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Whatever Happened to “Cyberpunk”?

Neuromancer Cover.jpg After reading Neuromancer, I put on a bit of cyberpunk airs. I started reading Bruce Sterling as well, with a little K. W. Jeter although not the seminal Dr. Adder. But I never ventured much farther afield than that. Pondering the 25th Anniversary of Neuromancer, I was under the impression that cyberpunk as a literary movement had pretty much died out.

That point is debateable, but according to Paul Di Filippo at least three of the core authors, John Shirley, Rudy Rucker, and Bruce Sterling, along with quite a few others are still quite productive. They have mellowed into elder statesmen and adapted to the changing literary landscape.

And Di Filippo rightly points out that some of the broad imaginative themes of cyberpunk have actually come to pass. Case in point, Gibson’s globalized, hyperconnected, hypercultural world of The Sprawl Trilogy.

Good tip off for some new (to me) texts to explore.

Apropos of nothing, I also really appreciate that the Wikipedia entry for cyberpunk has the correct attribution for the oft used quote “the street finds its own uses for things”. And no, it’s not in Neuromancer!!

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