recommended books like neuromancer

[Matt]

I read the trilogy, loved it, especially neuromancer. I especially love cyberpunk, and books that interact with topics related to singularity. However, I'm finding that many of the books that other people love, I do not like as much... so I'm trying to find people with similar taste to me that can recommend next books.

I read Snow Crash, because it was also considered a highly acclaimed cyberpunk novel. I was into at first, but as I got farther and farther into it, I felt as though I couldn't take the character's as seriously... still overall liked the book, but not spectacular. Found it a little contrived.

Next, I tried the Cryptomicon. I only made it a couple hundred pages in, and generally found it to be terrible. I could not connect with any of the characters.

I also tried another Gibson book, Pattern Recognition. While I finished this book and found the initial premise of the book interesting, I found all of the characters to be terribly annoying, and as the plot unfold it just became more and more lame.

In contrast, Neuromancer (and the rest of the Sprawl) grabbed me and pulled me in. Even though I was very confused in the beginning of the book (a common complaint in the negative reviews for this book), I was ok with it... I feel like the book has layers upon layers of depth, whereas the other above ones. In the latter books, I feel like I'm reading a (contrived) book; in the neuromancer, I feel like I'm seeing into a deep world, of which the book itself is just a window.

Anyone else get me? People that do, please recommend new books!

[Jared]

It's hard to recommend a book that lives up to Neuromancer. I really enjoyed Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. It's not on the same level, but it has a dark/cyberpunk setting and with a detective noir story. Morgan has cited Gibson as a huge influence.

[mkfs]

It's tough to find something with the grittiness of a cyberpunk setting, and the raw language that Gibson has in his early days.

Definitely check out his book of short stories, Burning Chrome.

Cyberpunk:
Hardwired, Synners, Fools, Blood Music. Possibly Deus Ex Machina, though it's never been popular.

For a similar grittiness and complexity in a non-cyberpunk setting, check out the Ambergis novels, especially City of Saints and Madmen and Finch. Yellow Blue Tibia was quite good. Word Made Flesh may also work for you, though I wasn't so fond of it. Similarly, many of my cpunk friends seem to like Perdido Street Station, but it didn't work for me.

[CJ]

Check out The Windup Girl

[Matt]

TThanks for thr recs. i will check out the grittiness idea. i did read altered carbon.... interesting preimise, but characters were a little too extreme to take seriously. sort of like snow crash. sex scenes were hilarious though.

[mkfs]

Matt wrote: "i did read altered carbon.... interesting preimise, but characters were a little too extreme to take seriously."

I had the same problem with Snowcrash. I did enjoy Headcrash, though -- largely because it was making fun of many of the cyberpunk tropes (until it kinda went of the rails towards the end).

I have mixed feelings about The Windup Girl. The author developed an interesting world, but the characters and core story and the characters were kinda flat and pointless.

Then again, it's tough to beat early Gibson -- that writing was great.

[Danielle]

I may not be the best person to recommend books for you because I loved all of Gibson's and Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I didn't enjoy Snow Crash as much but loved Stephenson's Reamde.
also Rudy Rucker's oldThe Ware Tetralogyand Postsingular. And Daemon, Freedom™, Kill Decision, although they may be more cyber thriller than cyberpunk. Another worth a look is Ready Player One.

[Matt]

Snow Crash was ok, but just ok. I really liked the first 100 pages or so; the author's sense of humor seemed to click with me. But at some point it started to feel very forced, as did the entire connection to Sumerian gods, etc...

I tend to be a very cynical person, and it strongly impacts whether I can connect with the author at first. They have to convince me that their story is legitimate and worth reading.

I got the same feeling in Crytonomicon, except much earlier in the novel, and, since the book is huge and attempts to be even more epic in feel than Snow Crash, in my mind totally false apart in believability.

[James]

It's not quite Gibson-style cyberpunk, but take a look at the works of John Shirley and Bruce Sterling (guys who used to hang out with Gibson). I found George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails an interesting take on the genre.

[mkfs]

Oh man, the Eclipse series?

Not as well written as Gibson, but still *proper* cpunk.

[Allan]

I agree, the Eclipse series by John Shirley is up there along with Neuromancer.

I have tried Bruce Sterling several times, but unfortunately I just can't get into his books. I find that his short stories are better.

[Matt]

As an update, I ready Ready Player One, and liked it a lot. Though not nearly as deep/complex as Neuromancer, it is light-hearted and fun, and pretty easy to appeal to anyone who played videogames in their youth, and/or table-top RPGs. Also, although I didn't think it was very complex, the characters were deep enough to care about, and were well developed enough to be believable.

I read 100 pages of Daemon, then quit on it. Found the plot to be non-original, and not very interesting. At least in the first 100 pages, there was no character depth, and the attempts at it were not believable. The characters were either shallow, or the attempts to give them some depth couldn't be take seriously. The one scene with the character organizing a rave and taking advantage of some girl just made me roll my eyes. The daemon idea is sort of interesting, but eh, I just could't find myself caring about it. I also prefer futuristic settings.

I read Burning Chrome. Half the short stories were great; especially Johnny Mnemonic, Burning Chrome, and one in the middle I can't remember. A couple early on were a little confusing too me... to metaphorical or something; didn't like those as much, but maybe I'll try reading again.

Will be trying out Eclipse, Hardwired, Armada, and we'll see what else my local library has (actually I don't think they have Eclipse, so maybe I'll interlibrary loan it).

Eventually might try an Altered Carbon sequel; I didn't really like the characters very much, but the general world concept is pretty interesting, and I do like detective stories.

[Jamie]

I did love the setting - and to a degree the writing - but I found reading the book to be too exhausting. Maybe I've just been reading too much for the reading challenge, but I had to drag my way through the book.

[mkfs]

Allan wrote: "I have tried Bruce Sterling several times, but unfortunately I just can't get into his books. I find that his short stories are better."

The only Bruce Sterling novel I enjoyed was Islands in the Net. If anything, it was a post-cyberpunk novel. The main character's mother is a Gen-Xer, and there was plenty of comparison between then-current Gen X and the one that followed (which we now know as the Millenials). It might make for a good re-read now that the generation after X is no longer a hypothetical.

Don't get me started on "Artificial Kid" and those dust-mites.

[Mike]

You might like to try Jon Courtenay Grimwood. His work is much inspired by Gibson and is certainly gritty cyberpunk.

[David]

I would second the choice of George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails as fitting well into the Neuromancer style cyberpunk story.

[Bill]

The style of the Firefall series by Peter Watts ("Blindsight" and "Echopraxia") reminded me of Neuromancer. Though while Neuromance is cyberpunk and Firefall was more hard sci-fi, Watts throws out lots of technical terms and ideas without explaining immediately (although they're usually explained later). So I was always just on the edge of not understanding what was going on. Watts also has detailed appendices where he talks about the technology and science that many of the ideas are based on.

[Rainer]

Oi there mate!
I'm currently searching for exactly the same bookstyle that we are craving so much!

read through neuromancer, got that "window kinda feel" you were writing about.
started the second installment, finished it, but it wasn't even close in sense of suspension and character depth as neuromancer was.

bla bla so long story short:

definately check out the wind up girl by paolo bacigalupi
and/or Spectrum by Sergej Lukianenko

the windup girl is quite tense, full of interesting characters, awesome setting, nice plot and overall good writingstyle, even though i've only read the german version...but i've heard the original version must be quite superior!

spectrum on the other hand, wont fit into cyberpunk, rather sci fi, but a superb read!

anyway, i dont even know how old this thread is, but i had to give you my thoughts after reading yours :)

hope i may have helped a little

greetings from germany!