Cyberpunk

I started re-reading Neuromancer this morning, and not only was I a bit shocked when I learned that Aline had not heard of Neuromancer or William Gibson, but I couldn’t believe she wasn’t even sure what cyberpunk referred to! She was familiar with the term, but couldn’t think of any books or movies she’d read or seen that were “cyberpunk” nor did the word conjure any mental images for her!

Obviously, this is a situation I need to rectify. After the jump is the lede from the Wikipedia article on cyberpunk and a list of cyberpunk books, movies and television shows.

Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on “high tech and low life.” The name is a blend of cybernetics and punk and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story “Cyberpunk,” published in 1983. It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order. Cyberpunk works are well situated within postmodern literature.

Cyberpunk plots often center on a conflict among hackers, artificial intelligences, and megacorporations, and tend to be set in a near-future Earth, rather than the far-future settings or galactic vistas found in novels such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation or Frank Herbert’s Dune. The settings are usually post-industrial dystopias, but tend to be marked by extraordinary cultural ferment and the use of technology in ways never anticipated by its creators (“the street finds its own uses for things”). Much of the genre’s atmosphere echoes film noir, and written works in the genre often use techniques from detective fiction.

—Wikipedia cyberpunk article

Novels

This list is from Wikipedia.

• The Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker
  • Software (1982)
  • Wetware (1988)
  • Freeware (1997)
  • Realware (2000)
• The Sprawl trilogy by William Gibson
  • Neuromancer (1984)
  • Count Zero (1986)
  • Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988)
• Schismatrix (1985) by Bruce Sterling
• Eclipse Trilogy (aka A Song Called Youth Trilogy) (1985–90) by John Shirley
• Psion (1985) by Joan D. Vinge (The Cat Novels)
• Hardwired (1986) by Walter Jon Williams
  • Voice of the Whirlwind (1987)
  • Solip:System (1989)
• The Marîd Audran series by George Alec Effinger
  • When Gravity Fails (1987)
  • A Fire in the Sun (1989)
  • The Exile Kiss (1991)
• Little Heroes (1987) by Norman Spinrad
• Islands in the Net (1988) by Bruce Sterling
• Fools (1992) by Pat Cadigan
• Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson
• Bridge trilogy by William Gibson
  • Virtual Light (1993)
  • Idoru (1996)
  • All Tomorrow’s Parties (1999)
• Heavy Weather (1994) by Bruce Sterling
• Trouble and Her Friends (1994) by Melissa Scott
• Fairyland (1995) by Paul J. McAuley
• The Diamond Age (1996) by Neal Stephenson
• Holy Fire (1996) by Bruce Sterling
• Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human (1995) by K. W. Jeter
  • Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night (1996)
  • Blade Runner 4: Eye and Talon (2000)
• Night Sky Mine (1997) by Melissa Scott
• One of Us (1998) by Michael Marshall Smith
• Chimera (2000) by Will Shetterly
• Altered Carbon (2002) by Richard Morgan
• River of Gods (2004) by Ian McDonald
  • Cyberabad Days (2009)
• Accelerando (2005) by Charles Stross
  • Glasshouse (2006)
• The Mirrored Heavens (2008) by David J. Williams
• Starfish (1999) by Peter Watts

Movies

Most of the films listed are cyberpunk-related either through narrative or by thematic context. Films released before 1984 should be seen as precursors to the genre. This list is from Wikipedia.

• World on Wires (1973)
• Escape from New York (1981)
  • Escape from L.A. (1996)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• Burst City (1982)
• Tron (1982)
• Brainstorm (1983)
• Overdrawn At the Memory Bank (1983)
• Videodrome (1983)
• RoboCop (1987)
• Gunhed (1989)
• Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
  • Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992)
• Circuitry Man (1990)
• Hardware (aka M.A.R.K. 13, 1990)
• Megaville (1990)
• 964 Pinocchio (1990)
  • Rubber’s Lover (1996)
• Until the End of the World (1991)
• Freejack (1992)
• The Lawnmower Man (1992)
  • The Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)
• Split Second (1992)
• Cyborg 2 (1993)
• Electric Tribe (1993)
• Crystal Fortune Run (1994)
• The City of Lost Children (1995)
• Hackers (1995)
• Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
• Judge Dredd (1995)
• Strange Days (1995)
• Terminal Justice (1995)
• Dobermann (1997)
• The Fifth Element (1997)
• Nirvana (1997)
• Redline (aka Deathline) (1997)
• Andromedia (1998)
• Pi (1998)
• The Matrix (1999)
  • The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
  • The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
• Avalon (2001)
• Electric Dragon 80.000 V (2001)
• I.K.U. (2001)
• Cypher (2002)
• Dead or Alive: Final (2002)
• Impostor (2002)
• Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (2002)
• All Tomorrow’s Parties (2003)
• Natural City (2003)
• Paycheck (2003)
• Immortal (2004)
• Paranoia 1.0 (aka One Point 0) (2004)
• Sigma (2005)
• A Scanner Darkly (2006)
• Chrysalis (2007)
• Eden Log (2007)
• Babylon A.D. (2008)
• The Gene Generation (2008)
• Sleep Dealer (2008)
• Tokyo Gore Police (2008)
• Surrogates (2009)
• Repo Men (2010)
• Tron: Legacy (2010)

Television

This list is from Wikipedia.

• Max Headroom (1987)
• Wild Palms (1993)
• TekWar (1994)
• Welcome to Paradox (1998)
• The X-Files: Two episodes of the series were written by William Gibson and contain cyberpunk themes.
  • Kill Switch (1998)
  • First Person Shooter (2000)
• Harsh Realm (1999)
• Total Recall 2070 (1999)
• Dark Angel (2000–2002)
• RoboCop: Prime Directives (2000)
• Charlie Jade (2005)
• Dollhouse (2009–2010)