Customer Reviews

Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

This is a collection of short stories by authors associated with the "cyberpunk movement" within the science fiction field. I enjoyed the book overall, but I wouldn't necessarily call this a representation of cyberpunk. In fact, three of the stories to me (and more among others) absolutely do not qualify as such, and two of them actually seem to be more rooted in the fantasy field than anything else. However, it's a good read, definitely worth it for the stories by Willam Gibson, both solo and collaborative. Interestingly, my favorite was "Petra" by Greg Bear, which is one of the fantasies I referred to: a very original idea and superbly written.

One final thing: if someone understands "Tales of Houdini", please contact me and explain. I just don't get it!

A gorgeous collection bursting with imagination. Eerie extrapolation on biotechnology, space migration and other staple SF fixtures. "Mirrorshades'" stories handle the future in intimate detail. This is a great guide to some of the best writers working today--a telling indication, since "Mirrorshades" is over a decade old. Bruce Sterling's introductory essay is fascinating.

Mirrorshades offers a host of short stories that not only give a good read but will acquaint you with the very beginnings of the cyberpunk genre. Included is "Johnny Mnemonic", the short story story that was the inspiration for a somewhat disappointing film adaptation in 1995. The crowning jewel of the collection is "Mozart in Mirrorshades" by Sterling himself. Picture Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ("...call me Wolf, okay?") writing pop music, time travel to paralell universes, mongol warriors on Harleys, Thomas Jefferson catching the hypersonic VTOL to discuss oil drilling in Texas, and Marie Antoinette in a leopard skin bikini screaming for burritos and pizza... This while the Freemasons organize for guerrilla war in Europe to drive out the invaders from the 21st century. "Mirrorshades" is a must-have for anyone interested in science fiction written after 1979.

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.

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 battered copy lives in my nightstand at all times. Between novels, I always come back to this, flipping through the pages until a word catches my eye. Such a diversity of talent, mixed together quite well here.

Mirrorshades is a superb collection of works by some of the artists that set the foundation for what would become known as "cyberpunk" literature. (I do wonder why one or two of the stories are there, though.) Since its publication, other writers not included in the anthology have made great strides to further the sub-genre, so this is really just a good place to start. Another great read, though some these stories will overlap with it, is Gibson's Burning Chrome.

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

This was the book that introduced me to cyberpunk when I was 15. I go back to this book again and again as the years go by. Some of the stories in here are so perfect (500 Boys, Synners, Stone Lives, Tales of Houdini) that I find myself trying to emulate the slick, tight, ultracool writing style. Other stories from this collection are less interesting and fall short of the mark, but are still worth reading.