call "cyberpunk pulp adventure."

I take the elements of cyberpunk (the hacking, the biomods, the noir-esque mean streets, the tech-augmented gangers, etc) and mix in a generous helping of pulp adventure.

I describe my current, ongoing project as "XENA meets BLADE RUNNER meets BAD BOYS with a lot of John Woo gun-fu."

A fellow writer describes it as "John Woo stuffed between 2 slices of Michael Bay & wrapped in hand grenade-flavored bacon."

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That sounds like a blast.