The Ultimate Cyberpunk [Mass Market Paperback]

Pat Cadigan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2004

Science fiction reviewer Cynthia Ward calls two-time Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Pat Cadigan "The Queen of Cyberpunk" in her review of Cadigan's acclaimed 1999 work, Tea From an Empty Cup. Ward writes of "the genius of her near-future extrapolations, and the beauty of her writing. No one else has explored and illuminated the mind-machine interface with the keen and relentless intelligence she demonstrates in her novels Mindplayers, Synners, Fools, and the long-awaited Tea from an Empty Cup. In The Ultimate Cyberpunk, Cadigan takes readers through the evolution of this influential science fiction genre, from the groundbreaking forefathers of the field such as Alfred Bester, Philip K. Dick and Samuel R. Delany to the founding members of the cyberpunk movement, such as William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and forward through the such innovators as Neal Stephenson, Lewis Shiner and Rudy Rucker. In over 300 pages of stories, Cadigan presents the cyberpunk world in which reality and virtual reality intersect. The growing impact of the Internet on our sense of community, the seduction of a world behind the screen and the inherent dangers of a society in which any information can be hacked, stolen and sold, are some of the topics explored by our best cyberpunk writers. As a bonus, The Ultimate Cyberpunk includes an exclusive 16-page full color section of the 'lost' second volume of the authorized adaptation of William Gibson's Neuromancer, a novel which to this day remains the defining work of the cyberpunk movement.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: I Books (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743486528
• ISBN-13: 978-0743486521
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not strictly Cyberpunk, but a good read, January 19, 2003

By 

sgtbuk1 "sgtbuk1" (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Cyberpunk (Paperback)

Cadigan herself bemoans the "Ultimate" title of this book. But the stories inside are amazingly fresh, especially considering the copyright dates on some of them. I found it interesting to first, read the stories, and then turn to the beginning of the book to check the copyright date. The roots of the Cyberpunk literary movement are all here! I highly recommend it to true cyberfans.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent examples of cyberpunk, June 29, 2004

By 

Kevin (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Cyberpunk (Paperback)

This book's cyberpunk stories from the masters to the newest makes one appreciate such complete books in this high tech genre of science fiction as: "Mona Lisa Overdrive", "Neuromancer", "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", "Cyber Hunter", and many more.

4.0 out of 5 stars "Not a manifesto", March 24, 2011

By 

J. Jonathan Nichols (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

This is a good anthology of an SF subgenre whose death knell has been tolled many times before but never got around to kicking it. And that's a very good thing. There is much to like in this collection that Cadigan has cobbled together. It gathers the pivotal authors of the genre and shows off just how diverse the stories can be. No, not every cyberpunk narrative takes place in a gritty urban setting with characters in black pvc and technology that looks like it fell off a stealth bomber. Here are a few of the highlights:

Alfred Bester, "Fondly Farenheit"--an android and a dialogue between ego and superego? You make the call. A prototype for the genre that would be cyberpunk.

Philip K. Dick, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"--are memories as good as the real thing? This is a great entry by the legendary man of ideas that has none of the action movie tropes of its film version, Total Recall. Sorry Bernard, no Michael Ironside.

Rudy Rucker, "57th Franz Kafka"--a new take on The Metamorphosis. Disturbing and inscrutable, but did you expect anything else from Rucker?

William Gibson, "Burning Chrome"--fine work by the Master, a story of a cyberspace double-cross. Gibson could probably make a tuna salad recipe sound like science fiction.

Greg Bear, "Blood Music"--could be one of the more realistic of the collection. The time for this kind of nano-enhancement is upon us.

Lewis Shriner, "Till Human Voices Wake Us"--for me, this entry strays rather far afield from cyberpunk and enters the realm of biotech. But that's okay, it adds to the diversity of the collection.

John Shirley, "Freezone"--not much of a plot here, just Shirley taking us on a punky meandering through a dystopic future. And I loved it.

William Gibson and Michael Swanwick, "Dogfight"--twisty.

Bruce Sterling, "Green Days in Brunei"--probably my favorite and the most satisfying of the pieces. Strong and endearing characters. A world not too far removed from our own. A nice tale for illustrating the rise of the "developing world."

If I have any overall criticism of the stories, it has to do with style. Except for Gibson and Sterling, none of these writers compose with any thought to description. They just lay everything out there, violating that cardinal rule of literary writing, "show, don't tell." As I've grown sick of that phrase, I'm actually kind of ok with the so-called "transgression." But then I read the work of Gibson and his descriptions and phrasing absolutely blow me away, making the other stories look like amateur hour. Character development is another issue. Except for Bruce Sterling, the authors spend maybe a page on it. With protagonists so thin, it's difficult to cultivate much of an attachment to them, so you better hope the scientific principle that is being explored keeps you hanging on.
Oh and why Neal Stephenson wasn't included is beyond me. Maybe he's never written in the short form before. I don't know.
All in all, Ultimate Cyberpunk makes for fine reading. Plus, you get an 11-page insert of a "lost" comic book version of William Gibson's classic, Neuromancer. I've heard there is a film adaptation on the horizon. Let's hope not. The book is amazing but I just don't think it translates well to other media if this comic is any indication.