bart@speedy.UUCP (09/23/87)
What about Brunner's "Shockwave Rider". Not as surrealistic as Gibson, but has the techo-hackers, futuristic views, decaying civlization, and changing social structures. --bart miller uw-madison cs dept bart@asiago.wisc.edu ...!uwvax!bart
laura@hoptoad.uucp (Laura Creighton) (09/24/87)
My vote for earliest cyberpunk goes to Samuel Delaney's *Nova*. Anybody have an earlier one? -- It's the things that are useful in slaves that computers are really bad at. Laura Creighton ihnp4!hoptoad!laura utzoo!hoptoad!laura sun!hoptoad!laura
tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney) (09/24/87)
In article <3036@hoptoad.uucp> laura@hoptoad.UUCP (Laura Creighton) writes: >My vote for earliest cyberpunk goes to Samuel Delaney's *Nova*. >Anybody have an earlier one? Nice try, but it has to be Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius novels. -- Tim Maroney, {ihnp4,sun,well,ptsfa,lll-crg}!hoptoad!tim (uucp) hoptoad!tim@lll-crg (arpa)
gmp@rayssd.UUCP (09/24/87)
Please people, post to the right group! This is alt.cyberpunk, which
is a forum for cyberpunks to jack in and commune about various problems
with and unique aspects of life as a cyberpunk. It is not for inane
discussions science fiction or music. There are appropriate groups for
those topics.
Sorry for this posting, and now on to something real: Have you ever
been discriminated against after somebody noticed the jacks on your
forehead?
--
Greg Paris gmp@rayssd.ray.com
{cbosgd,gatech,ihnp4,mirror,necntc,uiucdcs}!rayssd!gmpmcb@lll-tis.UUCP (09/25/87)
In article <3045@hoptoad.uucp> tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney) writes: > In article <3036@hoptoad.uucp> laura@hoptoad.UUCP (Laura Creighton) writes: > >My vote for earliest cyberpunk goes to Samuel Delaney's *Nova*. > >Anybody have an earlier one? > > Nice try, but it has to be Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius novels. My vote's for William S. Burroughs work of the NOVA EXPRESS / NAKED LUNCH / THE TICKET THAT EXPLODED era. Predates the British new wave, I think, right? Michael C. Berch ARPA: mcb@lll-tis.arpa UUCP: {ames,ihnp4,lll-crg,lll-lcc,mordor}!lll-tis!mcb
rab@well.UUCP (09/25/87)
Bart Miller writes: + What about Brunner's "Shockwave Rider". Not as surrealistic as Gibson, + but has the techo-hackers, futuristic views, decaying civlization, and + changing social structures. I second the nomination! Excellent book. -- Robert Bickford {hplabs, ucbvax, lll-lcc, ptsfa}!well!rab /-------------------------------------v-------------------------------------\ | Don't Blame Me: I Voted Libertarian | Ron Paul: Libertarian for President | \-------------------------------------^-------------------------------------/
brothers@who.rutgers.edu.UUCP (09/25/87)
laura says: >My vote for earliest cyberpunk goes to Samuel Delaney's *Nova*. >Anybody have an earlier one? I agree somewhat. While Nova characters did have jacks, they had them to control machinery with motor-neural impulses, not to interface directly with computers. Delany did not perceive such an interface itself as interesting, he was more interested in the social effects of the work ethic (I forget the name) which inspired this. But the jacks do take sensory inputs, one of the main plot elements of the novel, so Nova is halfway there.... -- Laurence R. Brothers brothers@paul.rutgers.edu {anywhere}!rutgers!paul.rutgers.edu!brothers "One life -- one arrow."
webber@brandx.rutgers.edu.UUCP (09/28/87)
In article <3036@hoptoad.uucp>, laura@hoptoad.uucp (Laura Creighton) writes: > My vote for earliest cyberpunk goes to Samuel Delaney's *Nova*. > Anybody have an earlier one? Actually, they are reprinting Rudy Rucker's Software (1982) these days and on the cover they claim that this is the novel that started Cyberpunk. Nova dates back to 1968. Norman Kagan's short story The Mathenauts (1965) clearly raises some deep issues wrt interfaces. Alan Nourse's The Universe Between (1951,1965) fits vaguely in. In Fred Hoyle's Ossian's Ride (1959), I.C.E. was the Industrial Corporation of Eire. The device for interfacing with the Krell's knowledge in Forbidden Planet (1956) has some potential. Henry Kuttner's 1943 short story Mimsy Were the Borogroves also raises some questions as to just what is a computer and what does it mean to interface with it. For those who prefer to stress a ``gritty world view,'' it is perhaps worth remembering the story of the optimist who said this was the best of all possible worlds and the pessimist who agreed. On the nonfiction side, this month's Scientific American is dedicated to advanced computers and has an article on interfaces. -------- BOB (webber@aramis.rutgers.edu ; rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!webber) p.s., The publisher of Stewart Brand's The Media Lab is Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-81442-3
jojo@speedy.UUCP (09/29/87)
In article <3036@hoptoad.uucp> laura@hoptoad.UUCP (Laura Creighton) writes: >My vote for earliest cyberpunk goes to Samuel Delaney's *Nova*. >Anybody have an earlier one? > >-- Don't forget Bable-17, and my favorite, "Starpit", which should be required reading! Where does the Punk of cyberpunk come from. Is it from Gibson's streetwise attitude of technology reaching the poor. (This reminds me of Blade Runner again, where street vendors had electron microscopes...) --j jon wesener jojo@speedy.wisc.edu "If you like ASTROTIT, you should see what's coming! ;-)"
oz@yetti.UUCP (Ozan Yigit) (10/03/87)
In article <4319@spool.wisc.edu> bart@speedy.UUCP writes: >What about Brunner's "Shockwave Rider". Not as surrealistic as Gibson, >but has the techo-hackers, futuristic views, decaying civlization, and >changing social structures. > --bart miller Good example. Probably the earliest book I know of CyberPunk is Vernor Vinge's short "TRUE NAMES". Gibson borrowed liberally from Vinge's earlier vision, and brought it to a genre-of-its-own. I think Brunner's SHOCKWARE RIDER is in a gray area, sort of literati-edition-cyberpunk. The really interesting thing to watch for, in my opinion, is how well do these authors treat sociological issues as well as the technical ones. Some of the CyberP authors do well, and but I am convinced that many authors who will inevitably jump into this category know zip all about computer science/technology (you need to know a great deal to extrapolate properly) and its possible sociological impact. It would be sad to see the field degenerate into Techno-Nonsense, or CyberFantasy. oz -- You see things, and you say "WHY?" Usenet: [decvax|ihnp4]!utzoo!yetti!oz But I dream things that never were; ......!seismo!mnetor!yetti!oz and say "WHY NOT?" Bitnet: oz@[yusol|yulibra|yuyetti] [Back To Methuselah] Bernard Shaw Phonet: [416] 736-5257 x 3976