Defrag
A review of Rachel Beck's cyberpunk thriller
Defrag hits you with action like an automatic weapon, with the words ricocheting off the pages to immerse the reader. Oh yeah, and there may be a cat avatar invoked by a hacker to mess with shit; how cool is that? I review it thus...
The Initiates
A preview of Ryan Hyatt's new Sci-fi novel.
Ryan Hyatt is accustomed to writing about mechs, the military, and the impact of both on people's lives and the world we live in. A social critic, his writing mixes realistic characters with otherworldly situations. Let's take a look at his newest novel.
Science Fiction Meets Religion -
An Interview with Cyberpunk Author Matt Adcock
Cyberpunk author of Complete Darkness, Matt Adcock, shares his thoughts on the deification of artificial intelligence, his insights on the eternal conflict of science and religion, and the role that faith plays in a post-modern world.
Deadly Enhancements - Cyberpunk Anthology Review
I review this new cyberpunk short story anthology featuring some of the biggest traditional and indie dystopian authors in the genre, bringing street-life vibes to the comfort of your home. Thirteen stories, thirteen ways to die, and a cast of characters you won't forget.
New Yesterday - Review
The latest novel from Frasier Armitage occurs at the intersection of time travel, memory, and currency. Just how commodified can the human experience get? How much freedom do we have to pursue our own alternate realities? Let's explore further in this review...
Rise of the Liberators - Review and Interview with Ryan Hyatt
The first of a three-part series, this novel revolves around a strong political thriller with giant mechs at the core of the action. As it continues, it touches on themes of information surveillance and necropolitics. I review it thus...
Song of Kitaba - Overview
What if the government could strip your deepest secrets straight from your head, but you were prohibited from writing? Kitaba Mahahara is caught between two civilizations, one without self-expression, and one forced to reveal everything. Torn between the ancient and modern worlds, she will pave a new way for human freedom by uniting people across all walks of life, if the Enforcers don’t stop her first. Our overview here...
Inertia - Overview of an Epic New Book
As a planet spins out of control, a young geophysicist, Ash, and her father must solve the ecological crisis using the latest cybernetics, while evading an oppressive regime profiting off the destruction. Blending cyberpunk and solarpunk elements creates a unique book where technology helps solve the global flooding it created.
Latent State - Book Review
Ben Winter pulls off an excellent debut novel about a man who can stop time. There's plenty here for cyberpunk fans from the street gangs, to the obsession with virtual reality that has plagued the city -- and the elusive and addictive drug SP1N that makes the VR experiences that much more real. I review it thus...
Hactivist - Cyberpunk Graphic Novel Review
Activist and actress Alyssa Milano and company compile a post-cyberpunk story about creating a peer-to-peer global internet, not reliant on corrupt corporations and governments, and then using it to promote social activism with the latest cybertech...
Tokyo Ghost - Graphic Novel Review
This cyberpunk graphic novel by Captain America / Venom writer Rick Remender brings us to a tech-crazed world that can only be saved by restoring our connection to nature, and each other. I review the first volume...
Clear - Comic Series Review
The author of Batman takes to post-cyberpunk action in this new comic book series. In a world where everyone veils truth with augmented reality, one man tries to reveal the oppression that's been hiding in plain sight for eons...
Far Sector by N. K. Jemisin - Cyberpunk Graphic Novel Review
A drug-infested planet where emotions are commodified. A collective of artificial intelligences surviving by consuming memes. A government conspiracy to suppress all feelings. This is Far Sector, and I review it thus...
Shadowrun: Chaser - Novella Review
For over thirty years, the Shadowrun universe has thrilled us by combining noir cyberpunk with mythpunk and fantastical elements. This new novella from Russell Zimmerman continues a series of over fifty books, delighting in this combination...
Blackfish City - Review
Media broadcasts in your DNA, a flooded world, a biased technocracy, a failed housing market, and a planet in crisis mark the challenges of this post - cyberpunk / solarpunk novel. In steps the Orcamancer, a nanobonded woman with a fierce resolve who will bring the wrath of nature upon her foes in the form of a killer whale to heal society. Simply awesome. I review it thus...
Interview with Jeff VanderMeer (Annihilation Movie/Book)
Multiple tornadoes churned through Tallahassee on the night of April 23rd, but I wasn’t running; I was interviewing Jeff VanderMeer, author of Annihilation, the book and movie starring Natalie Portman, to discuss current and upcoming projects with this solarpunk author.
Forever Glitched: Cyberpunk Stories from the Hyperreal
This collection takes you to virtual worlds where goddesses weave the internet in their own image, where fractals hold blueprints for revolutionary gaming devices, and where cyberspace renders as outer space, an empty void only you can fill.
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Zer0-Day: The Sommerfeld Experiment #1 - Review
This new cyberpunk thriller series offers a ton of action as Joshua and a swarm of nanomachines party out with the baddest gangs out there. But it's hard to keep good tech out of the wrong hands -- and all hands are the wrong ones...
The Genesis Engine - Review
Jim Keen's new cyberpunk book offers a lot for cyberpunk fans who want kick-ass action within a complex world, where multiple factions are competing for control. Central to this is the idea of machine rights and space colonization. I review this next stage of Alice Yu's journey...
My Fatal Futility Shellshock - Overview
N. J. M. Hemfrey's new cyberpunk time-travel book is well written, with intense scenes that are fully developed at a comfortable pace. Both its action and its surreal depiction of the world will delight fans who want to immerse themselves into the genre, without over-relying on its tropes...
TaekwonGO - Review
TaekwonGO is a satirical, postmodern science fiction novel about a martial arts video game that everyone is playing in augmented reality. I review it thus...
Pattern Spec - Review
Jim Keen offers a cyberpunk thriller that makes a great short read in the first of his Alice Yu Novella series. It features powerful imagery and suspense and neat tech. I review it thus...
A Girl Called Ari - Review
A post-apocalyptic novel about class divide
I review this book about two women traveling the wastelands, one trying to circumvent a physical wall, and the other wondering if she should circumvent a much larger wall - the wall that divides socioeconomic classes...
Review of The Demon and an Interview with Tanweer Dar
Join me as I review the new cyberpunk-themed thriller The Demon, interviewing Tan about his book, his morally ambiguous characters, and the indie publishing industry...
Liquid Cool - A Discussion with Austin Dragon
I had the honor of having Austin Dragon and Matthew Goodwin join me for the launch of Hemispheres as special guests. Here's a brief rundown of the conversation I had with Austin about his work...
Cyberpunk City Book I - Review
“Humankind is…long overdue for an upgrade.”
- D. L. Young (stated by his character)
Cyberpunk City is a new series by D. L. Young told in five parts. I cover the first book, The Machine Killer, in this review...
Upload - Review
A review of Mark McClelland's book about uploading the mind and the implications it would have for both one man, and humanity as a whole... (Interview forthcoming).
Hemispheres - Author Athina Paris Reviews Everglade's Work
Athina Paris, a gifted author in and of herself, has reviewed my debut novel. See her thoughts on the planet and the conflict...
Auxiliary - London 2039 - Review
"…Emotions swirling like oil poured into water." -Jon Richter
Jon writes a wicked cyberpunk mystery with great suspense and a grim tone that carries the plot into a twisted and satisfying ending. It's the reason why I'll never view 3D printers the same way again, as he explores the ramifications of technology.
Sherman - Review
"Everybody’s so busy saluting the flag, they don’t notice all the people dead underneath it.” -Dr. Joseph Hurtgen (character quote)
Join me in this review of a post-modern masterpiece through the eyes of both the powerful, and the powerless, in this sci-fi meets historical fiction satire like none other...
Arc City Stories - Scarlet - Review
"Scarlet brought the bike into a nosedive. The missile followed...but maybe she could shake it." -Todd Cinani
Todd contributes an awesome story to this collection of cyberpunk tales from new and emerging authors. I review it here...
Neon Cortex - Novella Review
"A small square of the ocean was playing a loop, the waves weren't in line with the rest of the water…"
-Nik Whittaker
Nik has written a cyberpunk novella involving a missing girl, mind jacking, and tense situations surrounding problems that could only exist in a cyberpunk universe. I review the novella...
Arc City Stories - Neo(n) Bushido - Review
"Raven hair against the neon light. Cold steel warmed by fresh blood."
-Patrick Tillett
Check out this collection of cyberpunk stories including Neo(n) Bushido, one of those rare masterpieces in story short writing that combines action with emotionally-charged moments as he tackles the sensitive topic of human trafficking.
The Man With No Name - Review
"The corporation had eyes and ears...everywhere."
-Tanweer Dar
Tan has written novels and short stories in the cyberpunk and horror genres. His new release is a cyberpunk novella written from multiple characters’ viewpoints that explores artificial intelligence, family ties, and what it means to be free. See the full review...
Ego Trip - Review
"(People)…like drones working for their queen bee."
-Eric Malikyte (Ego Trip quote)
What happens when a virtual reality game has real world consequences? A sheltered man is thrown into the underground in this new cyberpunk series by an emerging author to watch.
Code Flicker - Review
"A culture expressed and consumed in small bites of disconnected information..."
-Marlin Seigman (Code Flicker quote)
This cyberpunk technothriller has turned into a new series where Jacob is drawn into the corporate underworld to make runs against his former employer as part of a larger scheme...
Europa - Review
"With enough money, (corporations) become the government in all things but name." -- Elias J. Hurst
This cyberpunk book offers the lone journey of a man trying to make it in a world that's turned on him, hunting him down with every step. See the review...
Into Neon - Review and Interview with Matthew A. Goodwin
"The rise of social media has left people feeling both more connected than ever, and more isolated..." -- Matthew A. Goodwin
Our relationship with technology is a core focus of Into Neon, and it fulfills this theme with great writing that keeps true to the genre. Matthew expands on his new series in this exclusive interview...
Hoshi and the Red City Circuit - Review
A Cyberpunk Murder Mystery
This is one of those rare books that makes a substantial literary contribution to cyberpunk literature, pushing authors' abilities to use cyberspace as a literary device to allow for the extension of third-person limited into new realms. Also an awesome story!...
Chawlgirl Rising - Review / Interview
A Sci-fi Novel as Poetic as it is Prophetic
"The best writers...are those who can break your heart
with a single line." -- T. K. Young
Chawlgirl Rising is a phenomenal debut! Check out this interview as T. K. Young discusses the book, its themes, and his influences.
They’d given their lives to death, and death sustained them...
Entropy Angels - Review / Interview
Fast-Paced Cyberpunk Thriller
"...People are starving around the world
with cellphones clutched in hand." -- Mark Harritt
Entropy Angels is pure cyberpunk, a no-nonsense thriller that'll leave you gasping for air. Mark give us insights in this interview...
Datapocalypse - First Impressions
An interesting social science fiction novel by Christopher Keast about our relationship to social media and technology, keeping within the spirit of cyberpunk's themes...
Operation Grammar - Review
This cyberpunk novella penned by David Samuel Neuer in 2017 deconstructs language in a style similar to Flatland and 1984. The evil corporation Ellipses launches project Verb, while Dr. Syntax and his cyborg Noun must protect free speech against forced silence. I review it thus...
Welcome to the Machine - Review / Interview
Exploring the Impact of Augmentation on a Young Woman
An exclusive interview with Benjamin Fisher-Merritt, who sheds light on his approach to writing cyberpunk, his background, and the Machine Girl series. What happens when an A.I. is waging a war for control inside your head? Do you befriend it?...
The Blind Spot - First Impressions
My early impressions of a neat cyberpunk book about a young girl and an area of the city where there's no surveillance...
Redemption and Revenge - Review
This is an action-packed book that people who enjoy Tomb Raider will adore, coupled with some more subtle elements involving a child in a lab that I found truly suspenseful...
Dominion - Brief Review
"But the dust cleared and there they were, hovering. It was drones! Four of them...They weren’t responding to input commands. So we tried a short bandwidth EMP. Didn’t work." --John Ford
Join me in this review of a book about A.I. and physics...
Virtual Light- Review
I review this classic cyberpunk novel by William Gibson, the first of the Bridge Trilogy, exploring its themes of postmodernism and class division. The masterful use of extended metaphor left me spellbound...
Trouble and her Friends- Review
Melissa Scott's book is one of the top three cyberpunk books I've read. Her descriptions of cyberspace are incomparable. No book in the sub-genre has inspired me more, and without it, I would have never written hardly any short stories. I review it thus...
Night Sky Mine - First Impressions
My initial thoughts on this cyberpunk / solarpunk book from 1996 set in space and in a virtual world where programs evolve and replicate, and malicious code spreads like weeds...
Noir by K.W. Jeter - Review
A fantastic literary cyberpunk novel rife with metaphor about sex, violence, capitalism, nihilism, and everything between those sheets. I review it thus...
The Future of Science Fiction - An Interview with K. W. Jeter
K.W. Jeter has written almost 40 books including BladeRunner 2: The Edge of Human. He invented steampunk, and wrote one of the first cyberpunk novels, Dr Adder, in 1972. His books formed the basis for The Mandalorian. I interviewed him about the future of science fiction, optimism, and the value of dystopian literature...
Halo - A Review and Interview with Tom Maddox
Dr. Tom Maddox is a cyberpunk author who wrote Halo and provided William Gibson with the idea of ICE, influencing Neuromancer, Netrunner, Ghost in the Shell, DeusEx, and Cyberpunk 2077. His book about a technocratic sentient A.I. is a classic. We discuss the book with him...
Social Media Usage and the Future of Sci-Fi
- A Discussion with Lewis Shiner
Cyberpunk legend Lewis Shiner worked with Sterling and others to define cyberpunk in the 80's. I discussed the future of science fiction with him, and the impacts of social media usage, while also examining his classic book, Frontera...
Vacuum Flowers - Review / Interview with Michael Swanwick
This Cyberpunk classic from 1987 holds up well to time and continues to delight. It was also one of the first books to use the term wetware. Join me in this exclusive interview where Michael Swanwick and I discuss the past and future of cyberpunk...
Interview with Bruce Bethke - Creator of Cyberpunk
Bruce came up with the word "cyberpunk" in 1980. In this exclusive interview he discusses the history of cyberpunk and whether or not cyberpunk is "dead." Commentary by myself and Dr. Joseph Hurtgen...
Metrophage by Richard Kadrey - A Cyberpunk Cult Classic
Every page in this cyberpunk classic reads like today's news headlines, from a world pandemic to the threat of World War III. I review Kadrey's atmospheric dystopian book...
The World of Null-A - Review
AI-controlled cities, corrupt enforcers, drones, robotic sentries, cybernetic limbs, organic computing brain implants. Is it the latest cyberpunk novel? No! It’s The World of Null-A, written in 1942 by the man who inspired Philip K. Dick. I review it thus…
Chronopolis by J. G. Ballard - Story Review
Ballard was a major influence on cyberpunk and this story from 1960 shows where we get some of our themes from by taking a look at the role time plays in imprisoning people's lives...