Spook Country

Amazon.com

Now that the present has caught up with William Gibson's vision of the future, which made him the most influential science fiction writer of the past quarter century, he has started writing about a time--our time--in which everyday life feels like science fiction. With his previous novel, Pattern Recognition, the challenge of writing about the present-day world drove him to create perhaps his best novel yet, and in Spook Country he remains at the top of his game. It's a stripped-down thriller that reads like the best DeLillo (or the best Gibson), with the lives of a half-dozen evocative characters connected by a tightly converging plot and by the general senses of unease and wonder in our networked, post-9/11 time.

Across the Border to Spook Country

For the last few decades, William Gibson, who grew up in Virginia and elsewhere in the United States, has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, just across the border from Amazon.com's Seattle headquarters, which made for a short drive for a lunchtime interview before the release of Spook Country. We met just a few miles from where the storylines of the new novel, in a rare scene set in Gibson's own city, converge. You can read the full transcript of the interview, in which we discussed, among other things, writing in the age of Google, visiting the Second Life virtual world, the possibilities of science fiction in an age of rapid change, and his original proposal for Spook Country, which we have available for viewing on our site. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

Amazon.com: Could you start by telling us a little bit about the scenario of the new book?

William Gibson: It's a book in which shadowy and mysterious characters are using New York's smallest crime family, a sort of boutique operation of smugglers and so-called illegal facilitators, to get something into North America. And you have to hang around to the end of the book to find out what they're doing. So I guess it's a caper novel in that regard.

Amazon.com: The line on your last book, Pattern Recognition was that the present had caught up with William Gibson's future. So many of the things you imagined have come true that in a way it seems like we're all living in science fiction now. Is that the way you felt when you came to write that book, that the real world had caught up with your ideas?

Gibson: Well, I thought that writing about the world today as I perceive it would probably be more challenging, in the real sense of science fiction, than continuing just to make things up. And I found that to absolutely be the case. If I'm going to write fiction set in an imaginary future now, I'm going to need a yardstick that gives me some accurate sense of how weird things are now. 'Cause I'm going to have to go beyond that. And I think over the course of these last two books--I don't think I'm done yet--I've been getting a yardstick together. But I don't know if I'll be able to do it again. I don't know if I'll be able to make up an imaginary future in the same way. In the '80s and '90s--as strange as it may seem to say this--we had such luxury of stability. Things weren't changing quite so quickly in the '80s and '90s. And when things are changing too quickly, as one of the characters in Pattern Recognition says, you don't have any place to stand from which to imagine a very elaborate future.

Amazon.com: Now that you're writing about the present, do you consider yourself a science fiction writer these days? Because the marketplace still does.

Gibson: I never really believed in the separation. But science fiction is definitely where I'm from. Science fiction is my native literary culture. It's what I started reading, and I think the thing that actually makes me a bit different than some of the science fiction writers I've met who are my own age is that I discovered Edgar Rice Burroughs and William Burroughs in the same week. And I started reading Beat poets a year later, and got that in the mix. That really changed the direction. But it seems like such an old-fashioned way of looking at things. And it's better not to be pinned down. It's a matter of where you're allowed to park. If you can park in the science fiction bookstore, that's good. If you can park in the other bookstore, that's really good. If people come and buy it at Amazon, that's really good.

I'm sure I must have readers from 20 years ago who are just despairing of the absence of cyberstuff, or girls with bionic fingernails. But that just the way it is. All of that stuff reads so differently now. I think nothing dates more quickly than science fiction. Nothing dates more quickly than an imaginary future. It's acquiring a patina of quaintness even before you've got it in the envelope to send to the publisher.

Amazon.com: So do you think that's your own career path, that you're less interested in imagining a future, or do you think that the world is changing?

Gibson: I think it's actually both. Until fairly recently, I had assumed that it was me, me being drawn to use this toolkit I'd acquired when I was a teenager, and using my old SF toolkit in some kind of attempt at naturalism, 21st-century naturalistic fiction. But over the last five to six years it's started to seem to me that there's something else going on as well, that maybe we're in what the characters in my novel Idoru call a "nodal point," or a series of them. We're in a place where things could just go anywhere. A couple of weeks ago I happened to read Charlie Stross's argument as to why he believes that there will never, ever be any manned space travel. It's not going to happen. We're not going to colonize Mars. All of that is just a big fantasy. And it's so convincing. I read that and I'm like, "My god, there goes so much of the fiction I read as a child."

Book Description

Tito is in his early twenties. Born in Cuba, he speaks fluent Russian, lives in one room in a NoLita warehouse, and does delicate jobs involving information transfer.

Hollis Henry is an investigative journalist, on assignment from a magazine called Node. Node doesn't exist yet, which is fine; she's used to that. But it seems to be actively blocking the kind of buzz that magazines normally cultivate before they start up. Really actively blocking it. It's odd, even a little scary, if Hollis lets herself think about it much. Which she doesn't; she can't afford to.

Milgrim is a junkie. A high-end junkie, hooked on prescription antianxiety drugs. Milgrim figures he wouldn't survive twenty-four hours if Brown, the mystery man who saved him from a misunderstanding with his dealer, ever stopped supplying those little bubble packs. What exactly Brown is up to Milgrim can't say, but it seems to be military in nature. At least, Milgrim's very nuanced Russian would seem to be a big part of it, as would breaking into locked rooms.

Bobby Chombo is a "producer," and an enigma. In his day job, Bobby is a troubleshooter for manufacturers of military navigation equipment. He refuses to sleep in the same place twice. He meets no one. Hollis Henry has been told to find him.

Pattern Recognition was a bestseller on every list of every major newspaper in the country, reaching #4 on the New York Times list. It was also a BookSense top ten pick, a WordStock bestseller, a best book of the year for Publishers Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and the Economist, and a Washington Post "rave."

Spook Country is the perfect follow-up to Pattern Recognition, which was called by The Washington Post (among many glowing reviews), "One of the first authentic and vital novels of the twenty-first century."

Customer Reviews:

Lame.......2007-10-02

I was really looking forward to reading this new Gibson novel. I've been a big fan of his since Neuromancer. Spook Country started off well with some neat characters and scenarios, but the plot quickly devolved into inane nonsense. I was left with the impression that the author finished this book while he was busy doing something else. What a disappointment.

New Thriller Genre Where the Future is Boring.......2007-10-01

William Gibson is one of my favorite authors and I have read all his other books. I don't know what to think of this latest book except that maybe he is trying to describe a world where technology advances are dead, and the only people interested in it are artists and mobsters.

If this was written by any other thriller or mystery novelist I would have enjoyed it more. I was hoping for his usual brand of inspiring and innovative science fiction about the near future. Instead I got something that while a pleasant enough read, left me thinking the future is going to be a very boring and depressing third-world kind of place.

Spook Country...What has happened to Gibson.......2007-09-30

I want to begin this review by saying I consider Gibson's book "Neuromancer" one of the greatest literary feats I know of. In this book Gibson exhibited his incomparable imagination and gift of prophecy. He not only created a pantheon of characters as difersified as a Star Wars bar, but brought them to life in a series of rapid sketches. He not only created characters we could believe and even care about, but an entire world connected to our own like an exotic Siamese twin full of wonders. Neuromancer was no mere cateloguing of weird people and strange new technology, but a fascinating tale tumescent with fresh and exciting twists.

This is why "Spook Country is such a disappointment. After reading the entire book I realised there was not a single developed character, not one I was the least bit of interested in or cared what happened to them. The plot was fragmented, boring and ultimately trivial (a "prank"). The trademark technology was introduced, then not developed, then essentually dropped. I guess Gibson must need the money or has lost his muse. It's sad to see such decline. He should have thrown this in the trash can.

Weak compared to previous work.......2007-09-29

Compared to the outstanding previous work of Gibson Spook Country is a disaappointment. It reads like a shrt story idea that was filled with fluff to get to novel length. It contains a number of interesting characters and ideas but none are developed well enough to satisfy the reader.

An excellent start, a disappointing ending.......2007-09-27

The start of the book was as granular and tightly written as the best parts of Pattern Recognition. Unfortunately the denoument leaves much to be desired. A big build up to a damp squib. Shame.

Average customer rating:

Bravo, more of the same Richard..
Good but overly-long
Eventually, the ideas gelled.
A new anti-hero
Not Free SF Reader

Thirteen
Richard K. Morgan
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0345485254
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Book Description

The future isn’t what it used to be since Richard K. Morgan arrived on the scene. He unleashed Takeshi Kovacs–private eye, soldier of fortune, and all-purpose antihero–into the body-swapping, hard-boiled, urban jungle of tomorrow in Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies, winning the Philip K. Dick Award in the process. In Market Forces, he launched corporate gladiator Chris Faulkner into the brave new business of war-for-profit. Now, in Thirteen, Morgan radically reshapes and recharges science fiction yet again, with a new and unforgettable hero in Carl Marsalis: hybrid, hired gun, and a man without a country . . . or a planet.

Marsalis is one of a new breed. Literally. Genetically engineered by the U.S. government to embody the naked aggression and primal survival skills that centuries of civilization have erased from humankind, Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military fighting force. The project was scuttled, however, when a fearful public branded the supersoldiers dangerous mutants, dooming the Thirteens to forced exile on Earth’s distant, desolate Mars colony. But Marsalis found a way to slip back–and into a lucrative living as a bounty hunter and hit man before a police sting landed him in prison–a fate worse than Mars, and much more dangerous.

Luckily, his “enhanced” life also seems to be a charmed one. A new chance at freedom beckons, courtesy of the government. All Marsalis has to do is use his superior skills to bring in another fugitive. But this one is no common criminal. He’s another Thirteen–one who’s already shanghaied a space shuttle, butchered its crew, and left a trail of bodies in his wake on a bloody cross-country spree. And like his pursuer, he was bred to fight to the death. Still, there’s no question Marsalis will take the job. Though it will draw him deep into violence, treachery, corruption, and painful confrontation with himself, anything is better than remaining a prisoner. The real question is: can he remain sane–and alive–long enough to succeed?

Customer Reviews:

Bravo, more of the same Richard.........2007-10-03

I've read Altered Carbon, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn't so good that
I immediately wanted to read the sequels. Somewhat later I read Market
Forces, while it strained credulity, it was a really fun read... Mad
Max meets Wall Street, LOL. I can't wait to see the movie they will
eventually make of that :)

Thirteen had some interesting topics so I decided to get it in hardback,
and all I can say is WOW, best sf/cyberpunk read I've had in some time.
The book is sort of a cross between a crime/detective drama and something
like Predator and maybe even a little of a Spy Thriller.

Bloat? I guess if your attention span won't take over a couple
hundred pages you might say that, but I saw no fat in the plot,
in fact I was really sorry to turn that last page. This book
has the potential to be an awesome film, look forward to that.

More like this one please Richard :) and thanks for a great book.

Good but overly-long.......2007-09-30

I have enjoyed Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs novels, which are interesting, well-written and tautly-written. "Thirteen," while still interesting and entertaining, is more flabby, weighing in at over 500 pages. Although the story is well-thought-out, it is too thin to support the weight of that much paper. Sadly, this problem occurs with virtually every SF writer as he or she gains popularity and the concurrent ability to evade the hard editing that really needs to be done to bring story length under control.

Nevertheless, if you like Morgan's other works, you will still enjoy this one; it is a good novel, even if overly long. Your library probably has a copy, and you may want to check it out rather than buy this blind. If you are new to Morgan, I would suggest reading "Altered Carbon" first.

Eventually, the ideas gelled........2007-09-28

My first impression was that the story was almost a complete rip-off (not merely an homage) of Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. My second impression was that the story was awfully dull for one that was filled with wall-to-wall sex and violence. The characters barely had time to speak, they were so busy fighting, fleeing, or fornicating, and yet I had to force myself to slog through the first hundred pages or so. I still don't know how the author managed to make sex and violence so boring.

It was only when I started to get a grasp on the interesting underlying concepts, which were either original or just new to me, that the sex and violence started to become compelling and meaningful. When I began to sort out who was dying and why they were dying, then the action propelled the story along. The author's comentary on evolution, and on how we tamper with it one way or the other, became a framework to hang the story on, and the action started to have a purpose. After all, our current state of evolution is built on an infinite progression of sex and death. Marsalis eventually becomes a memorable character, and I'm glad I struggled through the first hundred pages while the story came together.

A new anti-hero.......2007-09-24

Gideon's Fall: When You Dont Have a Prayer, Only a Miracle Will Do I didn't want to like it. I could have easily read another two or three envoy novels. But, morgan did a solid job, the whole thirteen premise was interesting. loved the jesusland concept. And as always tight,concise prose w/t great plot lines.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-24

Soldiers really do need aggro.

The background is that the USA was losing wars by literally becoming too girly. This in fact causes a secession in the country, with the fundamentalist friendly states splitting from the Rim States to form different countries, eventually. So, they came up with the Thirteen genetic variation to make a warrior breed that had the aggro back, with the ability to boost reflexes, and be more resistant, as well as be more charismatic. It also happens to make them paranoid loners.

Mutants like this scare everyone, so were heavily regulated. The protagonist of the piece is getting sick of his existence, and after getting into trouble gets hired to track a rogue thirteen, who has done a spot of killing and eating.

Said guy manages to make a friend, and find out a few secrets, while utilising his special talents.

If you liked Altered Carbon, not too much doubt you will like this book, too.

How to Draw Fantasy Females: Create Sexy Cyberpunks, Seductive Supergirls, and Raunchy All-Action Heroines

Average customer rating:

Not Great...Actually, less than great
It's alright if you live under a rock
lousy book
Nice intro and useful catalog of techniques
Not what you think

How to Draw Fantasy Females: Create Sexy Cyberpunks, Seductive Supergirls, and Raunchy All-Action Heroines
Chris Patmore
Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

ASIN: 0764130897

Book Description

Graphic artists who open this scintillating tutorial discover the beauty secrets of cartoon bombshells, then learn how to give them active roles in stories. Step-by-step illustrations show female anatomy and proportion, ways to render poses and body shapes, and methods to exaggerate or simplify female shapes for special effects. Artists learn to create convincing drawings of seductive supergirls, action heroines, sexy cyberpunks, feisty Manga babes, and other types. Instruction includes methods for drawing facial features, head-turning hairstyles, and fantasy wardrobes with eye-popping metal bikinis and skin-tight jumpsuits. A historical overview of females in animation and comics covers styles from Betty Boop to Tank Girl. The author explains the importance of storytelling in art and discusses ways to develop story concepts before starting to draw. Chapters that follow focus on choosing art equipment (pencils, papers, brushes, inks, paints, and pixels), selecting appropriate drawing styles to match characters' personalities, rendering different feminine types, from goddess to the girl next door, and more.The book concludes with a brief survey of the business of commercial art, with advice on how and where to sell finished work, how to draw characters to order, and how artists can protect their rights. More than 200 flamboyant, full-color illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Not Great...Actually, less than great.......2007-09-30

I tend to buy a lot of "How to Draw" books, art books, etc. and, over the years, I've developeda pretty good sense of what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately, "How to Draw Fantasy Females" just doesn't work.

This book is basically a look into different kinds of female sci-fi/comic book/fantasy characters. It gives information on archetypes (actually, there is a little character sheet-type list at the beginning of the book that will help you design different character "types") and provides a couple of pseudo-helpful tutorials on Photoshop and other programs, but is mostly a showcase of different kinds of femals genre characters. I was underwhelmed, to tell the truth - there is very little "how to" to this book at all. Unless you are a collector or a completionist, I recommend just staying away from this one and looking elsewhere.

It's alright if you live under a rock.......2007-09-23

this book talks about the type of characters there are in stories and what not. And if you plan on drawing fantasy stuff, chances are you already know about these character types. Theres plenty left out and this doesnt teah you much if you know how to draw and if you dont know how to draw, this doesnt teach you how.

I got this thinking it'd show me how to draw suits and armor and stuff for females, not tell me that i could draw a girl with a gun or a female alien shaped like a uterus (im dead serious), whats up with that?

If i knew what i know now about this book, I wouldnt buy it. I can't really say who this book would be useful for. I guess its for those who want to draw fantasy style, but have no idea what kind of fantasy settings exsist. And with all the movies, cartoons, videogames, and comic books out there, i dont thing such a person walks this earth.

I wouldnt call it a waste, it does have some nice artwork in it, but overall its useless for me. I'm not an expert or draw for a living or anything like that and im not new at it. This would have been useful if it tought you how to draw stuff or at least had more/unheard of archetypes. Another thing is that this book does is assumes you want to make a comic book which gets annoying because it gives story ideas instead telling me what i wanted to learn.

lousy book.......2007-02-06

This book isn't worth the paper it's written on. There's next to nothing useful in it, any other drawing book on the market is far better. I'm amazed a publisher released it.

Nice intro and useful catalog of techniques.......2007-01-15

Overall, besides the 'cheesecake' appeal, the breakdown of styles and techniques justify buying this book. I haven't yet, but I might.

I reccomend anyone using this as a learning tool also get a DVD/Digital cable and once in a while use the 'pause' feature, to sketch what they see on the TV. Have a sketchbook devoted to 'life drawing' from this source, seperate from the 'fantasy' stuff. Also, "Drawing and painting fantasy figures" should be purchased first, as more versatile, along with its companion on "Fantasy Worlds".

Poser, mentioned heavily in this book, is also a very good tool. Ever see a movie called "Fire and Ice"? It was done with a "Rotoscope" where artists drew over still frames from a movie that used actors approximating what the animation would be. Today, with Poser and some decent software, such as flash and painter, such a movie could be made far more easily. One of my projects once I think of a good "Thud and Blunder" plot to tribute to Heroic fantasy;-)

I use TrueSpace for more ambitious 3D, but for general figure position experiments, Poser works good. Got a copy of Poser 5 here, and it works great. Previously, I'd used Poser 3, which I got for free in a magazine, but when I got a computer with more than a Gig of Ram, Poser 3 couldn't recognize it.

Not what you think.......2006-12-31

Drop the How to Draw from the title and you will get what you are paying for. This book covers software and tools used in the profession but lacks any step by steps useful to beginners and contains info already known by anyone with basic knowledge of character design. This book is more of a gallery of created characters.

Mondo 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge : Cyberpunk, Virtual Reality, Wetware, Designer Aphrodisiacs, Artificial Life, Techno-Erotic Paganism, an

Average customer rating:

If you read mondo 2000, there are no surprises here, but...
Very '1990' look at the future

Mondo 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge : Cyberpunk, Virtual Reality, Wetware, Designer Aphrodisiacs, Artificial Life, Techno-Erotic Paganism, an
Rudy Rucker , R. U. Sirius , and Queen Mu
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060969288

Customer Reviews:

If you read mondo 2000, there are no surprises here, but..........1998-04-02

If you have read Mondo 2000 before, then nothing in this book will be much of a surprise. In fact in 1998 this book is clearly retro. Still, to the new reader you will find much of the information interesting. The format is basically an A-Z of popular memes and cultural phenomena with a pseudo hypertext interface.
High gloss and flashy. Suitable for a coffee table, but you might want to keep it on your reference shelf.

Very '1990' look at the future.......1997-09-12

A very 1990 look at the future, but well done withgood graphics. Covers music, fashion, Industry,etc.

Full Metal Apache: Transactions Between Cyberpunk Japan and Avant-Pop America (Post-Contemporary Interventions)

Average customer rating:

A stimulating examination of cross-cultural ferment
Difficult, Dry Read

Full Metal Apache: Transactions Between Cyberpunk Japan and Avant-Pop America (Post-Contemporary Interventions)
Takayuki Tatsumi , and Takayuki Tatsumi
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822337746

Book Description

Takayuki Tatsumi is one of Japan’s leading cultural critics, renowned for his work on American literature and culture. With his encyclopedic knowledge and fan’s love of both Japanese and American art and literature, he is perhaps uniquely well situated to offer this study of the dynamic crosscurrents between the avant-gardes and pop cultures of Japan and the United States. In Full Metal Apache, Tatsumi looks at the work of artists from both sides of the Pacific: fiction writers and poets, folklorists and filmmakers, anime artists, playwrights, musicians, manga creators, and performance artists. Tatsumi shows how, over the past twenty years or so, writers and artists have openly and exuberantly appropriated materials drawn from East and West, from sources both high and low, challenging and unraveling the stereotypical images Japan and America have of one another.

Full Metal Apache introduces English-language readers to a vast array of Japanese writers and performers and considers their work in relation to the output of William Gibson, Thomas Pynchon, H. G. Wells, Jack London, J. G. Ballard, and other Westerners. Tatsumi moves from the poetics of metafiction to the complex career of Madame Butterfly stories and from the role of the Anglo-American Lafcadio Hearn in promoting Japanese folklore within Japan during the nineteenth century to the Japanese monster Godzilla as an embodiment of both Japanese and Western ideas about the Other. Along the way, Tatsumi develops original arguments about the self-fashioning of “Japanoids” in the globalist age, the philosophy of “creative masochism” inherent within postwar Japanese culture, and the psychology of “Mikadophilia” indispensable for the construction of a cyborg identity. Tatsumi’s exploration of the interplay between Japanese and American cultural productions is as electric, ebullient, and provocative as the texts and performances he analyzes.

Customer Reviews:

A stimulating examination of cross-cultural ferment.......2006-08-07

This book is the cultural critic's equivalent of a richly textured and nuanced novel. It is full of startling juxtapositions and imaginative leaps; it can transform the familiar into the strange and wonderful; and its point of view is witty and ironic and generous. It is as valuable to me for its insight into the complex relationship between Lafcadio Hearne and Japanese folklore as it is for its explication of the intricacies of twenty-five years of contemporary Japananese/American post-post-modernism. As I read it, I looked forward with pleasure to re-reading it with deepened understanding.

Difficult, Dry Read.......2006-07-26

When I first heard of this book, I preordered and awaited it breathlessly. When it came earlier than I expected, I was thrilled. After I opened the pages, I found myself emerged in a dry, difficult-to-follow, academic book that is full of more quotes from other books than it has original text.

I am not saying that Takayuki Tatsumi isn't knowledgeable on his subject, quite the opposite. I think perhaps he is too close to the subject to be able to write to a layman audience and it shows.

My difficulties with the book ranged from it's style to references. Perhaps it is more for the academic minded; it was definitely published via an academic press, and definitely reads like a dissertation. I believe the author is somewhere between 10 and 15 years older than myself, creating a gap in the information streams in which we were exposed to. He makes reference to far too many movies/books/relevant figures (authors, playwrights, directors), etc, that I am simply not familiar with. And while normally this is not a problem, he fails to explain to my understanding who these people and their works are. I felt in the completely dark throughout this book.

But perhaps the worse part was, it was a slow, painstaking read for the 200-odd pages of half-page text that graced the pages. It didn't help that I would have to stop again and again to consult online references to who people or their works were.

Normally, I would give this kind of book only 1 star, but it covers two subjects I am very fond of: Japan and cyberpunk. So it gets an extra star, for anyone NOT deeply interested in these subjects, I recommend to steer clear away. This is not a casual read by any stretch of the imagination.

Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader
Best Collection For the Genre
A mixed bag, but still pretty good
A decent anthology, yet highly politically motivated
Basis Element

Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology
Bruce Sterling
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441533825

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-08-04

Bruce Sterling's anthology Mirrorshades announced the existence of cyberpunk. A more modern type of street level, urban science fiction in a lot of cases. While the authors here have done better work elsewhere this is still a very interesting and influential collection, and certainly of use to people with an interest in that sort of science fiction.

Cadigan, Gibson and Shirley are all here, for example.

Mirrorshades : The Gernsback Continuum - William Gibson
Mirrorshades : Snake-Eyes - Tom Maddox
Mirrorshades : Rock On - Pat Cadigan
Mirrorshades : Tales of Houdini - Rudy Rucker
Mirrorshades : 400 Boys - Marc Laidlaw
Mirrorshades : Solstice - James Patrick Kelly
Mirrorshades : Petra - Greg Bear
Mirrorshades : Till Human Voices Wake Us - Lewis Shiner
Mirrorshades : Freezone - John Shirley
Mirrorshades : Stone Lives - Paul Di Filippo
Mirrorshades : Red Star Winter Orbits - William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
Mirrorshades : Mozart in Mirrorshades - Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner

Not a fan of retro sf design.

4 out of 5

Serpent brain wartech is problematic.

4 out of 5

Direct mental music.

3.5 out of 5

Escape master movie.

2 out of 5

Team survival is tricky.

4 out of 5

Bioguru woman's Stonehenge drug binge unhinges into cryogenic desperation.

4.5 out of 5

Gargoyle boys and girls.

3.5 out of 5

Mermaid clone affair ends quite fishily.

4 out of 5

America losing, rock is dead, gay bar's an escape.

3.5 out of 5

Corporate anarchy watching brief blackout provides relative promotion.

4.5 out of 5

Cosmonaut crapout space station hitchhikers.

4 out of 5

Let them wear leather bikinis and crave recording deals.

4 out of 5

Best Collection For the Genre.......2003-09-16

This is simply a fantastic collection of the best stories of my favorite literary subgenre, the Cyberpunk Movement in the 1980s and early 1990s. While I may not like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, I am not ignorant when it comes to their importance in popularizing and shaping the genre. Also here are Rudy Rucker, the acting grandfather of the genre; and Pat Cadigan, the Queen of Cyberpunk (even though she had very little, if any, real competition).

While there are a couple newer Cyberpunk collections, The Ultimate Cyberpunk coming to mind, the first is still the best. Not only are the stories fantastic, but the anthology didn't have to rely on a nostalgia effect, like those that are being published now.

A good introduction to the genre, as well as an essential item for one's collection.

A mixed bag, but still pretty good.......2003-02-27

This book is a collection of cyberpunk stories assembled by Bruce Sterling. It is supposedly the definitive cyberpunk fiction collection. There are some really good stories in the book such as the Gernsback Continuum, Solstice, Freezone, Till Human Voices Wake Us, Stone Lives, and Mozart with Mirrorshades. These tales had advanced technological concepts and more importantly, good stories. The stories touched on gene engineering, time travel, cybernetics, and other popular cyberpunk themes. Some of the other stories were pretty interesting, but some just didn't seem to fit. For example, Tales of Houdini and Petra seemed out of place in this collection. Though they were both sci-fi tales, they didn't seem to be cyberpunk.

A decent anthology, yet highly politically motivated.......2002-09-03

Now, I'm not saying that Mirrorshades was bad. Not only did it contain one of the most definitive PR essays on cyberpunk (Sterling's introduction) but it also conains some very good stories. On the other hand, it could have been much, much, MUCH better.

Bruce Sterling, who edited Mirrorshades and similarly hand-picked the stories, clearly has his own agenda to the particular stories...at least, in some cases. Sterling assembled this almost as if it were an extension of his short-run newsletter, Cheap Truth (which he wrote under an assumed name of Omniveritas). In Cheap Truth, he attacked the existing science-fiction structure. He continues this trend in Mirrorshades.

The clearest example would be his choice of Gibson short work. Of the possible short stories, he picked The Gernsback Continuum and Red Star, Winter Orbit. Gernsback Continuum is, simply, not cyberpunk. It is Gibson's attack on Gernsbackian science fiction (Hugo Gernsback was really to blame for the "fantastic" science-fiction which used amazing gadgetry and no actual ideas). Sterling's view of the Movement (cyberpunk lit) was to erase the old Gernsbackian sf and replace it with real life rather than daydreams, so he picked this story as Gibson's contribution. This is absurd. The definitive cyberpunk short story is Burning Chrome. It is clear that Sterling chose to further his own political ends as opposed to providing a good overview-the best of the best-of cyberpunk fiction.

I could also have done without Sterling's final story, Mozart with Mirrorshades. This was, of course, an attempt to weave in the token item of the genre, the mirrored sunglasses. Sterling would have been much better off to include one of his Shaper-Mechanist stories, especially Spider Rose or Swarm. These stories are much better realized-and much more cyberpunk-than his choice. I would also have liked to see a more appropriate Rucker story...Rucker is great, but Tales of Houdini just wasn't appropriate.

Still, there are some great stories in here. Cadigan, Shirley, Shiner, Bear, Maddox, and others all contribute great works. If anything, Mirrorshades should be a starting point; find authors you like here, and then read the really groundbreaking stuff by them; John Shirley's Eclipse trilogy, everything by Gibson, Bear's Blood Music, Cadigan's Synners, Mindplayers, and Tea from an Empty cup, Rucker's Software trilogy, Sterling's Schismatrix, Maddox's Halo, and so forth.

However, if you want to simply read good cyberpunk short fiction, get the short story collections by the individual authors. As I said before, this is just a jumping-off point.

Basis Element.......2002-01-19

Essentially, you can measure your susceptibility to cyberpunk by reading this book. I would say it's a *basis* for this sub-genre of science fiction.

Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk & Postmodern Science Fiction

Average customer rating:

Strap yourself in for a great ride...
Interesting ideas, but very scattershot
A very fine anthology--well chosen
Learn cyberpunk fiction in 21 days: Guaranteed!!!

Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk & Postmodern Science Fiction
Larry McCaffery
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822311682

Book Description

The term “cyberpunk” entered the literary landscape in 1984 to describe William Gibson’s pathbreaking novel Neuromancer. Cyberpunks are now among the shock troops of postmodernism, Larry McCaffery argues in Storming the Reality Studio, marshalling the resources of a fragmentary culture to create a startling new form. Artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, multinational machinations, frenetic bursts of prose, collisions of style, celebrations of texture: although emerging largely from science fiction, these features of cyberpunk writing are, as this volume makes clear, integrally related to the aims and innovations of the literary avant-garde.

By bringing together original fiction by well-known contemporary writers (William Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Kathy Acker, J. G. Ballard, Samuel R. Delany), critical commentary by some of the major theorists of postmodern art and culture (Jacques Derrida, Fredric Jameson, Timothy Leary, Jean-François Lyotard), and work by major practitioners of cyberpunk (William Gibson, Rudy Rucker, John Shirley, Pat Cadigan, Bruce Sterling), Storming the Reality Studio reveals a fascinating ongoing dialog in contemporary culture.
What emerges most strikingly from the colloquy is a shared preoccupation with the force of technology in shaping modern life. It is precisely this concern, according to McCaffery, that has put science fiction, typically the province of technological art, at the forefront of creative explorations of our unique age.
A rich opporunity for reading across genres, this anthology offers a new perspective on the evolution of postmodern culture and ultimately shows how deeply technological developments have influenced our vision and our art.

Selected Fiction contributors: Kathy Acker, J. G. Ballard, William S. Burroughs, Pat Cadigan, Samuel R. Delany, Don DeLillo, William Gibson, Harold Jaffe, Richard Kadrey, Marc Laidlaw, Mark Leyner, Joseph McElroy, Misha, Ted Mooney, Thomas Pynchon, Rudy Rucker, Lucius Shepard, Lewis Shiner, John Shirley, Bruce Sterling, William Vollman

Selected Non-Fiction contributors: Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida, Joan Gordon, Veronica Hollinger, Fredric Jameson, Arthur Kroker and David Cook, Timothy Leary, Jean-François Lyotard, Larry McCaffery, Brian McHale, Dave Porush, Bruce Sterling, Darko Suvin, Takayuki Tatsumi

Customer Reviews:

Strap yourself in for a great ride..........2001-02-08

This book is a must-have if you're a fan of anything cyberpunk. There are more than 40 contributors, so not every piece is brilliant, but the book still deserves a five star rating. Highlights: fiction from almost everyone who was important in the cyberpunk movement (Gibson, Rucker, Shiner, Shirley, Sterling, etc.) and some other excellent writers not usually included in the group (Ballard, W. S. Burroughs, Pynchon), along with insightful essays by a diverse selection of writers including Timothy Leary and several important figures in the world of postmodern theory (Baudrillard, Derrida, Jameson, Kroker). Storming the Reality Studio is one book that I am proud to own, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Interesting ideas, but very scattershot.......1999-11-28

It's a shame that this book had to be so big, and its excerpts so brief. McCaffery has chosen a good selection of postmodern SF, but the excerpts are too often just a couple pages long. The result is a book a mile wide and an inch deep: it touches on every aspect of postmodern SF without really explaining or clearing up anything at all.

A good way to use this book might be to read through it, choose what strikes your fancy, then buy the complete books attached to those. But I'm afraid if you just read this book, your glimpses of this very exciting genre will be too fleeting for you to get a good picture of it as a whole.

To his credit, McCaffery has chosen an excellent array of writers and subgenres, including many who I did not know were SF or who dealt with SF in ways I hadn't expected. I should also mention that the design of the book is fantastic.

A very fine anthology--well chosen.......1998-11-09

I enjoyed this collection of cyberpunk writing immensely. McCaffery chose a fine collection of cyberpunk examples, ranging from the well known to the less known, from fiction to non-fiction ssay. The ordering is near perfection--the arrangement allows the pieces to speak to each other, and of each other (a very cyberpunkean move). Given the above reviewer's apparent distress concerning certain aspects of the book, and some misguided reductions of cyberpunk (basically just SF without hairy aliens; and his basic misunderstanding of the interpolation that occurs within the genre--i.e. his rantings re: Acker and hackdom), I hope this doesn't dissuade you from purchasing this very worthwhile book--it's wonderful. Especially exciting is the "Cyberpunk 101" section where various books and films are listed and shortly (and bitingly witty--see the one for Ballard's _Crash_) are recommended and briefly summarized.

Learn cyberpunk fiction in 21 days: Guaranteed!!!.......1997-09-11

Ian Davis's Review of: Storming the reality studio
How to explain this book... The young persons guide to modern Sf,
Nahhhh...
Cyberpunk sampler....no that's not it...
Ah ha! Got it!!!
The cyberpunk catalouge! That's good...

This book is, and i'm quoting from the cover, "A casebook of post-modern and cyberpunk fiction"...

Eeeep!

Whenever I hear the words "post modern" and "fiction", in the same sentence it makes my ears sweat. I don't like the term..not one bit...

But this book over came part of that fear...and take note when I say part..because it still needs something...like better content.

Don't get me wrong..I liked the book. It has some very good art and stories..including some rare art from J. O'Barr.

But a high proportion is shit, pure pseudo SF shit at it's most dismal. It has excerpts from many a book...that's why it's like a catalouge.On how the editor Larry McCaffrey, has compiled this tome I have a theory.

McCaffery sits in his office. One man, a well dressed excec from a large publisher sits across from him in one chair, and a semi-serious Sf reader in another. They take turns choosing stories. the reader picks stories that best represent authors with a grasp of the field, and the exec looks at a list of books that sit unsold in one of his wharehouses.

I say this because that is how the book feels. some excerpts from novels have all the right in the world to be there. A "cyberpunk" book WITHOUT Neuromancer would be ludicrous. But to include bizzre poems and little picture assembled by a first year art student, is not at all good, espescially when you include books like "Empire of the senseless". The book lacks any coherent structure, except for the flimsy Fiction, non Fiction division.

The last thing that makes me cringe is whenever McCaffery writes. He seems to think Cyberpunk is this incredible Post-MTV and MuchMusic art form, but in reality it's still Sf, just with better stories, and no talking fur covered aliens.

But you might think a hate it. Nay! I liked about 65% of it very much and another 10% quite a bit, but that last %25 wretch! Lets say what's good...

Some of the stories are quite good, printing exerpts from hard to find and little known books, like IMP plus and MetroPhage. these are really good examples of the "cyberpunk" genre. And the short stories are pretty well done. The best parts however lie in the rarest.

J. O'barrs graphics short storie is easily one of the best examples of the comic as fiction I have ever seen.

The inteview with Cyberpunk-papa William Gibson is quite interesting, and available here and here alone, as far as I've looked. Some of the essays are very nice, if you have read the books they refer to. The non-fiction peice on Japan's love of Cyberpunk is impressive, especially about the earliest stories from that country in the vein of "cyberpunk".

Two last good notes.

One part, the comaparison between the text in Kathy Ackers "Empire of the sensless" and Gibsons "Neuromancer", is quite effective in showing Acker as the low grade writer she is, demonstrating how she lifts whole sections right out of Gibsons book, only changing the name of the characters.

And finally the explanations of what several authors think is "Cyber", are interesting in their different viewpoints.

So should you get it? If you are a purist for everything Cyber, Yes If you want rare fiction, also yes If you jack-all about Cyberpunk Sf, maybe If you hate bad poetry, No! If you want to read 5 page snippets from books, Yes

All in all, a new revised edition removing crap like Acker and the poety would be very good, and instead of cramming it with commercials for other books, more whole short fiction would be great.

All in all, an average book, you might like it, you might hate it. I, on a whole, semmed to like it, despite it's many problems.

Amazon.com

A classic look into cracker subculture, Cyberpunk tells the stories of notorious hackers Kevin Mitnick, Robert T. Morris, and the Chaos Computer Club. Like Where Wizards Stay Up Late, the book Hafner co-wrote on the origins of the Internet, Cyberpunk is informative, well-written, and entertaining. The story of Morris, who became infamous for unleashing a crippling worm that brought the Internet to a grinding standstill, is still as relevant and ominous today as it was at the time. The space devoted to Mitnick is a must-read companion to either Takedown or The Fugitive Game. Many of the stories surrounding the Dark Side Hacker, such as the story of his Norad break-in, are called into question in Cyberpunk, making this book a good launching pad for many different accounts of the Mitnick legend. The portrait of the two members of the Chaos Computer Club is a memorable look into the minds of the younger generation of computer hackers. Before you check out any book of this genre, read Cyberpunk.

Book Description

Using the exploits of three international hackers, Cyberpunk provides a fascinating tour of a bizarre subculture populated by outlaws who penetrate even the most sensitive computer networks and wreak havoc on the information they find -- everything from bank accounts to military secrets. In a book filled with as much adventure as any Ludlum novel, the authors show what motivates these young hackers to access systems, how they learn to break in, and how little can be done to stop them.

Customer Reviews:

Back in the good 'ol days..........2005-12-23

I have read this book a number of times over the years (I picked it up when it first came out) and have always enjoyed reading it. Even though it does only scratch the surface of the hacker culture, it's definitely an entertaining read. I know that I've heard that many of the things that were written in here (especially about Kevin Mitnick) have been termed libelous and untrue by some people. I can't vouch for what's fact and what's not in this book. I can only say that it does give a good idea what hacking was like in the good 'ol days.
If you like this book, you might want to try Steven Levy's book "Hackers", which really (I think) gives you a better understanding of the spirit of most hackers, and covers the history of hacking from the early days of MIT, up until now. Cyberpunk doesn't, but it's still definitely worth reading if you enjoy a good story.

On the Outside Looking In........2003-01-14

Although Markoff is an exceptional writer and the book is both easy to read and entertaining, the content is presented as factual when the truth is that these guys definitely wrote the book with only part of the whole story at their disposal. One of the main "cyberpunks" depicted in the book is Kevin Mitnick, who claims that he has never even met John Markoff. How can the book fairly and accurately speak to the topic of hacking during the early days of the Internet revolution when they never did any investigations with real "hackers"? The story is told only from a law enforcement point-of-view. I am sure that the Rodney King story is told differently by King than the LAPD. Same goes for this case.

Like many works today that seem to be written for financial reasons, it seems very one-sided and sensational.

Inaccurate, unengaging, and wildly libelous.......2002-07-07

First off, John Markoff does NOT tell an unbiased story, especially regarding the Mitnick case. Kevin Mitnick, preferring to keep a low profile, has not promoted his own story, and as a result he has had his name slandered by mediawhores like Markoff. Markoff traveled extensively with Tsutomu Shimomura, the security expert who eventually (and with much government aid) apprehended Mitnick. It is quite clear whose side he is on as he repeatedly demonizes Mitnick as a fat, malicious, juvenile person with no self-control and no respect for anyone else. This typecasting is quite understandable though, once you know that Markoff has a share in the Miramax movie Takedown that details Mitnick's capture. Nobody wants to see such unfair treatment happen to a real, sympathetic person. (Takedown, incidentally, is more slanderous than Cyberpunk and from which the real Kevin Mitnick, whom it is based on, is not getting a dime).

But apart from my distaste for Markoff, this book still failed to be a interesting read. I enjoy reading about the early history of hacking, etc, so I bought it with high hopes. The only reason I didn't put it down was because it was my only reading material on a six hour bus trip. The Internet revolution was fascinating and the people involved in it were interesting, dynamic people. But to hear Markoff tell it, everyone was petty, whining, insecure, and one-dimensional, with no other motivation than to cause trouble for others. He hasn't got a gift for writing novels with well-rounded and interesting characters that the reader can actually sympathize with and care about.

Excellent history lesson..........2002-04-25

The tales in this book are old ones now. Mitnick's escapades continued on to more infamous heights than this book, as the new epilogue explains. Having grown up working with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) computers, the descriptions of Mitnick's hacking on PDP-11 and VAX systems was like a dark-side of my high school days. Having worked at Radio Shack just after graduating college, I knew a lot of "phreakers" who worshipped the people mentioned in the book.

I teach classes for computer professionals in UNIX. One of the courses is a 2-day class in unix security, and the "Morris worm" is one of the case studies we discuss. We don't go into too much detail in the class on the subject, and I usually recommend this book for those who want to go further.

The other reason I recommend this book to students in my class is the story (in Kevin's section) of Susan Thunder. The concept of "social engineering" is one that transcends computer model, operating system version, etc. Many computer types just don't understand it, in the same way they don't understand office politics. If you fall into this category, or if you have an interest in the social side of hacking/cracking/phreaking, Hafner and Markoff do an excellent job of presenting these concepts.

True entertainment.......2002-02-07

I bought this book because I was interested in human aspects of these stories (RTM especially), more than the technical side. I found it very satisfying, and more. I could have not imagined it is so detailed and even ... entertaining.

Reading this book I've felt again that nice atmosphere I first met while reading the superlative Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg". Indeed, those of you who have luckily read it too, will find Stoll himself here in an important role in the chapter about RTM...

Average customer rating:

Needs a lot of editing

OGL CyberNet: Cyberpunk Roleplaying
Various
Manufacturer: Mongoose Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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d20 Future (d20 Campaigns: d20 Modern)

ASIN: 190457761X

Book Description

OGL CyberNet is a complete core rulebook, released under the Open Game Licence, allowing players and publishers alike to set games and scenarios to the cyberpunk setting of their choice. Mongoose Publishing is releasing OGL CyberNet under a royalty-free world wide license, allowing publishers (of both print and electronic books) to use the CyberNet logo and rules to create their own settings and adventures.

Customer Reviews:

Needs a lot of editing.......2004-09-12

Picked this up the other day as I enjoy and collect high tech, futuristic, type rule sets. The book isn't bad, nice high quality hardback and semi-glossy color pages, but the content needs some serious editing. There are lots and lots of mistakes, unclear rules, statements relying on information that hasn't appeared yet (and sometimes doesn't appear), and grammar problems. On the other hand, Mongoose Publishing has an active website and has started to address some of these issues. However, for the price they are putting on this ruleset, it should have been cleaner, even on the first run.

Cyberpunk Handbook:: The Real Cyberpunk Fakebook

Average customer rating:

"Warning! This is not serious!" --Kurt Harland
just for newbies
good book
For wannabes and cybergurus alike
3 1/2 sherikins & 3 propeller bennies. Comical & serious.

Cyberpunk Handbook:: The Real Cyberpunk Fakebook
St. Jude
Manufacturer: Random House Information Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679762302
Release Date: 1995-08-22

Book Description

Blast off into the next millennium with Cyberspace gurus and professed cyberpunks St. Jude and R.U. Sirius--consummate insiders and co-founders of the revolutionary Mondo 2000 magazine, and co-authors of Mondo 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge--both definitive source guides for members of the electronic underground. Includes Cyberpunk cryptic crossword puzzles and a hipness checklist, plus a true/false "final exam."

Customer Reviews:

"Warning! This is not serious!" --Kurt Harland.......2004-07-08

Cyberpunk really is dead.. the appearance of the official handbook clinched it. If you want to learn how to hack, don't buy this book. If you want to become a phone phreak, don't buy this book. If you want to become a cypherpunk or a coder, don't buy this book. If you're familiar with the genre of cyberpunk as literature or have had contact with subcultures that could be considered cyberpunk, get this book if you want to get a chuckle or two, or try to recognise some of the folks who posed for this book. If you're looking for net.culture to be lampooned nine ways from Sunday, get this book.

just for newbies.......2000-01-19

when i first started to learn hacking a close haxor friend of mine (grimreaper) gave me this book iv had it ever since and read it everyday it is a great book and u should buy it right now!

good book.......1999-12-30

I am a hacker..A hacker gave me this book...I read it.. loved it....good informational book....also trySecrets of a super hacker by the knightmare

For wannabes and cybergurus alike.......1998-08-14

Light and humorous description of the computer underground. Totally the book to get if you are not so serious about hacking and cracking, but are mystified by this offbeat cyberculture. Hell, this book is also cool for a Master CyberPunk, so to bolster the stereotype. Learn how the typical cyberpunk dresses, what gadgets they buy, what terms they use, and even what food good lil cyberpunks like to eat. Piercings and extreme hairdos optional.

3 1/2 sherikins & 3 propeller bennies. Comical & serious........1998-07-16

This is problay the only book of it's kind that isn't flaged by the feds. The style of writting is cool. It gives a how-to approch with out having a step-by-step. You can also tell the authors had a blast!! wrighting the book.

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