Acid Rain, Decay, And Chromium Steel
What is Cyberpunk, and is this writing genre obsolete?
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Over 20 years ago (!), before surgery, a friend borrowed William Gibson’s Sprawl* trilogy to pass the time in recovery.
He barely got 50 pages in. The Books felt too dated for his tastes.
Is Cyberpunk too dated as a writing genre? I don’t think it is. While dated, George Alex Effinger and Neil Stephenson’s genre showed that it could still work with minor tweaks. Some games, like Shadowrun and Interface Zero, also use different approaches.
I’ll first describe the genre and then explain ideas to make it still work, namely the use of cybernetics, computer hacking/VR, milieu, and the role of corporations.
What is Cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk is a subset of Science Fiction created by William Gibson* and Bruce Sterling*. It occurs in a dystopian future where cities are crowded and claustrophobic (like Judge Dredd*, The Fifth Element*, and Ready Player One). Acid rain is generally the atmosphere.
Heroes and villains include warriors with cybernetic body augmentation (typically…
