/lit/ - Literature

Snow Crash.

It's the book that wrote the internet.

You're going to want the work of Bruce Sterling, particularly his Shaper/Mechanist stuff. I think you can find this published as "Schismatrix Plus."

>>927475
Neuromancer. I'd argue that this is really the book that started that whole out-of-body internet, cyberpunk genre.

>>927522

He said that he had already read Neuromancer.

>>927522
>I've read Neuromancer, but that didn't quite hit the spot for me. It seemed to just be guys-floating-around-in-the-internet-talking to-AIs the book. I liked it, but it wasn't really what I was looking for.

>>927522

Read the OP.

>>927535
>>927533
>>927531
Sorry, my mind is a bit glazed over, been up all night on a writing binge.

In that case I would agree that Snowcrash is a logical progression.

>>927482
I actually ordered that book this morning. This reinforces that I made a good decision.

>>927506
Thanks, and it's <$2 on amazon.

Doctorow has some interesting stuff. I'm thinking of his book of collected short stories who's name I can't seem to recall, that was enjoyable.

>>927548

You'll like it, it's a much smoother and entertaining read than Neuromancer.

How can you not like Neuromancer?

>>927582
Not OP, but I'm currently reading it, and it's just not very good.

>>927586
Explain yourself.

>>927582
You misunderstand. I liked Neuromancer. I just something closer to GITS.

>>927548

get ready to keep on buying this book if you lend it to anybody, because fuck no one ever gives it back

>>927588
The story isn't very exciting, the representation of the matrix or whatever is boring as fuck, the characters have no real personalities, and it just kind of rambles around with this Wintermute thing.

Mindscan, by Robert J. Sawyer

Altered Carbon might fit your taste, though it's probably not strictly of the cyberpunk subgenre: no proper cyberspace surfing, though there are AI:s, cybernetic implants, intrigue and corruption

>>927611
If he doesn't like Neuromancer I don't see how he'll enjoy Altered Carbon. Hell, AC is practically a spiritual successor with all the Japanese references etc.

Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Not a book but check it out.

>>927599
>>927599
When I lend out books I usually do it with the knowledge that I probably won't get the book back. I'm fine with that.

>>927611
That's fine with me. Thanks anon.

>>927606
I read the first page of this on amazon. Added to my "to buy" list.

He's all you'll really need.

I'm a huge fan of GitS and The Matrix, but it's hard to come by in book form as far as I can tell. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is sci-fi but not cyberpunk.. it definitely gives off the seem feeling of "is this real" or not that GitS does.

Kind of want to recommend PKD, hits a handful of the themes mentioned; imao, the good ones.

>>927618
uh, Altered Carbon is a sci-fi murder story with a "jaded private detective" type character as the lead. He runs around in Blade Runner land occasionally shooting at people.

Neuromancer doesn't have any of those features, it was about a once talented junky feeling sorry for himself and running some pre-programmed scripts while AIs bully him and other people do all the cool stuff.

A non-fiction work that you may be interested in is Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation. Be warned, however, as the difficulty of the prose, combined with the themes Baudrillard addresses, make the book a bit of a mindfuck.

>>927702
Uggh, I gave up on Altered Carbon. Red more like a masturbatory power fantasy than the well thought out science fiction its Philip K. Dick award promised.

I'd say read Gibson's Count Zero which takes the conscious AI aspect of Neuromancer and develops it more, but.... Neuromancer is a lot better and you didn't like that, so... maybe not.

First, what did you like about GitS? And are you talking about the first movie or the TV show or what? Anyway, just on general principle, I would recommend

- Bruce Sterling and Snow Crash, as mentioned
- George Alec Effinger, When Gravity Fails - great cyberpunk book, set in an unnamed Arabic city - owes quite a lot to detective fiction
- Ian McDonald - writes novels usually set in near-future societies of third-world countries - very, very absorbing, I think you might like it. Not strictly cyberpunk, but an inheritor in some ways. Check out River of Gods

Jack Womack's "Ambient" series. Try "Elvissey"

>>927473

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The Diamond Age deals heavily with what it means to be human.

How about Accelerando? It deals a lot with AI, their effect on economics and for some pure sci-fi flair alien AI's demolishing entire star systems to build giant interconnected Matrioshka brains.

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>>927741
How was it a power fantasy? If anything I thought it was the exact opposite. Controlled by genes/status/intelligence/pheromones/circumstances/other people... the whole damn story was a litany to the forces that control us. The fact that bancroft couldn't acknowledge the baser parts of himself (the parts that had control over him and made his marriage what it was) was central to the plot. That kovacs blows away a few street scum along the way is pretty much meaningless, just an expression of his rage at the hopelessness of it all.

>>927762
I never said I disliked neuromancer. It's just not the droid I'm looking for.

>>927782
All 3 movies, and the 2 tv series. I've yet to read the manga, but I've got a zip with them in it. I also found out that there are 3 novels that relate to the tv series and I plan to pick those up too.

I liked the tech in the show, I liked the idea of uploading my consciousness to the net or into a robot. I like the cybercrime, I liked the terrorism in the book, I liked the stylized action. I liked the philosophical themes, I liked the ghosthacking, I liked the military conflicts, I liked the augmentations that people would get for their bodies, I liked that the poor people at the fringes of society were just barely getting by with ghetto cybernetics, I liked the fact that all the countries in the world were falling apart, and I liked that everything in the GITS universe still seemed familiar even though it was set in the future. I basically just liked how ghost in the shell dealt with how this technology effects people, and how people deal with the positive and negative effects of the technology.

Oh, and thanks for the book suggestions.

>>927846
This sounds cool. I'm also into space opera-ish stuff but figured "cyberpunk and space conflict opera battles" was too broad.

>>927810
Thanks anon.

Cyberpunk was stillborn.

I recommend Greg Egan's PERMUTATION CITY and its quasi-sequel DIASPORA. Humans who have uploaded and evolved as beings of pure information.

>Supercities
>Theme

>>927475
Maurice G. Dantec (pic related)

I think his novels Cosmos Incorporated and Grand Junction were translated into English.

http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Incorporated-Maurice-G-Dantec/dp/034549993X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Junction-Maurice-G-Dantec/dp/0345499948/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&a
mp;qid=1279428515&sr=8-2

>>929608
I'll check those out. Coincidentally there's a group of college guys trying to come up with an open source facebook alternative, and The project's name is Diaspora. I just thought that was interesting.

>>929658
The plot to Cosmos Incorporated sounds like awesome.

>>929608
I'll check those out. Coincidentally there's a group of college guys trying to come up with an open source facebook alternative, and The project's name is Diaspora. I just thought that was interesting.

>>929658
The plot to Cosmos Incorporated sounds interesting.

bump

>>929768
Grand Junction is the sequel (it takes place 12 years later)

bamp

This is relevant to my interests.

At the risk of sounding like a weeaboo I'd like to throw Battle Angel Alita in the mix.
It's highly absurd and madhouse retarded at times (lol Shōnen) but the energy in which it explores different technological ideas is staggering. Plus, it's entertaining as hell for all the right and wrong reasons.

>>933698

Tried reading it, Battle Angel Alita is both incredibly fucking stupid and incredibly fucking boring.

Tomorrow's Eve. The only book mentioned in this thread that's not generic sci-fi bullshit.

>>933705
You're incredibly fucking stu... ah, never mind.
I agree on the former, disagree with your later statement, respect your opinion.
Pic unrelated, but another manga I enjoyed for all the wrong reasons.

Starship Troopers by Robert Henlein

Takeshi Kovacs series by Richard K. Morgan

Sprawl trilogy by William Gibson

Otherland by Tad Williams

Illium and Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Armor by John Steakley

Most anything by John Ringo

>>933717
Crying Freeman was excellent.

More /tv/ related, but if you haven't....

GO SEE INCEPTION RIGHT NOW, HOLY SHIT.

Read the manga of Bubblegum Crisis and AD Police. Both are likely what you're looking for.

Also, anything by Philip K. Dick pretty much. I've never felt any kind of emotional attachment to his works but everyone else seems to be a fan.

I like Gibson's short stories a lot more than his novels - try Burning Chrome.

Not really cyberpunk, but Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds might fit your interests.

And at a stretch - maybe some of John Brunner's stuff? The Shockwave Rider is basically cyberpunk only a few years early, but its tone is fairly different as I remember.

>>933762
Love the art but kept laughing at how over the top and melodramatic everything was. Also, it reads like a mid life crisis yuppie fantasy but that was probably its intent and as such it kept me entertained for all the wrong reasons.
If you want a truly excellent work by Kazuo Koike, read Lone Wolf and Cub instead.

Seeing that we're talking manga, I'll just throw this out there - Hallucination from the Womb by Mohiro Kitoh. There's a good chance it doesn't fit what you're looking for ... but it's short, and kinda close, so what the hell.

Oh, and Pluto. If you don't mind manga, know what Astro Boy is and enjoy Blade Runner and Asimov, you'll love it.

>>933861
Naoki Urasawa's darker and edgier (tm) version of Pluto will very likely be to OP's taste.

>>933871
Whatever do you mean? He's already its sole author and artist.

>>933874
Sorry meant, Pluto, his darker and edgier version of Astro Boy

Not very Cyberpunk, but features a lot of AI and consciousness themes. Hyperion!

>>933904
I wouldn't say darker and edgier. Just a bit more thought out homage to a great series with clear nods towards Asimov, Blade Runner and German detective dramas.

Look up Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei. It's not exactly so much a thematic exploration of that kind of future as it is an atmospheric one. Imagine vast monoliths of cybernetic technology creating a kind of digital desert, and the main character rides around on a motorcycle shooting people throughout it all. Plus, his art makes me drool.

/a/ has your back, /lit/, worry not.

>>927556
>Doctorow
I honestly can't believe anyone actually reads the crap that guy shits out.

OP, try Vernor Vinge. Rainbows End is particularly relevant to today's society and its near future.

>>933757

Fuck yes Otherland!

Also, OT : Noir, by K. W. Jeter. More sci-fi / Blade Runner than GiTS, but still a damn fine read.

Cannot believe somebody actually mentioned Otherland besides me. I immediately was going to post that when I saw the thread. Fantastic sci-fi.

>>929608
>I recommend Greg Egan's PERMUTATION CITY and its quasi-sequel DIASPORA. Humans who have uploaded and evolved as beings of pure information.
I'm not OP, but I'm sure as fuck going to be looking into those. Thanks.

>>927475

um, you probably don't want to take another chance on William Gibson, but I like Count Zero way better than Neuromancer. It may have more of that feel you were looking for.

Also, check out Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Not cyberpunk, but incorporates a lot of the elements you mentioned into a really spectacular and cinematic epic

>>934073
>cinematic epic
>book
Dude, seriously.

>>934083

a book can be cinematic

>>934052
>continues to research Greg Egan
>reads about Quarantine
That sounds awesome. It's on the wishlist, baby.

>>934091
>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cinematic
orly

>>934095
That definition is for cinema - the noun.
Cinematic is "of or pertaining to or characteristic of the cinema", so yeah a book can be cinematic.

Oh shit, OP here, thanks for keeping this bumped. I love you /lit/.

I've slowly been adding all the suggestions to my wishlist (not to beg for, that's just how I catalog books I plan to buy/read) I should be busy for a while now.

>>933698
I don't mind weeaboo stuff. I loved ghost in the shell and the japs seem to be the only ones doing anything with Cyberpunk these days. I'll check out the manga. Thanks!

>>933757
I read starship troopers when I was 12, loved it but might reread. I bought gibson's count zero last week and plan to start on that in a bit. I'll check out the other books too. Thanks anon.

>>933789
I plan to, the trailers, and the premise seemed interesting.

>>933796
I recently torrented the bublegum crisis anime (haven't watched it yet), I didn't know there was a manga. I'll check that out.

>>933804
Thanks for the recommendations.

>>933835

>>933861
>>933871
Thanks, like I said earlier It doesn't have to specifically be cyberpunk and I'm totally fine with manga.(I just didn't want /lit/ telling me to go to /co/ or /a/ had I mentioned I like manga)

>>933907
>>933990
Thanks, I'll check these out.

>>934073
I actually recently bought count zero. I read that the books share the same universe but not the same plot so I figured I'd pick it up.

The Tom Clancy Netforce books might interest you.

>>934437
>I've slowly been adding all the suggestions to my wishlist (not to beg for, that's just how I catalog books I plan to buy/read)
I remember a simpler time when wishlists were just that - lists of books you wished to buy. You're a traditionalist, OP.

age

>>934437

I'm missing Neal Stephenson http://www.nealstephenson.com/

I'm missing Neal Stephenson http://www.nealstephenson.com/

Three stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - Philip K. Dick

Not OP, but looking for similar things. I mainly lurk on /tg/, so I naturally thought of Shadowrun. It's a fusion between cyberpunk (decking, the matrix, corporate overlords) and fantasy (trolls, magic, ect).

The only problem I have is I don't know if any of the novels are good. Does anyone have recommendations?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Shadowrun_books#Novels

Seconding snow crash.

Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge is a pretty solid book on those themes.

Halting State by Charles Stross is another.

Sorry I'm not feeling more descriptive, but I hear Google is FTW.

The Blame! manga is a cyberpunk wet-dream IMO, as is nearly anything Tsutomu Nihei creates.

Also, I just picked up a book called Stories of Ibis, which is about androids, virtual realities, and sentient machines. It's ok, but it's very PG rated.

>>936424
Will check this out.

>>934446
Admittedly I've never read a Tom Clancy book before. They sound interesting though. I'll chem them out.

>>937567
I've been googling all of the books that anon has suggested, and adding them to my list if I thought they were interesting. Halting State sounds interesting.

Also, >A sequel to Halting State entitled 'Rule 34' (previously '419') is due for release in mid-2011.
Lolwut?

I love her titvisors.

>>936424
Will check this out.

>>934446
Admittedly I've never read a Tom Clancy book before. They sound interesting though. I'll chem them out.

>>937567
I've been googling all of the books that anon has suggested, and adding them to my list if I thought they were interesting. Halting State sounds interesting.

Also, >A sequel to Halting State entitled 'Rule 34' (previously '419') is due for release in mid-2011.
Lolwut?

>>938326
Those ain't visors. Those are the screens through which she interfaces with the METAVERSE

>>938330
Stross is an Internet Geek. He knows the rules.