Shadowy hackers, neon cities, a rogue A.I. system trying to escape the megacorporation that built it: I have always loved cyberpunk stories — for the prophetic eye they turn toward impending societal decay, and for the road map they draw for rebellion against the elite. As our own society charges toward an overreliance on technology, the parallels between real life and cyberpunk have only increased.
But I had never truly dug into the genre’s roots until I was an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, where my favorite class introduced me to the book “Techno-Orientalism: Imagining Asia in Speculative Fiction, History, and Media.” This collection of criticism poses a question I had long felt humming in the background as I read my favorite sci-fi, but hadn’t quite known how to put into words: Why is there such a strong Asian influence in cyberpunk, and why is a dystopian future so often an Asian one?
The book sent me down a rabbit hole and, before I could attempt to write my own cyberpunk novel, I decided I needed a comprehensive Cyberpunk 101. This list comprises some of my favorite discoveries from that journey, including staples of the subgenre as well as newer texts by authors from the Asian diaspora. In addition to thrilling entertainment, they offer valuable windows into this space: how its foundations formed, and how existing archetypes can continue to be challenged and expanded.
Neuromancer
by William Gibson
A comprehensive list of cyberpunk books has to begin with Gibson. The sci-fi master may have penned this classic in 1984, but modern-day readers will have no trouble sinking into its blend of hard-boiled futuristic noir and technological thriller: The perilously advanced 21st century he describes is, after all, not so different from our present day. The book follows a data thief and a street samurai who battle cyberspace and stage a high-stakes heist, following the instruction of a powerful A.I. Stylish and kinetic, it utterly sets the tone for the genre.
Read our review.
Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson
Do you ever wonder where today’s tech companies get their ideas from? For better or worse, a lot of them seem to be ripped straight from cyberpunk. “Snow Crash” follows a pizza delivery driver — the cheekily named Hiro Protagonist — in a futuristic United States where the government has collapsed and society is run entirely by private organizations. In his free time, Hiro is also a hacker who hangs around the Metaverse (sound familiar?) — until his friends start falling victim to a dangerous new virus. You only have to glance at the latest Silicon Valley headlines to realize how ahead of its time Stephenson’s satirical and visionary novel was.
Read our review.
Akira, Volume 1
by Katsuhiro Otomo
In the 1980s, while many English-language writers were fretting over a future in which Japan’s meteoric rise threatened U.S. hegemony, the Japanese cartoonist Otomo was busy revolutionizing manga with his pioneering “Akira” series. This postapocalyptic saga, set in Neo-Tokyo, follows a gang of teenage bikers and an emerging child psychic. It’s a feat of storytelling, and a visual exemplar that has guided every franchise since. (There’s also a cult classic film adaptation, which Otomo directed.)
Trouble and Her Friends
by Melissa Scott
I don’t often see Scott on lists of foundational cyberpunk texts, but she definitely makes mine: Her 1994 novel is a pivotal example of a science fiction tale written from a feminist lens and focusing on L.G.B.T.Q. characters. Set in a futuristic United States, the book follows the hacker India Carless, a.k.a. Trouble. When her alias is stolen by a cybercriminal, Trouble must join forces with her ex-lover to clear her name before it’s too late. “Trouble and Her Friends” hovers at the tail end of a now bygone era: when a cyberpunk book could explore the limitless bounds of the internet, and much of society had not yet become intimately familiar with cyberspace’s mysteries — and perils.
On Such a Full Sea
by Chang-Rae Lee
The more I delved into cyberpunk’s origins, the more I wondered: Where were the diaspora writers, the ones who didn’t see a battle between a Western future and an Asian one, but offered a more nuanced perspective? Lee’s 2014 novel (which I also read in that formative Penn class) offers one such perspective. More literary than genre fiction in tone, the book takes place in a futuristic America deeply stratified by class, where the laborers are largely descendants of Chinese immigrants who fled environmental ruin. We follow Fan, a 16-year-old girl who leaves her isolated community to search for her boyfriend after he disappears. It is a stunning examination of dystopia and societal decay.
Read our review.
The Membranes
by Chi Ta-Wei; translated by Ari Larissa Heinrich
I’ll never forget my first read of “The Membranes,” and how I gasped reaching the end. This slim novel follows a dermal care technician in a world where humanity has moved to domes at the bottom of the sea to escape climate disaster. Chi slowly peels back the layers of a society running on cyborg labor, offering a prime example of cyberpunk that interweaves personal conflict about identity and self-realization with the global perils of rapidly evolving technology. Read this one in a single sitting, at the edge of your seat.
Warcross
by Marie Lu
Lu’s young adult books were foundational to my teenage years, and “Warcross” is one I would hand to any teenager interested in science fiction — and to any adult who wants a fantastic, rich story. The title refers to a virtual reality game with a global fan base; Emika, a teen hacker who helps track down players placing illegal bets, is recruited by its billionaire creator to go undercover at the biggest Warcross tournament. This novel is a perfect entry point into cyberpunk’s atmosphere, immersive world-building and dystopian politics.
Read our review.
Local Heavens
by K.M. Fajardo
“Local Heavens” is a reimagining of “The Great Gatsby” — already a perfect blend of theme, style and substance, before the cyberpunk twist. Fajardo sets the action in 2075; her Nick Carraway is a Filipino American corporate hacker who is assigned to investigate Jay Gatsby. The prose is gorgeously reminiscent of classic cyberpunk, while the world-building breathes new life into Fitzgerald’s explorations of technological exploitation and the American elite.
The post Great Cyberpunk Novels That Imagine New Futures appeared first on New York Times.
