Top 10 Sci Fi Cyberpunk Books
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- Опубликовано: 26 июл 2024
- Top Ten Cyberpunk Recommendations. This is Episode 5 of Cyberpunk Week. These are the top 10 scifi books I recommend for those interested in reading cyberpunk.
I didn't have a hard criteria for the recommendations. For some I leaned more into "what feels solidly like cyberpunk to me," and for others it was about an evolution of the genre as with The Windup Girl, or books that had cyberpunk moments and I really liked the book and felt others would as well.
The amazing art work for The Windup Girl is featured with permission from the artist:
Julien Gauthier
Art Director at ILM
www.artstation.com/renart
The terrific Chasm City illustrations are featured with permission from the artist:
Serj Valesian
/ valesyan_sergey
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Firstly and most importantly, congratulations on a wonderful booktube event.
I never saw ‘Chasm City’ as cyberpunk but it makes perfect sense.
You recommended ‘Altered Carbon’ to me a few weeks ago - it’s a great book.
I’m delighted that you regard ‘Snow Crash’ so highly. I think you choose the right classic.
Great music at the end.
Well done!
Thanks Jack. I def agree that Chasm City won't sit on the cyberpunk shelf, but there's def enough cyberpunk there for to wedge it into this list.
This sound pretty interesting. Your passion for this genre is so beautiful to me. Thanks for the video, Mike.
What a great list! Most of these are going on my tbr📚 Thank you!🤗
Thanks Khomo
Thank you for the list! I’ve been really into this genre lately.
Thanks nauyz. I'm hoping to do a modern cyberpunk reads video sometime soon
Thank you for the great list, Cyberpunk is definitely among by most favored sub-genre. Looking forward to see more of your clips about it.
Thanks. One of mine as well
We share a lot of favorites, and you have introduced a couple I had not known about. Thank you!
Yw Matt!
Nice list! One cyberpunk-ish (but with fantastic elements) series I've really enjoyed was Michael Stackpole's "Dark Conspiracy" trilogy (taking place in the setting of the Dark Conspiracy RPG, though I've never played or even read the game). The books are called "The Gathering Evil", "Evil Ascendant", and "Evil Triumphant", and I think they're incredibly underrated.
Thanks for adding them to the list
Very interesting video! Im mainly a high fantasy reader so your comments about how people of my type would take to cyberpunk are really relevent.
I do like to keep an open mind and discover new stuff and the concept of cyberpunk is pretty cool.
I already have Snow Crash and Neuromancer on my shelf so Im thrilled Im off to a fantastic start according to your list!😂
Im actually just about to start Neuromancer and plan on reading Snow Crash in August.
I saw Altered Carbon on Netflix it was absolutely brilliant in every way! I loved the noire tones.
Of the others on your list, Ive added Windup Girl and Virtual Lights to my TBR list
Great video! Liked and subscribed and thank you for these recommendations! I will be buying them.
Thanks. I hope u end up liking them
@@FIT2BREAD you seem to have good taste. I have read some of these books and I agree with your preceptive assessments.
Snow Crash is probably my FAVORITE book right now. I'm searching for something that equals it. I've read Neuromancer afterwards and enjoyed it, but Snow Crash remains #1 for me. If anyone has any others that get that same feel right, please share!
There's nothing like it, but...for good reading experiences with quirky-cool vibes, Delany's Nova and Babel 17 could be a good fit, also Cordwainer Smith's Norstrillia is a phenomenal read and scores high on the uniqueness scale.
TOTALLY different subgenre and style in most ways, but the peculiar combination of brutal near-future decaying late capitalism and spiritual themes makes Snow Crash and Parable of the Sower great companions in my opinion.
@Ridley LeDoux aparable is excellent, and I get what you mean. I talked about Parable of the Talents in a recent episode..mostly because of the Presidents weirdly prescient slogan...
You might try Islands in the NET by Bruce Sterling...it reminds me of Snow Crash.
Try Accelerando. Note that was released in sections for free so if you look around its available as a PDF free legitimately.
Great recommendations. I've been a fan of cyberpunk since reading Gibson's Neuromancer around 1984. Before that book, I'd never read anything quite like it. I know some will say PKD was cyberpunk, but I would only apply the label to a small portion of his catalogue. What I loved about Neuromancer and cyberpunk in general is how it tends to revolve around outcasts, people at the bottom, and the power structure of the world. At its best, cyberpunk is positively breathtaking.
I really want to read The Windup Girl. Such a great list. This entire Cyberpunk series has been awesome!
Thanks Crystal. I really enjoyed Windup Girl upon reread. I filmed a review for it that will go up sometime in June. Its def a page turner
@@FIT2BREAD awesome, looking forward to your review!
Interesting list. I have read all of the books suggested and would add The Child Garden - Geoff Ryman, Stations of the Tide - Michael Swanwick, The Burning Chrome collection, Islands in the net - Bruce Sterling. Ghost in the Shell - Masamune Shirow, Trouble and her friends - Melissa Scott amongst others
Haven't read Ryman or Scott, but nice list with the additional sterling and gibson. Wasn't a huge fan of Shirow, but still liked the work. Thanks
@@FIT2BREAD No worries, everyone has their sweet spots. For me, one of the earliest cyberpunk was John Brunner's shockwave rider. He even came up with the idea of a computer worm! Also, maybe Starfish by Peter Watts and parts of Neal Asher
@@keithframpton3804 love Starfish (I've got that on the top 210 list). Also really love Bruner though that's one of his I haven't read...I need to get to that one
36 Streets (2022), might be right down your alley. Hard-edged cyberpunk, appeared in many 'best of' lists, praised by reviewers. Still pretty cult, though, under the radar.
I'll look it up. Thanks
I already read many cyberpunk novel. From ur video, i get more. THX
Thanks Toph. Which cyberpunk novel is your favorite?
Ah ha! I was thinking about Altered Carbon when you were defining the elements. I didn't realize it was Cyberpunk at the time I read it (before SnowCrash - I knew that one going in).
Ha nice. Yeah definitely..
Dark/noir atmosphere- check, marginalized charactees-check, futuretech impacted societt/culture-check
This was a wonderful introduction of recommendations into the cyberpunk universe so add as many as you can to your TBR…
I Love Alastair Reynolds he is one of my favorite all time SciFi authors…He is definitely more in the category of hard SciFi but Chasm City which is a pseudo prequel to his popular Revelation Space series was influenced from Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling and Alastair Reynolds has openly alluded to this in the past…
Also a big Greg Egan fan as well and he is one of if not the most hard SciFi authors of all time as Schild’s Ladder may be the hardest SciFi book I have ever read and I agree Diaspora is his 3rd best book…but Egan is definitely not recommended for beginners to the genre he is for the more advanced SciFi reader…
To me Altered Carbon is only 3rd to Neuromancer and Snow Crash as the most highly recommended truly cyberpunk must reads in this sub genre and if you want the true feel and essence of cyberpunk and what it truly is than the 3 books you must read are: Neuromancer, Snow Crash and Altered Carbon all the other wonderful books mentioned in this video are honorable mentions outside of these 3 books
Highly entertaining and informative with superb recommendations for those who are interested or new to the cyberpunk sub genre of SciFi…Keep up the good works Michael 👍🏻
Thanks Bob
I don't know what it was. I read Neuromancer a while back, it took a lot of effort for me, I had to research as I read, to make sure I was understanding it, but in the end, I thought the effort was worth it, and I really liked it... After I finished Neuromancer, I dived into Snowcrash, which had been recommended to me repeatedly in my life. I utterly hated Snowcrash, but read it to the end, thinking it had to get better with so many recommendations. Meh... no change. But I feel like I'm missing something.
There is a copy of william gibson's neuromancer audio book, read by the author himself, available here on youtube. highly recommend if you dont have time to read it.
ghost in the shell was my first (and is my favorite franchise) exposition to cyberpunk 25 years ago or so. i only recently experienced neuromancer and i thought it was amazing. definitely complex, and crazy for its time... at times hard to follow... but amazing none the less. i do really wish there was a fully animated, limited series for the story. and wow, did this guy create and/or popularize much of what we think of when we hear 'cyberpunk'.
I have The Diamond Age; just need to get it onto my ereader (Snow Crash is already on there; just need to get around to reading it :)
I finally got around to reading Wool, and liked it so much I read the other two books, one right after the other. Finished the trilogy at 3:00 a.m. today. I probably wouldn't have run across the book if you hadn't highlighted it on your 150 list (#64).
Omg, I love when a book takes me deep into the night/morning..but hate paying the price
I am undoubtedly the 1,000th person to point out the female protagonist is Snow Crash is YT (Yours Truly). Seeking comments on your excellent video, perhaps? THX
I love Greg Egan, Diaspora and Permutation City are both great - but his most cyberpunk novel would surely be Distress. ;)
Might get a Distree re read in this year. Also if u haven't seen, I have a full review of Diaspora on the channelnif u wanna check it out
@@FIT2BREAD Distress is a great read. There was also a lot of great Egan cyberpunk in "Zengadi". Will definitely cheque out the review of Diaspora.
@markfallu2389 still haven't gotten to Zendagi yet. Debating if I wanna do a re read of Schilds first or do Zendegai. I want to review SL soon, so I might hit that 1st
@@FIT2BREAD I love his Hard SF so much - but I really think some of his most compelling novels are when he applies those ideas to near future scenarios. He seems to have a real knack for describing the probably social implications of realistic technological disruptions. He absolutely does that with his deep / hard SF... but the stories are obviously more remote from the perspective of our lived experiences.
while it might be a common thread, dystopian elements arent an absolute necessity. more important is the integration of cybernetics into the daily life of the average individual, and a more 'alternative' fashion and design aesthetic. like how in steampunk worlds the clockwork aesthetics and steam powered infrastructure are inherent so the theme that doesnt necessarily rely on an impoverished economic class. the punk part implies some form of anti establishment sentiment of the main character or plot but both cyberpunk and steampunk can exist within a relatively utopian setting as long as the 'punk' aesthetic and prominant integration of the technology available of the time is still present.
In my '92 copy of Snow Crash, the girl is called Y.T. - as in "Yours Truly." Not sure where @FIT2BREAD got Y.A....
I'm SO glad to see "The Diamond Age" on this list! It doesn't seem to get the credit it deserves--which is A LOT. It's delightful.
Another non-Western non-fetishized-S Asian setting is found in Georg Alec Effinger's "When Gravity Fails". There are three in the series, but i hesitate to call it a trilogy since he was writing a fourth when he died. Massive shame, too, it's one of those series that left me frankly soul-sick with wanting more!
Thanks for adding to the list!
I found your video typing scifi portal novels. I'll check out Chasm City. I could not get into Mirror Shades.
Just grabbed The Windup Girl ebook! Have you had a chance to read Lock In by John Scalzi yet? I think it’s some of the best cyberpunk since Snowcrash, but I might be biased because I can identify with the post viral neurological disability of the characters and the disability culture.
I haven't been back to Scalzi in a while. I will have to check out Lock In...it wasn't on my radar...just seeing your comment now. Did you start Windup?
I'd offer the Space Merchants by Frederick Poul and Cyril Kornbluth, as essential reading because it does a great job at illustrating the futuristic hypercapitalist dystopia found in many cyberpunk novels
Nice call. Great book...and of course the idea of "chicken little" is highly disturbing. It lacks the cyber element (for me) to include it on my cyberpunk list, but definitely would be on my lists for dystopian fiction
@@FIT2BREAD Even if it lacks the cyber-element, I feel its part of the mix of influences that led to cyberpunk and could provide some historical context for how the sub-genre coalesced. Same way for "Stars, My Destination"
@@gmosphere fair enough and good points
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester was Cyberpunk before Cyberpunk
For me, the label doesn't fit perfectly, but it's def one if my favorite books of all time
@@FIT2BREAD For sure one of the best, if not the best SF novel ever written
Richard K Morgan - Woken Furies (third book) is a way better read than Altered Carbon.
Solid list but I wonder why George Alec Effinger’s Marid Audran novels don’t make an appearance. I found them entertaining, imaginative and accessible.
K, I haven't read Effinger. I'm assuming I should get to it?
01 Neuromancer
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02 The Diamond Age
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03 The Windup Girl
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04 River of Gods
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05 Altered Carbon
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06 Virtual Light
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07 Diaspora
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08 Syners
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09 Chasm City
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The Red
Dr. Adder
Hardwired
Nova
Babel-17
DADOES
Mirrorshades
Great list thanks
@@FIT2BREAD great video... Glad I watched it instead of just looking at a list... Doesn't that irritate you?
@@debacofzomb9889 I definitely rather watch
10 Cyberpunk must-sees :
1] Blade Runner [1982
2] TRON [1982
3] Max Headroom : 20 Minutes into the Future [1985
4] Circuitry Man [1990
5] Plughead Rewired : Circuitry Man II [1994
6] Johnny Mnemonic [1995
7] Hackers [1995
8] The Thirteenth Floor [1999
9] Ready Player One [2011
0] Blade Runner 2049 [2017
Gr8 list
How could you leave out the animated films for Ghost in the Shell!???
just never heard of it. but i'll say that this list does not contain personal preferences - the way I see it.@@pookienumnums
Do androids dream of electronic sheep is on my tbr list and waiting for me on my shelves!
Exciting. Have you read other books by PKD, or is this going to be your first, Olivia?
Will be my first!
I'm not sure why everyone is behind the counter culture of the last century, as I lived through it and enjoyed it so very little, reading the science fiction popular then. Only Stephenson gets the mood about right.
Would love to hear you elaborate on that more, so I understand your comment well enough to reply appropriately
Accelerando. 100% in the top 10 no contest.
No idea why some channels categorize Diaspora as Cyberpunk. Certainly doesnt feel like that to me anyway. It has a certain resemblance to House Of Suns IMO. if you'll like one you'll like the other.
Diamond Age a great book and better than Neuromancer or Snow Crash IMNSHO.
I definitely do not get house of sun's vibes from Diaspora... I would not categorize Diaspora as cyberpunk as a main designation. It's more space opera for me...but it does meet my low threshold for inclusion on a cyberpunk list as it easily hits the mark in a few ways for "cyber" and there's just enough "punk," (using my standard I mentiin in the "what is cyberpunk" video)...if I use the fleshers and maybe even Yatima.. now...where I'll team up with you a bit, is that I think there are likely lists where folks have dumped Diaspora onto the list because they saw it with a cyberpunk label somewhere else...I am a bit cynical in thinking this happens a lot with lists...someone wants to put out a list and needs more ideas to round it out and they've heard someone else call it cyberpunk and add it in without knowing how to back it up. Let me know though, if I've atheist met a minimum threshold of answering your, "no idea why some channels categorize..." statement. I'll definitely let u know what I think of Accelerando when I get back to it. Thanks for the comment
How about "Futuristic violence and Fancy Suits?" The Zoey punches the future in the d1ck series... Pretty good IMO but you think it fits in this genre? 🤔
Anyway same dude who wrote John dies in the end... Great author IMO.
I have to check it out
@@FIT2BREAD ruclips.net/video/FHbHpNqhW4c/видео.html
@@FIT2BREAD oh oops that's like the middle....
@@debacofzomb9889 what do u mean?
@@FIT2BREAD oh RUclips not letting people post links again? The audiobook is on RUclips done by an exceptional amateur narrator who's better than many professionals. It's split into several parts and i posted a link but it's like the middle of the book. Channel: Movieman101
It definitely fits into the genre 👍😁
You forgot READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline.
NOIR by K.W.Jeter
I also don't recall you giving an honorary mention to the book that started it all off D.A.D.O.E.S. by P.k.Dick
But overall I liked your selection pretty solid 👌🏾😎💯
Thanks. I am sure I must have mentioned DADOES somewhere during Cyberpunk week. It's been a while since I did those. I thought I would have put it on Honorable mention. Im pretty sure I discussed it on the episode, "Are These Books Cyberpunk?" I like the book, but for scratching a cyberpunk itch, it was not one of my top 10. It felt more "cyberpunk adjacent" for me, though I acknowledge others could reasonably classify it cyberpunk. As for RPO, I really enjoyed the book, but more for the action/adventure and lest for the "punkiness" of the characters. Definitely hits on the "cyber" front
@@FIT2BREAD And Oh yeah how could I forget to mention the current Cyberpunk novel that I'm really enjoying though i haven't finished it yet.
THE QUANTUM THIEF by
Hannu Rajaniemi
Safe to say it will be a 5 Star novel fingers crossed though don't know what will be it's conclusion whether hit or miss, but already 🤯
The experience is👌🏾😎
@@danielkibira4064 nice. I haven't read that one
I'm so sorry...I didn't mean it that way....I meant that you weren't looking at the view finder. I have done the same thing but my eyes tend to cross...LOL. Maybe they did something to me when I was in the Army. Great Video. What about space horror? I have never read but heard about derelict spaceships with monsters or aliens. I.E. Alien, Event Horizon etc.
ha no worries. I usually hide it. Space horror is probably one of the sub genres that least often gets me excited. I'm definitely not opposed and occasionally find some real great reads there. Two that immediately come to mind...the first section Hyperion, the Priests Tale is unbelievably captivating and I think that surely qualifies. I have a review coming up soon of Gareth Powells new release Stars and Bones which has horror elements. Its not a favorite, but I did just read it and enjoyed it, so I'll talk about that soon. I guess 1984 and other dystopian novels could qualify as horrific, but I think I prefer to think of them more as dystopian...any fav horror scifi novels on your list? I also enjoyed Alan Dean Foster's novelization of the Alien screenplay
@@FIT2BREAD Just subscribed as well...I'll forward you to my ol' ex-manager of my Comedy days. :)
You could have exchanged Diamond Age with Daniel Suarez Daemon
A decent read. I liked it but didn't love it...I expect to include it when I do a Modern Cyberpunk Novels episode
I love the list and I was happy to see snow crash at number one but every time you said the name ya a part of my soul died because I know her name is yt, which she at one point explains means yours truly
I know, it crushes my soul that I did that. I think I put up a graphic to illustrate the error though, right?
On my full snow crash review, I think I avoided the flub. I think when I filmed this I must have been reading something YA at the time ha
It's YT
Yep. Pretty sure I put a graphic correction there
You can’t add list in comments for easy lookup?
Going to try and do that more often. Frequently it happens that I just run out of time to do those extra elements....
@@FIT2BREAD just reread my comment didn’t mean to sound like asshole. Was asking for list for lookup on audible.
Eph..thanks..it didn't come accross that way at all...I think a list would be helpful for everyone...
Y. T.
Yes of course
If I can give one piece of advice I’d say this, do not listen to Cyberpunk novels as audiobooks. I listened to the first half of Neuromancer on Audiobook and HATED it. Then read it from the beginning, and loved it. These books commonly use heightened language that (at least I) at times need to use the Kindle dictionary to look up. This is not cyberpunk but the Red Rising series is a good example of this, as the Golds speak in such a heightened way.
The best example of this is Apollonius in book four, there are many times I wouldn’t even understand the context of his sentences because he used uncommon language, that in many times, is old. Also, love your channel.
I listened to the audiobook for necromancer, as read by the Author, and I thought it was fantastic. His voice, accent, and speech pattern was a little hard to get used to but after I just let it be part of the overall aesthic I think it set the tone right for how the world was viewed and experienced during the time when he was writing it. Old school, if you will.
If it was Gibson, well he knew how he meant it. Some readers just do it on a monotone.
I actually hated audiobooks till I discovered creepypastas.
Now I'm getting into em.
Kovach. Vach. ch. It's pronounced Kovach.😊
Pwning? Scalled skitchin. Much as it's called anything but jackassery. In the early 90s.
I feel like somethings wrong with me. Snow crash was one of the worst books I’ve ever read.
You are not alone. There's definitely mixed reviews on it. It's uniqueness, audacity, and coolness was a great match for me and I loved it. I can Def see though how the Summerian stuff could have bored some and I can definitely understand if the characters and plots were too quirky
I agree. One of my least favorite books.
I'm not sure chasm city should be on this list
Elaborate...
@@FIT2BREAD ignore the deleted comment I thought you said a different book by Alistair Reynolds. To answer the question I would say that it's not really a punk book and I think the technical level seems to be a bit higher than cyber. I would say that the perfect (the trilogy following the cop in chasm city before the plague that screwed up nanotechnology) was closer but still too advanced
@@FIT2BREAD really that trilogy has higher technology as that plague screwed up much of nanotechnology but it has a closer feeling of punk. I don't know I don't really get too much punk feelings out of anything he wrote
@@FIT2BREAD who knows maybe I should reread it but that means I have to read the whole series a third time and I am by no means ready for that. Those books are huge and extremely dense. By no means an easy read.
@erwingove3497 I thunk its fair criticism and I should re watch this to see if I gave anything looking like a disclaimer...I feel like I probably did...the idea that of all the books in the list, this was the on I sort of wedged in...and was happy to do so because it was a great read and without feeling like rusty iron with neon lights and derelict characters cyberpunk it still qualified as cyberpunk under the definition I gave in my "what is cyberpunk? Episode
Thank you for recommending female authors and stories that aren't western centric! I'm new to reading the genre and it's been hard to find books that aren't written by men
Myrrh, thanks for saying that. Having diversity in my reading habits is important to me.
I knew it’ll be good, when you opened with chasm city 🫶🏻
Thanks D. Loved Chasm