Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology [Mass Market Paperback]

Greg Bear (Author), Pat Cadigan (Author), William Gibson (Author), Rudy Rucker (Author), Lewis Shiner (Author), Tom Maddox (Author), Marc Laidlaw (Author), Paul Di Filipo (Author), Bruce Sterling (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1988

With their hard-edged, street-wise prose, they created frighteningly probable futures of high-tech societies and low-life hustlers. Fans and critics call their world cyberpunk. Here is the definitive "cyberpunk" short fiction collection. HC: Arbor House.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 239 pages
• Publisher: Ace Books/Berkley (July 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441533825
• ISBN-13: 978-0441533824
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent anthology, yet highly politically motivated, September 2, 2002

By 

"consolecowboy" (colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good collection, March 16, 2001

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A central text of SF's most telling sub-genre, May 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (Mass Market Paperback)

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.