Rewired

October 8, 2007
Arranged loosely in order of publication, the 16 diverse selections in this decade-spanning anthology add up to a plausible snapshot of cyberpunk's short-form evolution. Kelly and Kessel (Feeling Very Strange
) clearly describe cyberpunk counterculture in a cogent introduction, yet draw only one story from a nongenre source (Greg Egan's “Yeyuka”) and greatly undervalue the subgenre's ability, at its most popular, to reach beyond SF's core audience. While some entries (Charles Stross's “Lobsters”; Cory Doctorow's “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth”) focus strongly on techno-geek culture, others apply high-tech ideas in more down-to-earth contexts (Mary Rosenblum's “Search Engine”; Paolo Bacigalupi's “The Calorie Man”). The critical matter is too scant for academic readers and too intrusive for genre fans; discussion of specific stories is extremely sparse, and excerpts from correspondence between Kessel and Bruce Sterling distract rather than enlighten. Readers seeking a thorough critical study should look elsewhere, but those looking for well-told stories will be satisfied.

October 15, 2007
Cyberpunk, a subgenre associated with hackers, artificial intelligence, and virtual worlds, is probably best exemplified by William Gibsons Neuromancer (1984). Cyberpunk depicted a dark future lived under constant surveillance (not unlike the present?) and anticipated the Internet. Taking the genre to the next level, the stories award-winning writers Kelly and Kessel collect in the follow-up to Feeling Very Strange (2006) depict a world that has access to all recorded knowledge, instantaneous communication across the entire planet, and add-ons to the Human Operating System, so Mary Rosenblums Search Engine explores a Big Brotherlike near future when every persons move is trackable by government and private databases. Charles Stross comical and frightening Lobsters concerns an open-source venture altruist who encounters a lobster AI uploaded into cyberspace. Cory Doctorows When SysAdmins Ruled the Earth portrays a postapocalyptic band of IT workers keeping the Internet alive after global catastrophe. Other contributions come from Jonathan Lethem, Pat Cadigan, and cyberpunk forerunners Bruce Sterling and Gibson. Altogether, these cautionary tales demonstrate the quantum, irreversible changes brought on by new, unbridled technologies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)