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Hardwired: 30th Anniversary Edition Kindle Edition

4.3 out of 5 stars 992

This is a complete novel, not part of a series as stated elsewhere on this page.

Hardwired, the acknowledged inspiration for the games Cyberpunk Red and Cyberpunk 2077, is now available in a deluxe edition for its thirtieth anniversary, with new content by the author.

Earth lies prostrate beneath the lash of the Orbital powers, and Earth’s Balkanized nations have no choice but to let the Orbitals plunder their remaining wealth. Below the zone of Orbital control, buttonheads, panzerjocks, dirtgirls, and hustlers scramble for their ticket out of the gravity well.

But now, if the criminal underworld and the guerrilla underground can join forces, there is a chance to shift the balance of power— in a war fought on the ground by hardwired commandos, in the air by high-flying deltajocks, and by genius hackers in the neural interface.

As Roger Zelazny said, "Hardwired is a tough, sleek juggernaut of a story, punctuated by strobe light movements, coursing to the wail of jets and the twang of steel guitars— glittering, nasty, and noble— and told in a style perfectly suiting its content. It has all of my favorite things— blood, love, fire, hate and a high ideal or two. I wish I’d written this one.”

The Thirtieth Anniversary Edition of this cyberpunk classic includes essays by the author devoted to the origin of the novel, the unexpected source of the term “panzerboy,” and an amused guide through some of the oddities of the first German edition.

“Williams' use of language is as explosive and as techno-tinged as the world he describes. Reading the book is like taking a jet ride across a futuristic America, with acceleration forcing you back in your seat all the way.”
Rockland Courier-Gazette

“Cowboy is no Rambo; he is a thoughtful, intelligent hero. He and Sarah are two of the many good things about HARDWIRED. Another is the world they inhabit--- an incredibly detailed future of personality transfers, bizarre drugs, cybernetic implants, and complex political and economic power maneuvers . . . It is one of the best SF novels I have read in years; I heartily recommend it.”
Fantasy Review


“The story moves with the speed of a hovercraft, the climax has all the action and excitement of Star Wars and the ending has a delightful twist.”
Providence Sunday Journal


“Hardwired is his best book to date...as the parallel plotlines of a hotshot contraband flyer and a sleek bodyguard/assassin develop and gradually intersect, the book takes on a life of its own.”
Locus

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After his thoughtful, elegant novel Knight Moves, Williams wrenchingly shifts gears for this heavy-metal adventure. It is set with acknowledgement in Roger Zelazny's Damnation Alley, when corporate Orbitals control what's left of a postwar America, now balkanized and armed to the teeth. Ex-fighter pilot Cowboy, "hardwired" via skull sockets directly to his lethal electronic hardware, teams up with Sarah, an equally cyborized gun-for-hire, to make a last stab at independence from the rapacious Orbitals. The story, though, is buried under an elaborate techno-punk style of the sort William Gibson popularized in Neuromancer. In both cases, it is a pose, a baroque nostalgia for Hemingway and film noir; it only plays at nihilism, terror and despair. The best effect is Williams's future version of a brain-scrambled vet: a dead buddy of Cowboy's whose scattered bits and pieces of computer memory now constitute a ragged semblance of a man. Such nuggets are hard to find amid the amplified, rock-'n-roll prose.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

''Hardwired is a tough, sleek juggernaut of a story, punctuated by strobe-light movements, coursing to the wail of jets and the twang of steel guitars--glittering, nasty, and noble--and told in a style perfectly suiting its content. It has all my favorite things--blood, love, fire, hate, and a high ideal or two. I wish I'd written this one.'' --Roger Zelazny, Hugo, Locus, and Nebula award-winning author

''Williams' use of language is as explosive and as techno tinged as the world he describes. Reading the book is like taking a jet ride across a futuristic America, with acceleration forcing you back in your seat all the way.'' --Tom Von Malder, writer and arts critic

''Heavy-metal adventure.'' --
Publishers Weekly

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005O5VR3U
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Walter Jon Williams (September 19, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2477 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 274 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 992

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Walter Jon Williams
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
992 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2007
This is one of the pioneering books in the cyberpunk genre, but is less well known than most. This is not because it is a bad book, or dull, far from it; but rather is because there are a couple of differences that distinguish it from the cyberpunk pack.

Contrary to most Science Fiction writing, cyberpunk tried to show and explicate its fictional world through the eyes of comparatively low-ranking people on the margins of their society, perhaps thrown into a situation where their actions are important to it (although not necessarily) but virtually always with the characters' mental environment shaped by, and immersed in, the larger social and physical/technical environment, and with their actions constrained by outsider and lowly status. This was a gesture towards realism, as most all people are greatly constrained by their circumstances and are much more caught up in the present than are typical characters in Science Fiction. The limited power and vantage points available to cyberpunk characters are complemented by the characteristic cyberpunk immersion into the techno-cultural environment of the story. Just as most people have more contact with DVDs, bottled water, and PCs than with nuclear reactors, so cyberpunk immerses the reader in the common environment present in the story.

By contrast, Hardwired, while utilizing the iconic technologies, imperfect world, corporate domination, assassins and smugglers of cyberpunk, is a far more traditional Science Fiction story in that the characters are that extra (unrealistically) bit mobile, are rather more powerful and connected to the center of events than is typical, and are concerned with the core issues of their world, rather than with a tiny fraction of it. In this way, Hardwired is not quite cyberpunk, and the criticism that this is "not real cyberpunk" is understandable. In a similar vein, the language, while comparatively poetic in true cyberpunk fashion, fails to completely immerse, indeed flood the reader with the world of the story (as opposed to the events of the story).

All this being said however, Hardwired is not only an entertaining and adventurous story, and a relatively "hard" one (as in "hard", meaning scientifically viable science fiction), but it also very usefully explores the stereotypical themes and characters of cyberpunk. The smugglers and assassins that populate the genre are less two dimensional, and the reader will get a much stronger feel for what such a profession or what corporate domination might MEAN. An additional bit of cyberpunk credit is due in that cyberpunk is very much about the intersection of culture and technology, and Williams has a keen sense of how future technology and trends might interact with world, particularly US culture. For these reasons, while this book differs from most cyberpunk (hence my description, "left handed cyberpunk"), I think that it is indispensable to understanding it, and this book should be considered a crucial part of the cyberpunk canon.

For those readers not interested in canonical status in their reading, I would again highlight that this is a great adventure story, and well written, with interesting characters. So long as you are not put off by a dark and gritty environment, this book has high entertainment value.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2016
Hardwired is the first part of the series, although the series is not really connected by characters so much as by the environment, which was the original intent I believe. The Cyberpunk genre as developed by Williams is not a bright and pretty future, it's not quite dystopian (almost) but it's definitely not post apocalyptic (apocalypse has different requirements). The primary characters are generally complex while background characters tend to be developed. Hardwired is a good read about something that may or may not occur in the not to distant future. Instead of focusing on the technology of the era, Williams focuses on the human perception and changes of the era. It's Cyberpunk, it's harsh, it's mean, and it may cause some people discomfort in regard to how close to reality some of the story actually is.
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2012
On the first page our hero Mad Max II is driving a souped-up Maserati over a hundred miles an hour on mountain roads after midnight. And you know what he's got on his Maserati? A bumper sticker that says "my other car is a TANK." That's right, he gets over the James Bond shtick pretty quickly and into some heavy duty Mad Max / Car Wars action with a butt-load of heavy weapons. And he just can't drive 55 in the tank, either. So before long he's got a bunch of 21st century gyrocopters in his rear view mirror ^W^W^W 360-degree direct-to-brain visual interface and they start spending the pyrotechnics budget.

Cut to a completely different cyber-babe in a different part of the country. Her name is Sarah and her hobbies are scowling, ass-kicking, and french-kissing people to death. She can kill people in ways that are actually more gory to read about than to see on film.

One thing leads to another and Mad Max II and Cyber-Babe end up alone, on the run, wanted by the law, and with no other sex partners available for hundreds of miles. Nothing good can last forever, though. Mad Max II goes back to his high lonesome prairie with the steel guitar jukebox and Cyber-Babe goes back to Vice City.

Next there is some character development. And by "character development" I mean that we learn that Mad Max II doesn't drive a tank because he WANTS to. He's just waiting for his matte-black alcohol-fueled epoxide-composite fighter jet to get out of the shop.

Fortunately, the people trying to kill Mad Max II and Cyber-Babe haven't given up yet, and they have death planes, too. So everything steps up a notch, and another notch, until it's time for Luke vs the Death Star. And you know who's going to win that one, but so what, it's still what you want to see.

Except. THIS time. Right after Luke (I mean Cowboy) shoots down the Death Star (I mean the Tempel Shuttle), Darth Vadar gives him the finger and EIGHT MORE DEATH STARS come around the corner.

Bad-ass vehicles. Killer cyber-babe. Mercenary armies with names like "Flash Force" and "Gold Coast Maximum Law". Computer-fu. Tongue-fu. Religious cults. Human-computer personality transfer (beta, with bugs). Space exploration gone wrong. A whole lot of missiles. Sponsored by ModernBody. Check it out.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024
Good characters. Interesting writing style. A little too much information at times throughout the novel. Overall, it's a fun read but could have been a little "tighter".
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2016
This futuristic dystopian world of people hardwired to interact with the machines they operate is vividly depicted and the action is unrelenting. The writing is amazing in its detail and creative imagination, The author throws the reader into his world without preamble or explanation. I found it a bit overwhelming at first and wasn't sure what was going on. It's a sink or swim kind of experience, in which I floundered initially, but the descriptions kept me glued until I found my bearings. Getting past my confusion in the beginning was worth it. The characters are compelling, the stakes high, and the writing skilled.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Beastie
5.0 out of 5 stars So alt und immer noch gut
Reviewed in Germany on February 11, 2024
Wenn man bedenkt, wie oft das, was zum Zeitpunkt des erscheinen als sci-fi gehalten wurde in den Jahren danach Realität wurde kann man nur froh sein dass nicht alle der Vorhersagen in diesem Buch eingetreten sind.
frenchy
5.0 out of 5 stars Un classique Cyberpunk qui n'a pas pris une ride
Reviewed in France on December 22, 2020
Ce livre est toujours aussi d'actualité et n'a pas pris une ride. Le rythme est trépidant, l'intrique géniale et les personnages principaux complexes , avec des motivations réalistes. Et le portrait du future par moment ressemble hélas trop à notre présent actuel, du réchauffement climatique hors controle à l'épuisement des ressources naturelles et une pandémie hors controle (plus proche de la maladie de la vache folle que de la Covid, mais l'idée y est...)
Stefano Bordino
5.0 out of 5 stars Cyberpunk da scoprire
Reviewed in Italy on July 10, 2019
Un romanzo cyberpunk quasi sconosciuto..
ChrisA
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining Read!
Reviewed in Canada on June 22, 2016
One of the best cyberpunk style books I have read (right up there with Gibson in my opinion). I am looking forward to reading more from this author!
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Lazy Dai
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for cyberpunk fans
Reviewed in Australia on June 28, 2016
I hadn’t heard of Walter Jon Williams before reading this excellent cyberpunk book but will read more of his work, which compares well to William Gibson at his best. Like all good cyberpunk books it throws you in the deep end at the start, with references to panzerboys and dirtgirls, the Rock War and the Weasel whose meaning is not immediately clear, but as the story continues the layers are unpeeled and the well-imagined world of Earth in the not-too-distant future becomes clear. This is a dystopian future which makes the Hunger Games look like a children’s tea party – if you are averse to ‘adult themes’ this is not for you. It moves along at a cracking pace, spitting out novel concepts and future technologies like an out-of-control Catherine Wheel, but in spite of this it’s not a ‘hard-science’ work – you don’t need a B.Sc. in astrophysics to keep up ;-) – and the characters are as well-defined as the background.
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