Category: Cyberpunk

Nova — Samuel R. Delany

By 5t4n5

Nova -- Samuel R. DelanyHaving previously read Babel-17 i was very much hoping this was just as good: so i did have very high expectations and it certainly had a lot to live up to.

So, yes, i did set out rather biased when i began to read this book, and while i have to say that it didn’t quite meet with my expectations with regards to Babel-17, it was still a very enjoyable read.

Samuel certainly has his own style, very arty, very high brow, and also very imaginative: Nova holds it’s place as one of the books which gave birth to the cyberpunk genre.   But where Babel-17 felt like a timeless read, Nova did feel a little dated to me, like it’s from the 1960’s or something.

But dated or not, it certainly has earned a deserving place in the “SF Masterworks” series.

Samuel’s Page

#scifi #sfmasterworks #samuelrdelany

Code Breakers: Beta — Colin F. Barnes

By 5t4n5

Code Breakers: Beta -- Colin F. BarnesBasically, it’s more of the same as Prequel and Alpha, which is all quite good and keeps one rivetted and moving along at a very good pace but, and here’s the thing, i just can’t handle diving into Gamma at the moment, it’s all become a bit too much.

Yeah, for now at least, i’ve totally overloaded all of my data banks and overheated my CPU’s with all this hacking, AI’s, post apocalypse chaos, everyone wanting to kill each other and take over the world, etc., etc..

So i’m off for some quiter paced reading for a while and maybe i’ll get back to reading Gamma and finishing the series sometime in the future, maybe not.

Colin’s Page

#scifi #postapocalypse #cyberpunk #dystopian #colinfbarnes

Code Breakers: Alpha — Colin F. Barnes

By 5t4n5

Code Breakers: Alpha -- Colin F. BarnesAfter the super lively prequel i was wondering if this could keep up, and i have to say that it more than matched my hopes.   This is all rather full on stuff, it just doesn’t stop steaming along full tilt.   I can’t remember the last time i read a book so fast, just didn’t want to put it down.

Back are our two wonderful protagonists from the prequel and this time they’re joined by Jerry.   Jerry’s lead a rather sheltered life in a nice big, clean, domed city, that is, until it all goes wrong one day and he has to leave and run off into the wasteland outside.

There’s also lots of other great characters added to the mix with lots of cyberpunky, post-apocalyptic, dystopian shenanigans to go along with them.   Yes, folks, we loves any kind of shenanigans at Kindle Worm HQ and this ones got several different kinds.

Full steam ahead into Beta: don’t go away, i’ll be back soon.

Colin’s Page

#scifi #postapocalypse #cyberpunk #dystopian #colinfbarnes

Code Breakers: Prequel — Colin F. Barnes

By 5t4n5

Code Breakers: Prequel -- Colin F. BarnesA quick and lively prequel for the main series, which i have dived eagerly straight into without a pause.

Characters are really well written and perfectly suited for this nuked out, post apocalyptic wasteland that the world has become.   I am so hoping the rest of the series holds up to what’s been suggested here because it looks like it’s going to be a rather good read.

Next up: Code Breakers: Alpha.

Colin’s Page

#scifi #postapocalypse #cyberpunk #dystopian #colinfbarnes

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom — Cory Doctorow

By 5t4n5

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom -- Cory DoctorowPublished a year after Altered Carbon this book takes a lot of the re-sleeving ideas from Richard’s book and instead of placing them into the realm of super warriors, criminals, etc.; Cory puts them into a future Disney Land theme park in an alternative dystopian future.

Having very much enjoyed Altered Carbon, i was left quite disappointed by the sequels, especially Woken Furies, and so it was rather nice to find a story like Cory’s that took some of the best ideas of Altered Carbon and spun them into a new Earth-side future that we can all begin to relate to because we’ve all heard of these real places.

No, this isn’t the blood and gore fest that Altered Carbon was, and neither does it have the amazing future-sex-drugs thing — they’re still smoking crack from crack pipes FFS.

But it does have the murder mystery and the loss of the intervening memories between back up and re-sleeving that Altered Carbon does, all wrapped around who gets to control various Disney Land attractions.

So yeah, if you’ve read any other Cory Doctorow books and enjoyed them then do give this a go, and also, if you enjoyed Altered Carbon, i’d bet a few pennies that you’ll enjoy this also, albeit a very much tamed down version.

There’s also a follow up novella: Truncat.

Cory’s Page

#scifi #cyberpunk #dystopian #corydoctorow

Obsidian Worlds — Jason Werbeloff

By 5t4n5

Obsidian Worlds -- Jason WerbeloffI only recently discovered Jason’s writing and i have to say that i’m really enjoying it.

Obsidian Worlds is a whole book full of short stories about random sci-fi things which i chose to read as inbetweenies between chapters of How Emotions Are Made.   It worked out really well giving nice little breaks to allow Lisa’s cutting edge science to percolate through my synapses, although, unfortunately, there aren’t enough shorts in this collection to cover all the chapters in Lisa’s book.   Ho hum, i’ll just have to find some other shorts to read.

So yeah, Jason has a Phd in philosophy and i think that kinda adds a certain flavour to Jason’s sci-fi, and i do like philosophers who chose to write stories instead of academic papers — much more fun for all of us.

Other philosophers who write stories that i recommend would be Aldous Huxley and Pascal Mercier.

Your Averaged Joe
The Cryo Killer
Falling for Q46F
Visiting Grandpa’s Brain
The Photons in the Cheese Are Lost
The Time-Traveling Chicken Sexer
The Man with Two Legs
F**king Through the Apocalypse
Bleed Me Silicone
Dinner with Flexi
The Experience Machine

Jason’s Page

#scifi #cyberpunk #jasonwerbeloff

The Camille — Colby R. Rice

By 5t4n5

The Camille -- Colby R. RiceThis novella is titled as ‘Til Dolls Do Us Part on Colby’s website and Colby says it is the first episode in what i hope will be a rather long series.

Set in 2054 when nano technology and AI has taken over most things and even the nano technology is intelligent.

As this is a novella don’t expect too much, but it’s certainly a great taster for what may be coming from Colby in the future.   That being said, it can also be read as a stand alone if you’re just wanting something quick to read.

Colby is a great writer and really keeps your attention once you start reading.   Do check out her other books.

Also available in the 2054 anthology.

Colby’s Page

#scifi #cyberpunk #colbyrrice