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A Cyberpunk Primer - Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology
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- Author: James Patrick Kelly
- Type: Paperback
- ISBN: 1892391538
- Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Synopsis
Drawing on the traditions of the pioneering cyberpunk manifesto, 'Mirrorshades', this book delves into the gritty world of technological change.
Reviews
I purchased this as a gift for my partner, who is very much into this kind of thing. I wanted to get him something by a different author, one he had not heard of, but had no idea where to start. I got this as i thought it would be good for short stories that would give him a snapshot of some new authors. It was a good buy, he absolutely loved it and has since bought books by some of the authors in this book.Amanda Bexon
Basically this a straightforward collection of stories by contemporary science fiction writers.
As with all such anthologies it contains some good, some average and some poor. In common with the original Mirrorshades cyberpunk anthology, one of the stand out stories is a music based story by Pat Cadigan. Also worth the entrance fee are Cory Doctorow's contribution about IT geeks ruling a post apocalyptic world, W J Williams' frankly creepy virtual reality "Daddy's World", Greg Egan's plague based "Yeyuka" and Mary Rosenblum's cyberspace detective story "Search Engine". Much less successful are Christopher Rowe's story set in an AI ruled Tennessee "Virtual State" which is frankly impenetrable and the 0 laugh comedy "What's up Tiger Lily".
Again, as with the original Mirrorshades, Bruce Sterling proves he is a much less talented writer than William Gibson.
Gibson himself provides a distinctly odd contribution which is less a story and more a creative writing exercise. It is nonetheless intriging.
What makes this collection stand out, but unfortunately to its detriment, is the running commentary. It is one of the most prententious, self absorbed collections of claptrap I have ever had the misfortune to waste time reading. The popping sound one hears on closing the book is the sound of the editors diappearing up their own fundaments. Look guys, cyberpunk is and was always only a collection of nerdy science fiction writers attempting to ride the coat tails of a single visionary writer - namely William Gibson.
Interesting enough to recommend, but as I say, avoid the commentary.
P. G. Harris
