# Who Else Write Great Cyber Punk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 15, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525 "2003-10-15T07:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/1 "2003-10-15T07:08:24Z")
As a fan of William Gibson I’m curious as to what other authors are able to carry off the sometimes challenging genre of cyber punk. Who are they and which authors most nearly approximate Gibson’s gritty and absorbing style? ---
**Author:** ![Thirty-3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@Thirty-3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-3)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/2 "2003-10-15T07:34:59Z")
You might like Snow Crash and The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. At the moment I’m reading Jennifer Government by Max Barry, which is quite good. It isn’t science fiction, though… More of a mega-corporations own / satire you sort of thing 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/3 "2003-10-15T08:03:00Z")
Wow! First post ever and in my thread to boot. Thanks for delurking, **Thirty-3**! ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/4 "2003-10-15T08:11:30Z")
Here are a couple of sites to check. [Exhaustive list, with titles](http://www.tip.net.au/~rclutton/fiction/authors/fiction_authors.htm) and [short list, with backgrounds](http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/MultimediaStudentProjects/00-01/0003637k/project/html/litaut.htm) most often mentioned are **John Shirley** and **Bruce Sterling** And welcome, also to **Thirty-3**. If you gotta jack into an alternate reality, this one will do nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/5 "2003-10-15T10:38:57Z")
Another vote for **Bruce Sterling** over here. He edited the perfect snapshot of the Cyberpunk movement, “_Mirrorshades_”. And his non-fiction is also quite good. Check out [The Hacker Crackdown](http://www.mit.edu/hacker/hacker.html), a great piece of journalism covering a few of the most important events that took place in the pre-www era. You really need to read this one, **Zenster**. Y’all can download and read it for free, and it’s okay with Bruce. Hi, **Thirty-3** , have you been to [The Sea of Cecil](http://www.nationstates.net/) yet? ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/6 "2003-10-15T12:22:02Z")
For Sterling, I like _Heavy Weather_ or the short story collections _Globalhead_ and _A Good Old Fashioned Future_. But for non-“cyberpunk fiction” reading, I strongly second _The Hacker Crackdown_. He’s not really cyberpunk, but I’ve seen Lucius Shepard’s name mentioned with Gibson’s for sci-fi writers who can be considered to have a “literary” writing style. He brings the “magical realism” feel of writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez to the genre, if that makes any sense ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/7 "2003-10-15T12:51:26Z")
I’d recommend Walter Jon Williams, particularly _Hardwired_ and _Voice of the Whirlwind_. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/8 "2003-10-15T14:08:16Z")
Snow Crash, yesssss! (Best c-punk novel ever written, with Virtual Light comming a very close second) Diamond Age, nooooo! (Absolutely fantastic treatment of how technology changes a world, but storyline? Feh!) ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/9 "2003-10-15T15:18:27Z")
John Brunner’s the Shockwave Rider. It was written in **1975** and still manages to not get that charecteristic patina of age that books from even 3 years ago already acquire. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/10 "2003-10-15T15:21:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slortar \* > \*\*I’d recommend Walter Jon Williams, particularly _Hardwired_ and _Voice of the Whirlwind_. \*\* I’d second that. Williams’ characters are much more involving and compelling than Gibson’s. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/11 "2003-10-15T17:36:18Z")
**Hometownboy’s** first link is about as exhaustive as you can get, but beware that it also stretches the definition of cyberpunk to the point of snapping. The one name not mentioned specifically so far that is a must is the late George Alec Effinger, whose Marid Audran series: _When Gravity Fails_ (1987) _A Fire in the Sun_ (1989) _The Exile Kiss_ (1991) is truly different and fascinating. Also be aware that cyberpunk was a genre of its moment, the 1980s, which reached its apotheosis and died with _Snow Crash_ in 1992. Lots of authors still write futures with elements of it, but that’s like saying lots of authors still write books with spaceships in them. The element is just a background piece of the book and not the focus. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/12 "2003-10-15T20:13:20Z")
I’d second the Stephenson recommendation, but with the caveat that the style is a little less gritty, IMHO, than that of Gibson. Nevertheless, _Snow Crash_ is excellent, and one of the definative cyberpunk works in many people’s opinions. Bruce Sterling is quite a bit more like Gibson than Stephenson, and is one of the the big names out there. _Mirrorshades_ is a great anthology, but it’s hard to find. I got it on E-bay. Rudy Rucker is also quite good, especially _Software_. I also have to second _The Hacker Crackdown_, which I read at my SOs house (he is fully aware that I am marrying him for his CP collection 😉 ). This isn’t really cyberpunk, but if you like “Mozart in Mirrorshades” in the Mirrorshades collection, you might want to check out Kage Baker’s Company series (all of her books except for _The Anvil of the World_, basically). ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/13 "2003-10-15T20:13:20Z")
I’m partial to Wilhelmina Baird’s work as well. She wrote a character-centered trilogy that starts in Crashcourse. Unfortunately, all of her books appear to be out of print. I also would reccomend Catspaw, by Joan D. Vinge. To me, it captures the emotion and angst that is part and parcel of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/14 "2003-10-15T20:32:57Z")
Thanks for the reminder, **Exapno**. I loved that trillogy, and still read it on occasion. I think the middle one is the best. One of my buddies who spent most of his childhood travelling around the middle east was impressed with how well Effinger got the cultural feel of the area. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-write-great-cyber-punk/207525/15 "2003-10-15T20:51:34Z")
Most excellent. Thank you everybody for all of the great recommendations. I personally think that cyber punk is still in its infancy. There are so many more mergings of humans and digital appliances to come that we have just scratched the surface. When I see how much work I can accomplish just by using the Internet (in its current, crude state), I am confident that the best is yet to come. More suggestions are welcome.