2. A cyberpunk book

[Ellie]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Laura Lam's False Hearts or Shattered Minds (they can be read standalone but I think SM might have a spoiler for FH in). They are a good choice for those who find some of the classic cyberpunk a bit hard going but they have all the hallmarks of cyberpunk (augmentation, VR, grubby drug dealers, addiction, mystery, et al). I really enjoyed both of them.

[Cornerofmadness]

Nadine wrote: "Johanne wrote: "http://bestsciencefictionbooks.com/be...
Has a cyberpunk list and a definition.
Their top 25 list is:

Snow Crash
Neuromancer
Do ..."

I was about to say that myself. Whoever made that list for the article surely didn't understand what cyberpunk is. Boneshaker most definitely is not, not even close. Even the author calls it steampunk (having met and talked with her). Others are hard core cybperpunk so that's good.

[Sofie]

Nadine wrote: "Johanne wrote: "http://bestsciencefictionbooks.com/be...
Has a cyberpunk list and a definition.
Their top 25 list is:

Snow Crash
Neuromancer
Do ..."

I can only agree. There's nothing cyberpunky about the Wind-up Girl for example. I mean I think it's most often classed as biopunk, which is sort of derivative from cyberpunk as so far that it uses a technology together with dystopian visions, but it completely lacks the information technology aspect which I think is the core of cyberpunk.

[Nadine in NY]

Sofie wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Johanne wrote: "http://bestsciencefictionbooks.com/be...
Has a cyberpunk list and a definition.
Their top 25 list is:

...

I can only agree. There's nothing cyberpunky about the Wind-up Girl for example...."

I can wrap my head around The Windup Girl, since she IS a robot. I wouldn't call it cyberpunk, myself, but I can kind of see why someone might.

LOL this is reminding me of some excellent conversa-arguments I had in the 80s and 90s and 00s about exactly which kind of heavy metal a metal band was (or even better, what kind of punk a punk band was, or if they even qualify as punk) ;-) I mean, Slayer is absolutely NOT death metal, it's clearly speed metal ... or thrash metal. Is there even a difference between speed metal and thrash metal? And Green Day is NOT punk. But that's a tangent...

[Marie-Eve]

Eujean2 wrote: "For those that aren't sure about this prompt, but like fairy tale retellings, at least the 4 main books of the the Lunar Chronicle series show up on cyberpunk lists: Cinder,[book:Sc..."

I understand about Cinder, but im not sure i understand how the others fall in the Cyberpunk genre...
BUT they`ve been on my list forever. LOL

[Marie-Eve]

Hey guys,

i read Mechanica last year for Steampunk, but reading through the definition of Cyberpunk, i kinda feel like it could fall into that... meaning i could read the sequel.. what do you guys think?

[Nadine in NY]

Marie-eve wrote: "Eujean2 wrote: "For those that aren't sure about this prompt, but like fairy tale retellings, at least the 4 main books of the the Lunar Chronicle series show up on cyberpunk lists: ...

I understand about Cinder, but im not sure i understand how the others fall in the Cyberpunk genre...
BUT they`ve been on my list forever. LOL "

Welllll ... they're none of them particularly "cyberpunk." Nobody jacks in to any artificial realities. They are like "cyberpunk-lite." Cinder, the cyborg, is in each book, and her android side-kick, Iko, plays a big part, and Wolf has been genetically-engineered, and Cress is a computer hacker, and they are all battling an oppressive government, so ... they can all kindasorta work for this category, if, you know, you think you won't like cyberpunk, and you really want to read these books instead, go for it!

[Johanne]

@Nadine - was that with you I had that discussion about Green Day? ;)

[Johanne]

I really feel we ought to have this amazing discussion over beers in real life.

[Nadine in NY]

Johanne wrote: "I really feel we ought to have this amazing discussion over beers in real life."

Yes! wouldn't that be fantastic?!!

[Lindsey]

Eujean2 wrote: "For those that aren't sure about this prompt, but like fairy tale retellings, at least the 4 main books of the the Lunar Chronicle series show up on cyberpunk lists: Cinder,[book:Sc..."

I was curious about that! I just finished "Scarlet," so I will use that for this prompt.

[Crumb]

I am really clueless for this prompt.. and I received this ARC the other day. I was wondering what you all thought.. the book is called The Feed by Nick Clark Windo

And this is the plot summary:
THE FEED by Nick Clark Windo is a startling and timely debut which presents a world as unique and vividly imagined as STATION ELEVEN and THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS and explores what it is to be human in the digital age.

It makes us. It destroys us.

The Feed is everywhere. It can be accessed by anyone, at any time. Every interaction, every emotion, every image can be shared through it.

Tom and Kate use The Feed, but they have resisted addiction to it. And this will serve them well when The Feed collapses.

Until their six-year-old daughter, Bea, goes missing.

Because how do you find someone in a world devoid of technology? And what happens when you can no longer trust that your loved ones are really who they claim to be?

Would this work?

[Nadine in NY]

"A world devoid of technology" sounds like the opposite of cyberpunk, so I'm going to guess: no it doesn't fit this category.

[Crumb]

It seems like at first it has a concentration on technology and then the technology is gone.. so yes, Nadine. I'd agree. Thank you though for the feedback.

[Dana]

Not sure if it belongs here, but I just wanted to thank all of you who suggested The Minority Report. I just finished it yesterday. It's a great short story and I can check off this category, which, honestly, is a bit of a relief. Plus it was totally different from the movie, that was amazing. :)

[Nadine in NY]

Yes The Minority Report is really worth a read - it's short, it's well-written, it's classic, and it fits this prompt!

[Kerry]

I wish I would have known The Minority Report fit this prompt. I would not have read a 400 pager. 😁

[Nadine in NY]

LOL I recommended it on the first page of this post!! :-).

It's perfect for people who think they might not like this category.

[Kerry]

Nadine wrote: "LOL I recommended it on the first page of this post!! :-).

It's perfect for people who think they might not like this category."

Oh goodness, how did i miss that? I think in the beginning, I was thinking the books had to be more than 150 pages.

[Chinook]

Nope, as challenges go, this one is very open ended. No rules about length.

[Kerry]

Chinook wrote: "Nope, as challenges go, this one is very open ended. No rules about length."

That's good to know.

[K.]

Does anyone think that Scooby Apocalypse (2016-) Vol. 1 would count for this? It's apocalyptic first and foremost, but the world itself is technologically advanced and Scooby has cybernetic implants, for example. At the beginning, Velma turns whistleblower in order to expose the terrible projects being developed by a company when the apocalypse happens and a nanites are unleashed upon the world that turn most people into terrifying monsters. So it's got the cyber part okay, but I don't know about the punk. Not so much in the way of lawlessness and rebelling against a government, but there's a will to rebel against the company at first and there's certainly no rules now that the world has gone crazy.

Thoughts?

[Nadine in NY]

K. wrote: "Does anyone think that Scooby Apocalypse (2016-) Vol. 1 would count for this? It's apocalyptic first and foremost, but the world itself is technologically advanced and Scooby has cy..."

LOL that sounds like one crazy comic book!!! From your description, it sounds like it could work for "cyberpunk." Hard to say really!

[Christy]

I just got from the library, and I'm counting it for this prompt. Yeah, sure there are demigoddesses, but there's a whole chapter in binary code for heck's sake, so I'm saying that counts. Also, look at that cover! I love it.

[Susan]

Christy wrote: " there's a whole chapter in binary code for heck's sak..."

LOVE me some binary code! My dad used to make secret notes on tab cards and sneak them in my lunches. (gosh I hope someone else remembers what those are!)

[Nadine in NY]

Susan wrote: "Christy wrote: " there's a whole chapter in binary code for heck's sak..."

LOVE me some binary code! My dad used to make secret notes on tab cards and sneak them in my lunches. (gosh I hope someone else remembers what those are!)
"

Lunches? who could forget lunches?? ;-)

Fear not. I never actually used punch cards, but when I learned how to program, Fortran 77 was the latest and greatest thing (distinguished from the much more old fashioned and regular Fortran) and the computer did not have a monitor, just a sort of dot matrix printer attached to it.

[Winter]

Cyberpunk??

[Nadine in NY]

Winter wrote: "Cyberpunk?? "

I don't think of this book as cyberpunk. It is not "punk" - it's pretty much a straight-up mystery novel, but one of the detectives is a robot. It's a classic! I just re-read it again last year, it's worth reading, but honestly I can't think of a category in this year's challenge that it would fill! (Except maybe the personal categories, like local author, same name, different ethnicity, etc)

[Winter]

Nadine wrote: "Winter wrote: "Cyberpunk?? "

I don't think of this book as cyberpunk. It is not "punk" - it's pretty much a straight-up mystery novel, but one of the detectives..."

Thank you :) I don't quite understand the definition so I didn't know if it quite fit it.

[Randi]

Sara wrote: "From steampunk to cyberpunk...another lesser known genre to explore. We will need lots of suggestions here!"

Would Demon Seed by Dean Koontz count? It's about the rogue computer that takes over a woman's house and traps her to impregnate her and experience love

[Natascha]

Would Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie count for this one? The setting appears to be on a rather grand scale, and there doesn't appear to be any "alternate reality" element which seems pervasive in the genre so I suspect maybe no. But I thought maybe the "ancillary" concept was an interesting one that ties into the spirit of cyberpunk with the strange new concept of identity and inherently unfair system - could any people who read cyberpunk more give me some insight into the nuances of the genre?

[Nadine in NY]

The Ancillary series is excellent, and yes I can see it being called "cyberpunk"

It's not like other more "classic" cyberpunk books like William Gibson's, though. Usually they are set on near-future earth, and they are kind of gritty and involve a sort of underworld. Ancillary is FAR future, on other planets. Earth is never mentioned.

There's definitely the "cyber" part, since the main character is AI. The only question is if it's "cyberPUNK"! And there is a bit of covert-ops-against-the-tyrannical-ruler, in a way, and secrets, and intrigue, so I guess that could be the "punk" part.

Just know that this book is really confusing at first! I think I had no idea what was going on for the first 2/3 of the book!! So, I recommend you read it, and stick with it even if you are confused, just keep reading and it will eventually make sense.

[Natascha]

Thanks for the reply Nadine! Sorry I forgot to respond. My main concern was whether there's enough of the "punk" element so I appreciate your feedback. I think I'll read that as my cyberpunk anyway then even if it's a little left field. :) I'll definitely stick with it through the confusing start as well!

[Teri]

Katy wrote: "Brandyn wrote: "I'm still struggling with Steampunk, but even though the genre names are similar I'll have an easier time here. I already own and haven't read Ready Player One so it'..."
I read Ready Player Onelast week for this prompt and loved it so much. I agree, if you lived through the 80s, there will be much to enjoy. It was a really fun read.

I also want to read The Minority Report and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? just for fun.

[Mari]

I just finished re-reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It is by no means a perfect book but it is quite excellent.

and, there is something ridiculous about reading a book about hackers at your lunch break when you work in a cyber security company.

[Shelley]

I went with Autonomous. It's a mixture of bio and cyber technology with a nice mixture of personal and societal ethics (including a discussion of gender and sex when it comes to artificial intelligence). I thought it hit on a lot of very pertinent topics that people are going to need to address in the very near future. In my opinion it was great, although the goodread score is kinda low so I'm sure others don't agree.

[Sarah]

Nadine wrote: "Marie-eve wrote: "Eujean2 wrote: "For those that aren't sure about this prompt, but like fairy tale retellings, at least the 4 main books of the the Lunar Chronicle series show up on cyberpunk list..."

Do you know any other "cyberpunk-lite" recs? I'm not down for anything too heavy at the moment and I've already read the Lunar Chronicles

[Nadine in NY]

Sarah wrote: "Do you know any other "cyberpunk-lite" recs? I'm not down for anything too heavy at the moment and I've already read the Lunar Chronicles..."

Warcross?

I hesitate to suggest it, because it's not really "cyberpunk" per se. It's got the "cyber" part just fine, but it's more than a little light on the "punk" part. But it's perfect if you're looking for something fluffy.

ETA: I HAVE seen this book show up on "cyberpunk" lists, so it's just me being an old curmudgeon really when I say it's "not cyberpunk."

[Ellie]

Sarah wrote: "Do you know any other "cyberpunk-lite" recs? I'm not down for anything too heavy at the moment and I've already read the Lunar Chronicles"

I would highly recommend Laura Lam's False Hearts which follows separated conjoined twins. It switches between their time as children living with a cult who shun modern technology and a more cyberpunky murder case, where one of the twins is a suspect. It's definitely cyberpunk but a lot less grim than the classic stuff.

[✨ A ✨]

ive been meaning to read Ready Player One for a long time, i guess now i have the perfect excuse

[Abbie]

I've been really struggling with ideas for this one but bookriot had a great post on cyber punk today that finally got me interested in this prompt! Thinking I'll go for Lauren Beukes' Moxyland since I enjoyed her other novels but I feel like there were several interesting contenders here: https://bookriot.com/2018/04/26/cyber...

[Nadine in NY]

Abbie wrote: "I've been really struggling with ideas for this one but bookriot had a great post on cyber punk today that finally got me interested in this prompt! Thinking I'll go for Lauren Beukes' [book:Moxyla..."

wow that IS a good list!! I've read a lot of them, but the titles I haven't heard of sound really good! And I'm working SO hard to shorten my TBR but now I'm adding more books to it ...

[Lynette]

Forgive me if anyone has addressed this and I missed it -

Does The Girl with all the Gifts fit this subgenre?

[Eujean2]

I’m not a cyberpunk expert, but I would say that The Girl With All The Gifts is post-apocalyptic, but not cyberpunk. It doesn’t have much cyber or much punk. That said, it’s a great read. (Now you can count it as recommended by another Pop Sugar-er.)

[Nadine in NY]

Lynette wrote: "Forgive me if anyone has addressed this and I missed it -

Does The Girl with all the Gifts fit this subgenre?
"

yeah, it's post-apocalyptic but not cyberpunk. There really isn't much "cyber" at all to this book. I agree it's worth reading!

[Lynette]

Thanks!

[Megan]

Azrah wrote: "ive been meaning to read Ready Player One for a long time, i guess now i have the perfect excuse"

I wouldn't consider that cyberpunk but I could be wrong.

[Ellie]

I initially didn't think Ready Player One would count myself, but a lot of people have been using it as a sort of cyberpunk lite, and the more I've seen it the more I've thought about it. It does have some of the hallmarks of the subgenre even if it isn't very noir.

It has hackers, social change, virtual reality, giant corporations as the bad guys... Yeah it's not very punk, but I think it's close enough, especially for those put off by the darker elements.

I read it when it first come out so I won't be using it. I'm hoping to stumble across something in my regular SFF reading that will fit.

[Tania]

I read a comic for this prompt, Battle Angel Alita, Volume 01 (Gunnm #1) by Yukito Kishiro

[Christine]

I was not loving this prompt - honestly a lot of the choices seemed really dudebro-oriented to me, and I already tried and failed to read a couple of these.

I found two books that definitely qualify, and are a little different:

Trouble and Her Friends - billed as basically a Western set in cyberspace

Autonomous - "Autonomous features a rakish female pharmaceutical pirate named Jack who traverses the world in her own submarine. A notorious anti-patent scientist who has styled herself as a Robin Hood heroine fighting to bring cheap drugs to the poor, Jack’s latest drug is leaving a trail of lethal overdoses across what used to be North America—a drug that compels people to become addicted to their work.

On Jack’s trail are an unlikely pair: an emotionally shut-down military agent and his partner, Paladin, a young military robot, who fall in love against all expectations. Autonomous alternates between the activities of Jack and her co-conspirators, and Elias and Paladin, as they all race to stop a bizarre drug epidemic that is tearing apart lives, causing trains to crash, and flooding New York City."

It sounds totally bonkers, but in a fun-loving way - how can I resist? I read most of the Kindle sample and believe I'll choose this as my prompt-filler.