No comments about Brainware Blowout.

5 comments about The Zenith Angle.

1. ..
   Bottom line: Sterling's obligatory 9-11/dot-bomb novel/rant. Entertaining almost to the end, where it suddenly flies off the rails. Rating: overall "B-" "A-", if you skip the last chapter.
   
   ""Ignore the techno-thriller packaging ...what you're getting here is still Sterling's patented, hi-octane brand of gleeful, shrewd, speculative, cynical, closely observed, micro-detailed analysis of how the world works..." --Paul di Filippo, in his 2004 Washington Post review
   
   So anyway, I was having a great time, grooving on Sterling's wonderfully-observed technospeak, skimming over the odd bobbles (like a weird little jump-cut to Chechnya, fortunately short, which reminded me how much I loathe Leggy Starlitz). Then I got to the ending, where Sterling goes completely off the rails, out into la-la land. This is chapter 13, the last, and you should *seriously* consider stopping after chapter 12.
   
   I have no idea why Sterling went so far wrong at the finish. As Di Filippo wryly notes, the ending is "a set-piece that is not extensively foreshadowed." Yup. Reads like a really bad Tom Clancy wrapup. The ending, well, *sucks*, bigtime. IMO, anyway.
   
   But whatthehell-- it's short, you can read it in one sitting, forewarned is forearmed, it isn't Leggy Starlitz.... go for it. Just don't expect HOLY FIRE or "Taklamakan" or "We See Things Differently." And don't read this as your first Sterling novel!
   
   Happy reading--
   Peter D. Tillman
   (review first posted at rec.arts.sf.written 12-12-04)



2. A peculiar book. Sterling's descriptions of technological gadgets and governmental processes are convincing, but Zenith Angle seems to be missing some things. An obvious or compelling plot, for one - you can read 3/4 of the way through the book without figuring out what exactly is the point of the book. The characterizations are weird - a mixture of colorful, dull, and just plain odd. For a hundred or so pages it seems like it might be a good read, and then after a couple hundred pages more you realize you have just about run out of pages, and it hasn't become a good read yet.
   
   Each page is well written, but taken as a whole, the book's pages add up to surprisingly little.



3. This is way down on the boring end of Sterlings' writing. Three-fourths of the way through and pretty much nothing has happened. I mean literally no narrative events have occurred, and the characters have advanced no conflict. Amazing considering the story takes place around 9/11 and is supposed to be about some kwel l33t hackers' responses to it.
   
   Sterling vaguely attempts to include real human emotions but they are wedged in pretty clumsily. The main character is separated from his wife and child for much of the book--there are occasional reminders of how desperately he misses them! And how he's trying to save the world for their sake! Sadly, it's impossible to care about the human emotions of these cardboard cutouts Sterling arranges around metal government desks to discuss federal funding disputes.
   
   Really, this is sort of bureaucracy-fiction, not science-fiction (or "design fiction" as Sterling now calls it.) I half expected the story to turn on the filing of some form in triplicate, though it never really even got that interesting. The brief good parts actually read like Sterling's non-fiction essays, and characterize the over-funded paranoiac surveillance State in some chilling ways. So, a star for that.



4. This might be the worst book I've ever read. A refund isn't enough, I want those wasted hours back.
   
   I know Bruce Sterling can write - I've read his articles in Wired and elsewhere. Despite the byline, I don't know who wrote this book. Was it Drunk Bruce Sterling, Bruce Sterling's Roomfull of Monkeys? A Spambot that calls itself Bruce?



5. Being a programmer and a geek, I really enjoyed reading this book. Yes, some of it is implausable, and there a few rants in there, but I didn't like the book less because of that. I liked the characters - Van, his wife Dottie, Michael Hickock, etc. There's also some dry humor in there. It's not a super action-packed story for the most part, but I liked reading about what Van and Dottie worked on. I also liked the ending.
   
   I have read some of Bruce's other books (and enjoyed them too), and this book is a little different than them. And not everyone will like every book that an author writes. I for one am glad Bruce wrote "The Zenith Angle", and am searching for more books like it.

5 comments about Battle Angel Alita, Volume 2: Tears Of An Angel (Battle Angel Alita (Graphic Novels)).

1. If "Battle Angel Alita" merely introduced us to the amazing cyber world of Yukito Kishiro, then "Battle Angel Alita: Tears of an Angel" builds upon that world and, more than likely, sets in motion the plot.

   After her victory over the all-powerful "King of the Maggots" in the first manga volume, Alita now faces her toughest challenge yet: love. Yes, love. While that phrase usually sounds cliched, it applies perfectly in this second manga volume. Alita has it tough to begin with, but when things start to spiral down even further, she must make a choice that could end up destroying her.

   Like before, the artwork is beautiful and very detailed. And, like before, "Tears of an Angel" is riddled with violence and blood and gore that sticks it in the section of mature readers who have very strong stomahchs. The story is a superb, miniature masterpiece, and it undoubtedly adds to the internal conflict of Alita trying to find her identity.

   This second volume is also featured in the "Gunnm" two episode OVA anime series ("Gunnm" is the original name of the "Battle Angel Alita" series.) Like before, I advise you to read the manga before watching the series, as comparisons will most likely decrease the enjoyment of the manga. But with that said, enjoy "Tears of an Angel". Along with the first volume, the second volume is a superb triumph.




2. the love story in this book is beautiful, it's wonderful, and i luv it because of this. it's sad, rythmatic, and stays this way through the entire book. it DOES end a little suddenly, tho, but don't they all?



3. As is true of almost any tale of cyborgs the question of the difference between mechanical consciousness and mechanized humanity is one of the driving forces behind the Battle Angel Alita series. At what point does a combination or brain, spinal column and hardware gain or lose its human nature. In this second stanza in the series, Alita, who was brought back to life in the first volume, re-finds her capacity for love when she meets Hugo, a human boy. Hugo's goal is to make his way from the traps of the Scrapheap to the upper city of Tiphares.

   Hugo and Alita seem made for each other, despite the gulf of artificiality that separates them. But Hugo, despite being a complete human is willing to steal the spines out of their original possessors if it brings him closer to the day he can go to Tiphares. This gruesome sideline, and the ghouls he works for gradually eat away at his own humanity until it is clear that he and Alita are really going in opposite directions. Alita will discover her spirit as Hugo gradually loses his soul.

   In the meantime, we get a close introduction to the grim nature of life below the city in the sky. Hunter Killers take heads for bounty, people feed on scraps while anything good is sent to Tiphares, and black market ops farm the neighbors for profit. For such as Hugo and Alita there is really no escape, only a dark struggle that can only lead to insanity and death if the dreamer refuses to waken.

   Balancing what is almost a post-apocalyptic vision, is Yukito Kishiro's wonderful artwork. He has the same eye for detail that made 'Ghost in the Shell' such a compelling spectacle. The cover art made me wish, for the second time that this series had made it as a feature film or OAV series. If you have been feeling drawn deeper into the world of manga, Alita is a great introduction to Japanese science fiction.




4. In this second poignant volume of Battle Angel Alita, Alita falls in love with a young street urchin named Hugo. Hugo's dream is to make enough money to move to Tiphares, the mid-air city where all your dreams can come true. Unknown to Alita, Hugo is making his money by assaulting and stealing body parts from cyborgs, a crime punishable by death. A character from the first volume, Zapan, who was humiliated by Alita, finds out about Alita's feelings for Hugo and begins to conspire a plot that will destroy Alita's heart. Will Alita's next bounty be Hugo?
   
   This manga was fantastic. While I compared Battle Angel Alita to Ghost in the Shell in my review of the first volume, there really isn't a comparison. Alita operates in a more savage world, where laws don't function unless bounty hunters enforce them. It is a place where your fellow man will let you die on the street without lifting a finger. It's such a horrible world that Alita's love stands out in even starker contrast to the evil that surrounds her. Yes, there are scenes of "ultra-violence" but what makes that different from our world? The thing I like about Alita is that there are horrible scenes of graphic violence but there are also scenes of philosophic thought and tenderness. Just like real life. Horrible beauty.



5. Tears Of An Angel shows another side of Alita that you don't get to see in the first graphic novel. The cyborg "Battle Angel" is in love. However, the person she's in love with lives a dangerous life. The ending may or may not suprise you. It's basically a sad love story. Tears Of An Angel is a great and I hope you enjoy it.

5 comments about Noir.

1. This book, carrying on in the tradition of Philip K Dick, raises philosophical questions about corporate greed, human perversion, what is real, and what it really means to be human. Jeter imagines a future where "sanctioned terrorism" has become the norm as DynaZauber corporation relentlessly pursues copyright violators and debtors beyond life into an artificially sustained after-death existence. DynaZauber's secret agenda is to create the perfect addiction (infinite consumer demand, zero product cost) and get everyone hooked. ("They tried it before, with the whole push to get people on the telecommunications wire, to have them value bits of information as much or more than the atoms of the real world, have them pay to be mesmerized by the pretty colored lights on their computer screens.") Dyna = power, zauber = charm (magic spell).

   This book deserves to be read closely as a scathing indictment of cyber-culture and a soul-searing look at the terrifying post-human aspirations of the technocrats. Anyone who criticizes Jeter for using Philip K Dick's FAMOUS quote about reality being that which "doesn't go away when you stop believing in it" without attribution is missing the point. This book is deeply and fiercely ironic, and there is more here than meets the eye.




2. Jeter admitted that he's got problems with copyright thieves. What writer doesn't? Is this book wish fulfillment or what?
   
   In "Noir" his detective McNihil (who's been surgically altered to only see the world in black and white) is tasked with chasing down copyright thieves and administering punishment.
   
   The story's dark, and the punishments are novel---for example, a man who infringed upon an English tea cosy mystery author's domain was killed, ground up, and canned so the author could feed him to her cats.
   
   "Noir" isn't a fast or fun read, but the book does raise questions about our cyber-corporate environment and creator's rights--and wrongs---that are interesting.



3. Noir is an excellent novel, particularly to those more interested in reading the book than looking for mistakes. Jeter presents a cyberpunkish world in which capitalism has achieved its ultimate triumph: there are only consumers and the corporations who rule them. With every server raid and court case against copyright infringers today, the aspheads of Noir begin to look less fantastic and more inevitable.



4. I read this book several years ago and am suprised by how many of the ideas in it haunt me. The plot is "okay." I don't really want to talk about that. The plethora of interesting cyberpunk ideas in this novel, though, have some really cool parallels in the modern world. As a teacher, I often make reference to ideas in this novel as over-blown illustrations of modern phenomenon. Intellectual property rights? Hitmen for copyright holders. Tattoing is back? Yes and what if they were communicable, like STD's?! Virtual realities? Imagine a guy with processors in his contacts that interprets the world as a noir film, so much so that he can no longer easily access reality! Personal debt on the rise? Yep. What if when you were dead you were reanimated to work off your debt?
   
   I have a hard time recommending this book as a good read. I have a hard time not recommending this book as a collection of really juicy bits of "stuff."



5. "You see, that's the way it is, when you're talking about noir. It's a literature of anxiety. Somebody's always getting screwed over."
   
   --Alex Turbiner to McNihil
   
   K. W. Jeter is fond of dystopian environments. This affection is evident in several of his "pre-horror" books such as DR. ADDER, THE GLASS HAMMER, DEATH ARMS AND FAREWELL HORIZONTAL, and in his Blade Runner books, THE EDGE OF HUMAN and REPLICANT NIGHT. It's really not surprising then that NOIR, is set in a similar milieu. Jeter posits a future Los Angeles where life is cheap and the definition of what is human is constantly changing. Huge corporations manipulate the masses from behind the scenes, and even death doesn't necessarily solve your problems.
   
   Given the apparent potential of the setting, it's surprising how little Jeter does with this expansive backdrop. NOIR's hero (or, more accurately, anti-hero) is an ex-law enforcement type named McNihil. A reluctant inhabitant of a world he despises, McNihil has had his optic nerves altered so that he sees through a "noir" filter. McNihil views the world in black and white; men are gangsters, women molls and femme fatales. McNihil is your classic hard-boiled detective (think Mike Hammer, or even Marv from Frank Miller's SIN CITY comic book), but with a twist. Instead of being an ex cop, McNihil used to hold a job that should warm every writer's heart-he's a former "asp-head" (think ASCAP), slang for members of the Collection Agency, a government division charged with enforcing copyright law. These Judge Dred types act as judge, jury and executioner-copyright violators are summarily killed, but not before their very essence is removed from their bodies. This essence, referred to as a "trophy," can, among other things, be used to power home appliances such as toasters and stereos, whatever the victim of the copyright infringement deems appropriate.
   
   McNihil becomes involved in a perplexing murder investigation involving Travelt, an executive who dies at the hands of his "prowler", an artificial construct built in the likeness of his owner, designed to accumulate experiences (usually of life's darker pleasures) to transmit to their owners. Travelt's prowler is privy to a secret that threatens DynaZauber, the shady corporation that employs McNihil. McNihil, suspecting he's being set up to take the fall for the corporation, is unable to extract himself from a seemingly hopeless situation, and is forced to rely on instincts honed during his former career.
   
   NOIR is a competent, often intriguing exercise, but one expects more than competency from a writer as talented as Jeter. The book is entertaining, a strange hybrid between tie-in and original novel, but you can't help but think you've seen this before. Readers waiting to see what kind of rabbits Jeter pulls out of his hat will ultimately be disappointed. There are some nice flourishes within the work--the set piece featuring recurring Jeter character Alex Turbiner in the middle of the book is one excellent example--but they're not enough to save it. Sometimes, it seems as if Jeter himself has lost interest. One clue is how he handles exposition--instead of revealing background through events in the story, Jeter imparts this information through several pages of bullet points, calling to mind every boring business presentation you've ever been forced to sit through.

5 comments about Ex Machina: Tri-Stat Cyberpunk Genre.

1. Having been an avid roleplayer for over 18 years, games have come and gone, some good, some bad, but most are about the same. This book, and the system that governs it is simply different. The boys and girls over at Guardians of Order (the publisher), really must know what they are doing, because when I started to read the Ex Machina book and the Tri-stat dx system core book, it was like a breath of fresh air was put back in my gaming enthusiasm. Honestly speaking, my desire to game anymore has been diminishing for about 5 years now do to the same old storylines and boring systems that I have been using form the beginning, but the Tri-stat system is so unbelievably flexible and simple, and that it takes away all the limits that are imposed upon other cookie-cutter systems. Not to mention, that once coupled with the inventive and wonderfully written ideas and settings that are contained in this particular tome, you have a combo that really is exciting.
   
   The Ex Machina book is loaded with information and comes with four, yes thats four, different settings to run your cyberpunk dreams. Keep in mind that these are just examples and you can easily create one of your own, if properly motivated. Excellent writting, unique points of view, and vivid descriptions make this book a home run for anyone looking for a change to a better way of doing things. Buy this book and support a company that obviously is more interested in thier work than the bottom line, as they give the core rules for free on thier website!



2. If you break the book up into two sections with the first being the rules and the second being story, I give it a 1 for the first and a 4 for the second. The rules system is heavily weighted towards stats with no balance in numbers, A super master in one skill can be beaten by a novice as long as the novice has higher stats. In addition, just about everything costs character points. Want a car? It'll cost you. Also, as a cyberpunk game, it should be saying something about programming and using the net beyond what it does. It says nothing past a few pages of hacking and virtual usage. Finally, to quote the game itself, "cyberpunk is about brand names". You expect "Zeise" eyes and "Kono" monoblades. You get none of this. No brand names, no special equipment, it's all up to you to build it. Very poor in my opinion.
   The second part is almost all story in 4 different 'worlds' and while it is an interesting read, it falls down due to the first part being incomplete.
   I'm not sorry I bought it, but I would rather not have paid as much as I did.



3. This whole system (Tri-Stat dX) is a great open rules system, what the other reviews may say about rating it a 1 don't do it justice, it is a critically acclaimed system used for Silver Age Sentinel's and BESM (Big Eyes Small Mouth) Game systems, it is worth looking into just for that, what makes this book a definate buy, is the settings, which are inventive, and breath new life into the cyberpunk genre, not all of them are for the faint of heart, and are very gritty, most being negative-utopia's. I recomend this to anyone who is into the cyperpunk genre.
   5 out of 5



4. Ex Machina Review:
   Ever look at Cyberpunk games and think, ?Oh ma Gosh! Like, gag me with a spoon, like, this is so like yesterday.? Let's face it, the genre is so Big Hair, Culture Club, Japan Inc, Duran Duran, Ramones, and leg warmer'd out it's just sad. I look at Cyberpunk and I think; ?why is there an image of Richard Simmons sweating to the Replicants in my mind??
   
   So why am I looking at a new Cyberpunk game, when I have this bias that the genre is, in essence, a deader horse than the Japanese economy? Largely because this game seems to agree ? this is the cyberpunk genre, and you will recognize it fairly quickly upon opening the book, but it is the genre as we see it in today's science fiction, and not trapped in the 80s like older competing games and some of the other new rivals. Nor is it, thankfully, like another current competitor has been described to me; so obscure that you just can't wrap your head around what's going on and how to play it.
   
   The book is split into sections for the genre history, the game rules, running and playing the genre, and finally ? four complete and separate settings with entirely different themes. Most of the past Cyberpunk RPGs gave you a single predetermined setting around which the entire game revolved, so this itself is something of a notable step in a new direction.
   
   There may be sixteen chapters to Ex Machina, but I'm going to cover it by the major sections.
   
   The Genre Section:
   In the genre section we get a ten page introduction into the history and themes of the Cyberpunk genre, starting in its pre-roots of the seventies, moving into the labeling of the genre around the time of Gibson's Neuromancer, and eventually wrapping up with the modern 'post-Cyberpunk' genre.
   
   There is some coverage of how the genre has been forced to change with times ? after all much of what 80s Cyberpunk considered radical is part of the mundane reality of today's world ? Wireless, Hand held Computers, Sprawl, the Net, Genetically modified foods, Globalized Mega Corporations, lessoning of nations and nationality ? or are experimental but real such as Cloning, optical computers, synthetic but real diamonds, single molecule machines, and Neural interfaces. Modern Cyberpunk still looks to the dark side of tomorrow, but the tomorrow of today is not the tomorrow of yesterday.
   
   From there we get a bit on the dX game engine Guardians of Order uses as one of its two house systems, the usual 'what is roleplaying' commentary, and a brief intro on each of the four settings. These intros wet your taste for what is to come, although the IOSHI entry is so vague as to leave at least me completely confused yet throughly intrigued ? seeming to talk about skill chips and split patents rather than the society thus resulting.
   
   Tri-Stat rules for the Cyberpunk genre:
   Tri-Stat has managed to solidly establish itself as -the- dominant cinematic rules light RPG. All past Cyberpunk games have been neither of these two factors, which brings us to a natural point of suspicion about this new RPG - are we looking at a bag of apples trying to be oranges?
   
   I'm going to try and show that while it may be the ideal game of apples, it has managed to conquer the realm of oranges as well - that this has ended up as the the best take on a Cyberpunk rules set I've seen to date despite some problems I did end up having with it. As for my ability to compare, I had R. Tal's Cyberpunk 2013 within days of its release, I had a similar jump on for Cyber Hero, Shadowrun, GURPS Cyberpunk, and even ICE's Cyberspace. I went through the 80s, and for Science fictions fans, the Cyberpunk genre was our pet rock and I admit I was there with everyone else.
   • Tri-stat has a very simple core - you have three stats, Body, Mind, and Spirit. In any task you roll two dice and hope to get under a number determined by your value in those stats plus whatever skill is relevant. Further rules allow for opposed rolls, degrees of success, and so on. Injury is a hit point system, and damage is always going to be ACV plus 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent of some number - barring critical hits, where ACV is more or less your 'base to-hit' number.
   • Characters are built on points without classes or levels, and a defects system exists to give you more points by defining weak points in the character.
     
     The skills list is large, and has specializations to give it further focus - if you know law, you could then specialize into a field of law. Guns, a type of gun. Etc.
     
     Characters get their real game mechanical depth from a system of 'attributes' which functions as a combination of perks, powers, special gear, and other unusual abilities. On first glance many of these will seem out of place in the Cyberpunk genre. Attributes such as Mind Control, Healing, and Creation (creates objects) for example, on the surface take leaps of logic to fit in. However note that what you are looking at here is a 'game effects' system ? where you take attributes and assign to them a special effect. Mind Control might have limits to be a drug induced effect, while Healing and Creation might represent nanites. Caution should be used by a GM with the attributes section. Tri-stat does not 'game balance' its meta system all that thoroughly and you can easily build game breaking concepts ? such as a Special Attack with both Accuracy and Autofire combined with Combat Technique: Accuracy. Taking both types of accuracy thus enables a character to Trick Shot an Autofire attack and possibly do hundreds of points of damage every round reliably if the attack's base damage is high enough (such as being to deliver 10 hits every round of a 20 point attack ? the second lowest setting). This may be seen as a system buster by some ? a reason to avoid tri-stat ? however this lack of strong built in balance also allows you to simulate many more unusual concepts. Provided you have a GM who pays attention and players willing to compromise, the balance issues can be easily governed and you will be able to reap the benefits of so open a game engine.
     
     The attributes section also contains a list of tri-stat dX attributes not found in Ex Machina ? many of these, such as Teleport and Pocket Dimension are obvious, but others such as Computer Scanning and Owns Big Mecha seem as if they really should have been in the list. Computer Scanning I could understand from looking it up in Silver Age Sentinels ? it is something of a short cut to getting data out of machines that runs right past the difficulty of breaking into a secure system. Owns Big Mecha however, seems to me the ideal way of representing vehicles, and without explanation for its cut I was left a bit confused.
     
     An explanation for that does come somewhat in the templates section. Templates are prebuilt packages to shorten the work of character creation, and one of them -The Teleoperator- suggests using Item Of Power to represent vehicles. The templates are used to give us professions, non humans (such as androids, bioroids, AIs, and so on), and cyberware. I'll cover cyberware under gear, as for the other templates each is built as a list of things you apply to the character, a total point cost, and notes on customization. The list includes all of the 'basic assumptions' of the genre as classic Cyberpunk understands it, with more templates in the four settings for less common ideas.
     
     Finally in character generation we have the earlier mentioned defects. GURPS and Hero players will know these as disadvantages. In tri-stat they -usually- each come on a scale of one to three and are bought either for specific attributes or the character in general. Some of them are specific as in GURPS, such as Phobia, and others are more general like in Hero, such as Restriction. The chapter begins with a discussion on their role in the game, and guidelines for the limits of how many of them you can get (normally from 3 to 5). Taking them will normally give your character 1 to 3 more points each, and given that the norm of Ex Machina is a 75-100 point character, they will not be a major part of your point total ? viable characters can thus be made without them, much like in Mutants and Masterminds rather than what you see in GURPS or Hero.
   • Combat ? or, is this Video Game Cyberpunk?
     I've heard it said that tri-stat doesn't offer enough tactical options to make for exciting game play in combat. On the list of facts that agree with this the game has only three stats which all play equal importance in combat accuracy and damage, only four stages for damage (25, 50, 75, or 100% of maximum), and movement does not require a play mat ? in fact with fast enough characters it can become awkward. Countering the claim however is a list of maneuvers and modifiers about as long as that seen in d20. It is a hit point system, but there are optional rules for tracking impairment from injury. Armor stops damage, and there are no hit locations though called shots can be used to target specifics. On the downside the team attack from Silver Age Sentinels is not in this game, but it really doesn't fit the genre anyway. The system is cinematic and not exactly all that gritty. It's lethality will vary depending on gear and attributes chosen. It is probably not as lethal as R. Tal's Cyberpunk 2013/2020, but more lethal than Shadowrun 1.0 (but not 3.0).
     
     Consider the average character will have around 80 health points [(Body + Soul) x 5], and that the average gun does 13-14 damage per hit [ACV 8 + 62.5% of 8 or 10]. It will take about 7 hits to kill.
     The 62.5 I got from assuming that most hits will do 50% or 75% of max, only every now and then will you get 25% or 100%, and very rarely a crtical (200% once every 64 attacks).
     
     On the other hand, a character with martial arts is likely to do the same damage (massive damage level 1), and if they have a cyberarm, 5 more than that per average hit. A ranged character could in theory also get massive damage to reflect a marksman, and without such melee is more than likely going to be the most lethal option present.
     
     To the rescue on this built in lack of danger to combat comes the shock system ? whereby if you take more than a certain amount of damage in a single hit you go into shock for a while and become a sitting duck. Coupled with this is a system whereby the same amount of damage will cause you to start bleeding out and eventually die if you do not get medical attention. On downside of that is once you start bleeding you will ALWAYS need surgery or eventually die.
     
     Even with the variety of maneuvers, the shock system, and the options for injury there are still very few variables to track, so it does play fast, and you will rarely get bogged down in book lookup during combat.
     
     Now consider the classic test from Shadowrun 1.0 ? can Mary Joe NPC kill herself? If a typical human takes a light gun, puts it to her head and shoots, what will happen in Ex Machina? In the real world this is usually instant death. In Ex Machina Mary is likely to have a Health of 40 and do 12 damage ? assuming she can hit with a total attack aimed called shot (a roll of -4 or less on 2d8 - so she can only shoot her head if she rolls a 2 unless the GM gives her a difficulty modifier or assumes no roll needed). Even with a critical hit she will still be alive. She will however, critical or not, exceed her shock value and thus begin to bleed out - hitting zero in 28 rounds (~ 2minutes 20 seconds). In addition if you use the optional injury rules she will have trouble not going into 'shock' and thus being unable to act for a few rounds while bleeding out. Otherwise if she makes a shock roll she will still be free to take actions during this time ? such as drive to a hospital and get patched up. The saving grace on this comes if she has, as suggested on page 84 for henchmen, the "Not so Tough" defect. If she had it at 3 BP, even a non critical could kill her in one shot given the rules for Catastrophic damage. So Mary Joe can commit suicide, but only if she is a henchman will she go down fast.
     
     The choice to use or not use the injury rules will play a large role in how deadly the system plays out. If you want gritty and brutal use them. People won't die instantly, but they will wear down very fast. You could also consider lowering the points given to PCs, or assuming the Massive Damage attribute is common to anyone who makes heavy use of guns. The system at its default is fairly cinematic and non lethal to PCs and major NPCs, but turn on the right options and you can make it deadly.
   • Gear
     The technology chapter starts with looking at the hard science versus dramatic and technology advancement level of your setting and using this to consider what is likely to be easy or hard to find, if at all. Next we get information on setting up background technologies ? power sources, the state of biomedicine, and nanotechnology. Then come the goods. Ex Machina traces gear not with cash, but in an abstraction through the Gadgets attribute. Each rank in Gadgets lets you have a number of gadgets ? minor and major. Minor gadgets are things somewhat hard or expensive to get, and major gadgets are things usually illegal, restricted, or otherwise very difficult to acquire. Normal everyday stuff is Mundane, and your character can have as much of that as you can explain away. In Ex Machina, you do not have to track how many pairs of underwear you bought, or even your cellphone / PDA, but you do have to track your gun, your wheels, and your grenade launcher. This is another aspect of the cinematic nature of the tri-stat system and honestly ? it is a welcome relief. Most newer modern and future age games are moving on to abstract wealth systems, but players of older Cyberpunk games are all too used to tracking their Japan Inc. dollars for every little toothbrush (more than likely you didn't actually go that far down, but officially you were supposed to)... The gear present in the book is fairly standard stuff for the genre today. If you haven't updated your understanding of Cyberpunk since the 80s, some of it will seem advanced ? such as having cellphones so cheap your character can strap a few thousand onto himself as a fashion statement, or having a Net that allows for wireless access. Yeah, its about time the future caught up with 1995. You get a good solid list of toys for your characters here, but you will need several ranks in gadgets to get more than a small selection. A lot of things which are Mundane are simply not listed, so a downside is that you don't have a style and fashion list like many other Cyberpunk RPGs did. The vehicles section, after giving us a list to buy in the normal manner presents an optional system for buying them as 'items of power,' and notes this can be used to for powered armor suits as well ? and then gives a few examples of such. That one is is probably most likely to see use among the anime crowd, but it is nice to see the idea handled.
     
     I'll step back for a second and look at Cyberware ? unlike other gear cyberware is acquired as if it were a template of attributes. You pay points for each bit of cyberware that has an actual game effect. Biotech works much the same. By contrast Wetware ? skills and personas on chips or copied into implanted hard drives are handled using the Gadgets method of other gear. Nothing in the system makes the acquisition of Cybernetics dehumanizing (about time too), nor does anything prevent the adaptation of subtle or minor cyberware. Tri-stat's attributes are something of a meta-system for building powers, and you can thus put in just about anything. The text of the chapter also covers designing new Cyberware, customizing what you have for 'off-brand' goods, the medical process of installing cyberware and biotech, fire sharing your wetware, recording your memories and uploading your mind.
   • Networking ? or, the bane of Cyberpunk gaming
     Nearly every system for handling networks in past proved to be a failure for players. Usually on the end of leaving the group sitting around while the GM handles some video game like abstraction for the one or two members who operate in a cyberspace written by people who've never been online.
     
     Ex Machina does present such a system for those who want it, but it also presents a second system rooted more in researching passwords, doing online research, stealing personal data chips, and doing actual 'hacking.' This can be done at the keys or neurally, and either way it works through skill checks to find and manipulate data while avoiding detection and security. There's no iconic interface, no game of Pac-Man.
     
     The second system is that iconic system created by early Cyberpunk authors who had no computer knowledge, and yet now popular with the public imagination of gamers ? even as the rest of the world gets online and finally realizes how silly it was. It works as a massive 3D world laid over the real world where you wander around with your avatar battling other avatars and will seem familiar to fans of the 80s RPGs. Game effects wise it reminds me of the method used in Cyber Hero ? you use a dimension hopping power placed into a device and an assume an alternate form with a new set of abilities once there. The system in Cyber Hero was amazingly unpopular with Hero fans of the day, but this system looks to be handled a little better. It still suffers the classic problem of sidelining the other players ? unless you run the VR side by side with the real time (as in how it works in the IOSHI setting). Me, I intend to use the first system, the one based on advancing actual real understandings of computer technology into a neural interface.
   
   GMing the Genre:
   Chapter 12 of the book discusses GMing Ex Machina, and begins with the usual stuff about being interesting, making campaigns and adventures, handing out experience, and thinking of themes. There's a very activist stance taken here ? the book not only suggests you cheat and make house rules, it declares that doing so is the only way to be a good GM; ?If you want your players to think you are the best Game Master in the world, you only have one option: cheat, and cheat often. ... there are no rules about 'being fair'? (p. 145). Most of us know better than to say something like that ? the world is full of a variety of different styles and some of them fudge the rules, some don't. Whether or not they do is not the best way to judge their success. Beyond that, the other advice is good. If you find yourself liking Ex Machina or any other RPG from Guardians of Order and this statement on rules is a little heavy handed for you this company is probably going to end up being a frustrating experience. Whenever rules are incomplete or fail in some test the usual response is to suggest ignoring them without explaining their normal application or even how best to judge when to do this. Unfortunately the same response tends to follow when the rules -are- working, but you don't understand them... It's a good rules set, and a design group with good ideas, but they have a frustrating way of presenting themselves. If you're a Dramatist GM this is perfect for you ? it works great if the goal is an engaging story -above- all else. If you're a Gamist it might work for you if you have a good sense of when to change rules for gaming action / challenges, but can blow up on you if you misjudge it or are inconsistent. The Simulationist GM however, is likely to find this stance very difficult ? the perspective would seem to be that modeling a system to accurately simulate the needs of the genre is the wrong approach, that Simulationist gamers are in error in their style choice.
   
   One actual issue I do see with the game is in the advancement system. It is slow, possibly painfully so. Roughly speaking you will get about 1.1 character points every 4 sessions. It will take about a year of weekly play to go up by 1/7 of your character's original points, with that total you will be able to perhaps buy about 3 ranks of attributes assuming the average costing attribute. From a GMs point of view ? you should thus make sure starting characters have enough points to completely capture the character concepts from day one, and assume points from experience only work to address how that concept changes, albeit slowly. That, or up the amount of experience you give out ? a common solution chosen by GMs of other tri-stat games if the online forums for them are indicative of any real world trends. Most people online give an advancement point or two per session and not every few sessions. I think I've seen as high as five in Silver Age Sentinels threads. As play of Ex Machina spreads the online community will probably come up with a norm for this issue, and I look forward to seeing the readers of this review in those discussions when they do come about (in other words, I'm telling you to get involved).
   
   The next 5 pages of this 12 page plus 2 page art spread chapter cover GMing the Cyberpunk genre in particular as opposed to GMing in general. How to handle a genre has always been a strong point of tri-stat games ? with long and detailed essays on the topic ? and this book is no exception. We begin with an essay on what it means to be marginalized, to face prejudice, to refuse the system or try to reform it, and how protagonists become empowered. A very common complaint about Cyberpunk gaming is that it captures the Cyber and the Punk, but misses everything the two words combined stand for. This essay is where Ex Machina seeks to help you run a Cyberpunk game and not a Cybered Punks game. After this we get essays on overcoming human limits, getting style down, and examining core elements of the genre. You get to look at grunge, the value of an information culture, branding, corporate power, the lack of clear evil, shifting cultures, lost data (I read a New York Times article on this just the other day in fact ? a prediction that the information age will actually lose mass amounts of data from conflicting storage standards and decaying media ? but the note in Ex Machina is more about the ease of digital secrets getting around when you do something as foolish as drop your keychain drive by accident ? as any resident of the Silicon Valley can attest, the plot that begins with ?you find a memory chip sitting left on the table in the cafe by the last guy...? is not all that absurd, in fact that chip is sitting on my desk right now), and the general ubiquitous nature of tech. A sidebar covers organized crime and the section ends in a short inspiration list.
   
   Finally we get 3 pages on new ways to handle your gaming fix. Here the book covers setting up a website, using email, running a game in email or chat, lan-party gaming (have the players bring their laptops), convention gaming, keeping things simple, sharing Gming, and even going freeform. This is all handled with a series of short essays that more wet your tastes than give you the full tools to do what they suggest. It is still a very handy section though ? and the information it imparts should lead you in the right direction for whatever fix you choose.
   
   The Four Settings:
   The book jumps right in, with the next four chapters each giving us one setting. Now don't think you're being shortchanged a complete setting here ? this stuff starts on page 158 and the book goes out to page 343 before it finishes with the settings. At two columns and a small typeface you're getting more out of each of these than most Cyberpunk games gave in their core rules for their one single setting. Each of these settings comes from a different author and thus has a different writing style ? from not only each other but the main book as well. This can at times be a good thing or a bad thing depending on which writer you find clearest or most organized to your way of thinking.
   • Heaven Over Mountain
     The premise here is a giant biotech beanstalk going from ground to orbit, with cities all along the way. The Tower of Babel made real in Columbia. We start with a history of the project which at times reads like a Libertarian manifesto ? but this is fiction, and in fiction we make an assumption and go with it ? such as the idea that corporate openness would end oppression and corruption. Aside from that little cheap shot from the political scientist in me the premise is really novel and I found myself really liking this setting. It isn't very dystopian however, unless you consider the presence of Chinese, still under what looks like the same government, to itself be a nightmare. After the history we get a layout of the elevator, from the basic manner in which it works to a guide to the cities along it ? each with its own distinct theme, and then a little bit about space beyond and the problems society has faced in making use of it. From there we get notes on major players in the setting and how they work together or against each other's interests, a little bit on the nature of living in an artificial world, and some current events you can use. After that we get a look at campaign themes from the point of view of being visitors, residents, specialists on hire, or drifters (people living on the outside of elevator). Finally we have some game elements specific to this setting ? a chart on the status of different technologies, some elements of biotech, a few near space vehicles, and optional rules for culture shock and stress
     
     Heaven Over Mountain is likely to be more of a social game of intrigue and culture themes than an action game. You can stage action along the elevator, particularly with specialists and drifters, but it is not the focus of the setting. This one is the setting for exploring the idea of alienation in a future perhaps outpacing the people occupying it. It lacks much of the dystopian character of Cyberpunk, there's no great failing in the society, mankind has not been forced to give up its soul to a dark future, in fact it looks as if the elevator is going to eventually lead to a capitalist's paradise. That said, shake it up a bit and you can find a campaign in there. After all, not telling us the horrible truth and injustice behind it all doesn't mean it isn't there ? just that you won't have players coming in and meta gaming a foreknowledge of it.
     
   • Underground
     Underworld is entirely the 'dys' side of dystopia ? this isn't paradise lost, its hell found. The idea is that a US acting on a fear of terrorism has taken over every 'rogue state' it could find and orbitally blasted anyone complicit in aiding those states (read as: anyone who asked questions). Then in the guise of democratization they moved in American megacorps for reconstruction and put the locals under their thumbs. Special economic zones were created to promote capitalism (Wait, weren't we talking about democracy? What does capitalism have to do with that? - or so the European might ask... before the US bombed his cities out of existence for raising the question). Left to their own devices, the corps have turned these special walled off cities into 'workers paradises' (read: life is cheap, and you're cheaper). In many ways what this gives you on the inside is something like what 80s Cyberpunk gaming often delivered ? roving street gangs, remote corps, nameless scenery people, and PCs as bottom feeders in a game of survival.
     
     The Underworld is essentially a corporate run prison labor camp, and if you think that idea is absurd you have not been paying attention to how the prison system already works in the USA and how we already structure some of our overseas worker camps (particularly in Latin America at present). Underworld simply takes that and couples it to our current idea of security over freedom and extends the two out to their logical end point.
     
     The whole world is not this way, in fact outside of these 'secure economic zones' the world might be a paradise of luxury for any ally of the US (or not), and soon to be occupied and converted over or bombed out of existence for anyone else.
     
     The setting presents this basic picture, then moves on to a number of people living within it at different levels ? showing us first the type and then a sample or two. We get worker drones, drifters, corps, security, media, organized crime, gangs and so on.
     
     The biggest complaint I have over this setting deals with timeline issues. The Underworlds have been in place for decades, six to be exact, one note even mentions great grandparents of current adults having been born in them ? but the power corps used to make them was put into law by the current president. He head of security in Underworld 9 (the location we focus on, built over a city in occupied / liberated Thailand) has held his position for four years, during which time he put down a major revolt that happened seven years ago... There's a lot of this sort of thing in Underworld, and it jars at times even if none of it is actually major or relevant to the likely PCs.
     
     Outside of the that the setting is novel in its utter desperation and hopelessness. There is no way out of Underworld ? not even in a body bag (in fact you're more likely to be eaten than recycled). This is a setting about pure survival on the margins.
     
   • IOSHI
     The name of this setting is likely to result in it being claimed by the Sailor Moon meets Akira crowd, but with luck the rest of us will be able to stake a hold on it as well ? because at least to me, this one looks to be the diamond in a pack of gems for those who can wrap their heads around it.
     
     The introduction to IOSHI is perhaps the most confusing bit of text in the entire book; ?The development of human knowledge is strictly limited by the sophistication of the techniques used to organize and convey that knowledge. Thus, oral tradition gives way to writing, private collections to libraries, digital libraries to the web, and finally the worm to IOSHI ('the well')? (p. 247). My response to that amounts to ¿Que? It is not helped by the intro blurb at the beginning of the book; ?IOSHI conveys knowledge in the traditional fashion: datajacked into a two-level personal library stored on a chip in one's brain. It serves as a significant boon to anyone who can afford personal or professional access. ... IOSHI is a patented technology. Getting to the state of art isn't just a matter of money; it's a matter of legal entanglement... usually a few hundred corporations own very small pieces of you? (p. 11). This all very nice and interesting in a confusing sort of way, but it still doesn't tell me what the setting is about. This one will take reading in depth, and I will try to give you the theme in plain terms.
     
     The basic premise seems to be a post-national world defined by interest groups and mobile workforces rather than nations and loyal wage slaves. The philosophy, or discourse behind this is a socio-economic construct called 'Sparta.' A person might move thirty times in a month, work for dozens of different corporations and never seem ill at ease about any of it. Life is online in every sense, with an iconic net (IOSHI) overlaying the physical world and itself seeming more real that reality ? the apartment next to you might be a foreign place listed as far aw
   
   
   
   • Plain and simple, this sistem rocks! A bit difficult at start, due to massive details on each stat and its usage, but when you get it, a whole new world of opportunities lies at your feet! I was a big fan of Cyberpunk 2020, but now i would NEVER came back to that sistem, now that i know of Ex Machina.
     A little defect: there is no charachter sheet, you gotta do it yourself. Do'h! :-/
   
   
   

5 comments about Faith Awakened.

1. If you had the chance to start over, would you take it? If you could program your entire life in a better world, would you do it? These questions are asked (and answered) in Faith Awakened, the new novel by Grace Bridges.
   
   Enter Mariah, trapped in a life--and a world--filled with trouble. And not just any "trouble," but the Trouble, a series of events that has left the world near void of human life save for a small band of survivors. Struggling to put the pieces of a broken life back together is no easy challenge, but thanks to the company of a few close friends and the guidance of an ever-present Awakener, Mariah seems to pull through. That is, until, something even worse happens and she is left with no choice but retreat into a virtual reality program for several decades until it passes. Once inside, and without memory of her previous life, Mariah must discover what it truly means to live, to find purpose in life, and how to truly be awakened.
   
   It's hard to imagine this is Bridge's first book. The way Faith Awakened is written makes you think she's been at this for a long time. The prose is detailed yet smooth, firm in approach yet comforting, well-articulated yet easy to read.
   
   I've always been a fan of end-of-the-world type of stories and while reading this book I was often reminded of Stephen King's The Stand, where a super virus has taken out most of mankind. Bridges captures the loneliness of an empty world, one filled with dead streets and empty houses, with only pockets of life (human or otherwise) scattered here or there. She truly makes you feel for these characters and care about their every move.
   
   Told as a dual narrative (one following Mariah and the other a girl named Faith), Bridges seamlessly blends two storylines with ease, ones where I wish they had gone on once each were finished. There are rumors she might start up a sequel.
   
   This reviewer is hoping for it.
   
   Recommended.



2. Faith Awakened, the debut self-published novella by Grace Bridges, is the story of a woman named Mariah and a child named Faith told in alternating chapters.
   
   The first chapter accomplishes exactly what a good story should, it hooks the reader as several characters enter into a cryogenic state to escape a virus that has run amok in the world. At this point I was captivated.
   
   Then I turned to chapter two and it was about a girl named Faith who was somewhere other than Mariah and her friends. In a world untouched by the virus.
   
   What?
   
   I found myself fully engaged in the Mariah chapters and loving every minute of it, while the Faith chapters just seemed to get in the way and were completely unconnected to the Mariah. It wasn't until well into the book that any connection was made and by that time it was really obvious.
   
   Stories like this are hard to pull off even for a skilled best-selling novelist. Nearly impossible for a first timer. I sure wouldn't have tried it. Still, you've got to give Grace props for her imagination and courage to present this work. The two separate storylines are well written and Grace has a definite talent that I look forward to seeing develop as she publishes more of her work.
   
   Fans of fantasy and sci-fi will find this an interesting tale based on a premise that has been done before, but with interesting twists this time around.



3. A great read! I couldn't put it down. I was drawn into the lives of the characters. A great "What If" story.
   
   Imagine that everyone around you is dying of a virulent strain of Ebola. Imagine that the new world government is responsible for loosing the virus on the population. How would you survive? Why would you want to go on living? How would your faith be examined? Would it fail you or would your faith grow?
   
   Follow the lives of Faith and Mariah as they move through very different times and circumstances to ultimately share their story.



4. Faith Awakened by Grace Bridges
   Reviewed by Lyn Perry
   
   This self-published novel by New Zealand-born, Germany-residing author Grace Bridges was my first exposure to Christian cyberpunk and dystopia fiction, so I really didn't have anything to compare it to. It is also part of a sub-genre called biblical speculative fiction, of which Frank Creed's Flashpoint is a prime example, where the characters are unabashedly Christian in lifestyle and evangelistic in motive.
   
   As such, this style of lit could turn some readers off from the get-go, but I think the average spec fic reader might be surprised that, despite the `religious' setting, emotive themes of love, loss, disaster, and triumph - if well written - will remain the focus of their attention. It did mine.
   
   My overall reaction to this particular project? I think Faith Awakened is an interesting, yet falling short of gripping, exploration of an apocalyptic future. Although some sympathetic reviewers refer to The Matrix for comparison, this is a very different story even though the characters spend half the book living in a "virtual reality." I won't spoil the plot, but the premise is that our heroes must live out their virtual lives while awaiting their physical rescue when the planet becomes once again inhabitable.
   
   In the not-too-distant future, a one-world-government turns technological advances into an anti-utopian nightmare. A rogue plague decimates the population. A Christian remnant plug into a virtual existence in order to survive the vestiges of the virus that wipes out - for all they know - the rest of humanity. They are eventually brought out of this cyber-matrix and revived to `real' life 50 years later by another group of survivors who happen upon their hibernation units.
   
   What makes this novel intriguing is the intertwining of two storylines that, if you pick up on some early clues, tells the crisis and resolution in alternating chapters. This non-traditional storytelling device is a bit awkward at first, but the reader soon catches on. Bridges has a unique style of writing (which could have benefited by a strong editor; there is plenty of room for improvement) and makes a bold attempt at telling the story from the perspective of her two protagonists, Mariah & Faith. The relationship between these two women is part of the mystery and makes for fascinating reading.
   
   If you "go with it" (and suspend your disbelief a time or two) then the overall story "works." However, there are a few logical inconsistencies that raise questions left unanswered. Also, this could have been shortened to a novella, in my opinion, as Grace's description of life (in both worlds) was a bit cumbersome in detail (too much "tell" not enough "show"). Still, Faith Awakened is a vivid picture of a possible, and frightening, future. It's a promising start for this first time author. And not a bad introduction to Christian cyberpunk.
   
   My Rating: 5 out of 10 (2.5 stars)
   [...]



5. 
   Mariah lives in a dystopic world where a few overseers
   run the planet and supply food, shelter, and weekends
   off to the populace. Mariah longs for more, and finds
   it when she is invited to a mysterious meeting to
   worship the Awakener -- God.
   
   A genetically engineered virus wipes out almost
   everyone in her city -- her country -- her world. With
   her friend Peter, also a follower of the Awakener, she
   finds a few survivors. They eke out a simple yet not
   unpleasant existence.
   
   But then the virus reappears, and the survivors are no
   longer immune. Mariah comes up with a desperate plan
   to put all of them in suspended animation, dreaming in
   a simulated world, where they might meet and live a
   different life, again ...
   
   Especially Mariah, now Faith, with her love Peter.
   
   Grace Bridges' style is lyrical and graceful, and she
   describes disturbing images intermingled with beauty.
   Almost a fable, this story will remain with you long
   after you read it.

5 comments about Synners.

1. This was only the second cyberpunk novel I've ever read and I rather enjoyed it. Cadigan created truly believable characters. She showed that whether a person is "good" or "bad," that person is still human and has flaws. It was nice to see fictional, genius computer hackers with flaws. Today's culture seems to have a too high percentage of fictional computer hackers that are god-like perfect.
   
   Cadigan also created a story that, while not impossible to put down, compels the reader to continue. She draws the reader in, shows them the pros and cons to a new technology, and leaves the rest to the reader, allowing the reader to decide its worth.
   
   Even though the book has universal themes, I wouldn't recommend this to others that didn't read sci-fi. If you like sci-fi I would recommend giving this book a try. Keep in mind though that Cadigan doesn't give a thoroughly convincing argument to the technology's validity; I'm not sure that was her main focus.



2. To tell you the truth, I couldn't make heads nor tails out of this book. The language is too far away from even modern, and the characters are confusing. I love sci-fi, even the new computer-oriented (some call it cyberpunk) stuff like "Snow Crash", but "Synners" is just strange. Ala the Emperor's New Clothes..."Oh my, how strange! It must be good!" No, sorry, it's just strange. I actually came here (to Amazon reviews) to see if anybody else had made sense of it. I thought I might read farther if I understood it better. I'm only to page 18, and I doubt I'll finish it.
   Doug



3. Pat Cadigan's "Synners" - excellent, highly complex, cyberpunk sci-fi by an author I now very much want to read more of. Perspective switches between different characters in different narratives and I'm sure I missed a lot by only reading this in bits interspersed with a lot of other things. Synners are those who take imagery from the brains of others and turn them into a consumable form through a new form of surgical cuber modules. The idea is similar to that I first saw in one of William Gibson's "Kings of Sleep", one of the short stories in the Burning chrome collection, or the performers with cybered creative skills in Joan D. Vinge's "Cat's Paw", but "Synners" takes the idea further, developing it into a complex plot with a sideline of studies in Self and Consciousness.



4. Yeah and if you thought the review's title was ridiculous...
   
   It's not so much that the book is confusing or that the characters could use a bit more depth, it's that from the get-go, the writing is cliche. Pat Cadigan, who hit a home run with Mind Players, tries way too hard to be -- captial "C" -- Cyberpunk in this book. It's possible that because I've only just read Synners while I read my first 'cyberpunk' book in the early 90s I've lost the ability to be impressed by attempts at 'hard edged' writing that tries to use slang like 'stone home' and 'hot-wire' to indicate a machine or drug centric society on the edge of destruction; but there's just so many sentences that seem oh so dutifully crafted to fit into what cyberpunk is Supposed To Be.
   
   I give it two stars because underneath the cliche there are interesting ideas; it's just too bad one has to wade through so much over-eager writing to see them through.
   
   If you really want to read an engaging book of speculative fiction by Pat Cadigan that bucks the cliches of cyberpunk and strikes out on its own read Mind Players.



5. It is interesting to see the language Cadigan was using in this book, circa 1990 : war porn, food porn, etc., being used in exactly the same way now.
   
   A cyberpunk ahead of her time, for sure. Apart from that, an interesting tale of what happens when things go bad in a network sense, especially if you are too closely connected, particularly organically.
   
   While her books never blow you away, it seems, she is consistently good, and real.
   
   [...]

3 comments about GURPS Cyberpunk: High-Tech Low-Life Roleplaying (GURPS: Generic Universal Role Playing System).

1. When I first saw this book I thought, oh great, GURPS translated Cyberpunk 2020 into it's own system. Well I must admit it is better than that. This book is so hot it was seized by the US secret service, they raided SJ games, trashed the place and took it. That shows they know what's going on. Of course when you read it you will know it was a misunderstanding but it's quite amazing. The book has information on everything that was ever written in the cyberpunk genre and great ways to fit into a campagain. There a lot of role-playing possibilities in such a campaign, and "life is cheap" is one of several. Though characters are suggested to start off powerful (150-250 points) it still balances off. The fact that you can buy cyberwear with points is a neat thing to toy with. One of the major things I really like about it is it has a humongous bibliography of practically every book, periodical, comic book, movie and just about everything that has to do with cyberpunk from Neuromancer and 1984 to Akira and 2600. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to play cyberpunk, it has everything



2. I have to say that this is one of the most complete game supplements I have had the pleasure to work with. It makes me wonder how much more complete it would have been with the material they did not get back from the Feds. Freedom of speech indeed. This contains everything you need to play in a dirty, gritty, backstabbing, government conpsiracy laden, mega-corp power game riddled, techno-hacking, assasin filled game....buy it...you won't regret it



3. This one has it all... Cyberware, campaign notes, plot hooks and an entire culture between the covers. This book SINGLEY has everything needed for a GURPS Cyberpunk campaign and so much more. It is obvious that the writers and team have a great love for the Genre and it shows through in these pages.

   Great plot and campaign ideas...

   *Fantasy Cyberpunk (ala Shadow Run) *Fantasy Punk (with Golem-like body mods where magic replaces tech) *CyberSpace (bringing and edge to the tech in your space campaign) *Super-Punk (New cyber for your supers... OR Supers as a new subset of humanity in your Cyperpunk campaign) *Cyber-Horror (Call of Cthulhu meets Count Zero)

   All this.. and a Marvelous bibliography (and discography) that will prepare you for any campaign idea.

No comments about Black Glass: The Lost Cyberpunk Novel.

5 comments about The Ultimate Cyberpunk.

1. Cadigan herself bemoans the "Ultimate" title of this book. But the stories inside are amazingly fresh, especially considering the copyright dates on some of them. I found it interesting to first, read the stories, and then turn to the beginning of the book to check the copyright date. The roots of the Cyberpunk literary movement are all here! I highly recommend it to true cyberfans.
   [webmail]



2. Pat Cadigan has developed a respectably lengthy body of work in the science fiction genre. She gained fame through her association with the Cyberpunk literary Movement of the 1980s and early 1990s. Despite her obvious involvement, she writes in her introduction to The Ultimate Cyberpunk that she is simply an "end-user" of the genre. This statement does little other than to nullify her authoritative claim in regard to selecting pieces for the anthology. Another curious observation she makes is that she feels that those who were in the "tribe" of the Cyberpunk Movement (hereafter CM) were of the same generation. Alfred Bester and Cordwainer Smith, whose stories Cadigan selected to appear at the front of the anthology, wrote the vast majority of their work years before the CM was even a vision. In fact, Smith died in 1966, during the height of the "hard SF" era of Heinlein, Asimov and Niven. Cadigan even explains that Bester was a source of inspiration for the 1960s Science Fiction New Wave, which explicitly disables him from being a part of the CM, especially when he, like James Tiptree, Jr. (also included in the anthology) died in 1987, when the CM was at its zenith. I suppose it isn't so far fetched to include Philip K. Dick who was arguably the most important and best known science fiction author, outside of Frank Herbert and Arthur C. Clarke. He was responsible for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), after all. But Dick died in 1982, never knowing what was to come in his wake. Furthermore, if Rudy Rucker was truly a member of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and John Shirley's generation, why, then has he been referred to as a Grandfather of Cyberpunk, not unlike Dick?

   Cadigan perhaps anticipates remarks such as mine, creating an artificial group of defendants, who claim that "Cyberpunk itself is hardly anything new (Cadigan x)." It is here that she justifies her inclusion of Bester and Smith and the other previous era's authors. While this might satisfy some critics, it does not provide a strong enough reason for me. If she wanted to create an anthology of the stories leading up to and directly or indirectly causing the CM, then she should have done that. If she wanted to create a history of the CM, something which, 10 years removed from the end of the literary aspect, she could have done quite easily, she should have done so. She ought not to have tried to do both. She even makes mention of the fact that "there is no point in reprinting most of Mirrorshades," though she reprints both of John Shirley's and Lewis Shiner's pieces.

   One selection she makes that I do agree with is Greg Bear's "Blood Music". I felt that the story showcased Bear's Cyberpunk leanings much better than "Petra" did, which was included in Mirrorshades. Sadly, none of the late George Alec Effinger's work makes it into the anthology. Of all the Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk era science fiction I have read, nothing speaks clearer to the aims of the movement as clearly and loudly as Effinger's Marid Audran trilogy. Sadly, Effinger never gained critical or peer acclaim, and some of the most well read science fiction fans wear a puzzled face at the mention of his name.

   The ibooks publishing house has made a living out of playing upon the nostalgia-storing areas of the brain, hiring second string authors to finish up manuscripts written by the masters, or to create stories based upon the universes of the science fiction grandmasters. The Ultimate Cyberpunk is no exception. It fails as both a documentation of a literary movement, and as a standard anthology, as the stories are too far apart in their publication dates to have any sense of unification.

   There isn't any point in repackaging Mirrorshades, That's undeniably true. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Cadigan tried to do here tried to do, riding the coattails of the Internet and technology boom, while simultaneously creating one more outlet for her own stories and those of her pals, Sterling and Gibson.




3. I thought about titling this review "Nothing New Here," but soon realized that I'd spend too much time defending the word choice. Of course there's nothing new in the book, it's an anthology. What I mean is that there is nothing to be gained from this book that cannot be gained from mirrorshades or any other Cyberpunk fiction collections that were released during the height of the movement in the mid to late 1980s.

   My original review of the book mysteriously vanished. Here it is, resubmitted in hopes that it will remain this time.
   -----------

   Pat Cadigan has developed a respectably lengthy body of work in the science fiction genre. She gained fame through her association with the Cyberpunk literary Movement of the 1980s and early 1990s. Despite her obvious involvement, she writes in her introduction to The Ultimate Cyberpunk that she is simply an "end-user" of the genre. This statement does little other than to nullify her authoritative claim in regard to selecting pieces for the anthology. Another curious observation she makes is that she feels that those who were in the "tribe" of the Cyberpunk Movement (hereafter CM) were of the same generation. Alfred Bester and Cordwainer Smith, whose stories Cadigan selected to appear at the front of the anthology, wrote the vast majority of their work years before the CM was even a vision. In fact, Smith died in 1966, during the height of the "hard SF" era of Heinlein, Asimov and Niven. Cadigan even explains that Bester was a source of inspiration for the 1960s Science Fiction New Wave, which explicitly disables him from being a part of the CM, especially when he, like James Tiptree, Jr. (also included in the anthology) died in 1987, when the CM was at its zenith. I suppose it isn't so far fetched to include Philip K. Dick who was arguably the most important and best known science fiction author, outside of Frank Herbert and Arthur C. Clarke. He was responsible for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), after all. But Dick died in 1982, never knowing what was to come in his wake. Furthermore, if Rudy Rucker was truly a member of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and John Shirley's generation, why, then has he been referred to as a Grandfather of Cyberpunk, not unlike Dick?

   Cadigan perhaps anticipates remarks such as mine, creating an artificial group of defendants, who claim that "Cyberpunk itself is hardly anything new (Cadigan x)." It is here that she justifies her inclusion of Bester and Smith and the other previous era's authors. While this might satisfy some critics, it does not provide a strong enough reason for me. If she wanted to create an anthology of the stories leading up to and directly or indirectly causing the CM, then she should have done that. If she wanted to create a history of the CM, something which, 10 years removed from the end of the literary aspect, she could have done quite easily, she should have done so. She ought not to have tried to do both. She even makes mention of the fact that "there is no point in reprinting most of Mirrorshades," though she reprints both of John Shirley's and Lewis Shiner's pieces.

   One selection she makes that I do agree with is Greg Bear's "Blood Music". I felt that the story showcased Bear's Cyberpunk leanings much better than "Petra" did, which was included in Mirrorshades. Sadly, none of the late George Alec Effinger's work makes it into the anthology. Of all the Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk era science fiction I have read, nothing speaks clearer to the aims of the movement as clearly and loudly as Effinger's Marid Audran trilogy. Sadly, Effinger never gained critical or peer acclaim, and some of the most well read science fiction fans wear a puzzled face at the mention of his name.

   As with every CM anthology published to date, this book expectantly falls in line with the blatant fanaticism over the work of William Gibson. While Burning Chrome is a decent story, and one of the few actual pieces of Cyberpunk stuff in the collection, I was confused as to why only the second part of the Neuromancer graphic novel was published. The publisher, ibooks, could have probably secured the rights to publishing the other pieces. Instead, they leave those unfamiliar with Gibson's lackluster flagship title scratching their temples, and irritate the veteran fans of the genre by splintering the story.

   The ibooks publishing house has made a living out of playing upon the nostalgia-storing areas of the brain, hiring second string authors to finish up manuscripts written by the masters, or to create stories based upon the universes of the science fiction grandmasters. The Ultimate Cyberpunk is no exception. It fails as both a documentation of a literary movement, and as a standard anthology, as the stories are too far apart in their publication dates to have any sense of unification.

   There isn't any point in repackaging Mirrorshades, That's undeniably true. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Cadigan tried to do here tried to do, riding the coattails of the Internet and technology boom, while simultaneously creating one more outlet for her own stories and those of her pals, Sterling and Gibson.




4. This book's cyberpunk stories from the masters to the newest makes one appreciate such complete books in this high tech genre of science fiction as: "Mona Lisa Overdrive", "Neuromancer", "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", "Cyber Hunter", and many more.



5. I'm not sure why Pat Cadigan decided to edit yet another short story collection of cyberpunk and proto-cyberpunk. It certainly doesn't quite live up to the excellent literary quality found in the definitive collection "Mirrorshades" edited by Bruce Sterling or in William Gibson's "Burning Chrome" (Cadigan's collection reprints two stories from that volume, most notably the title story itself.). Nor does it try to explain exactly what the cyberpunk movement is or the origins behind it (For that, you should start with Larry McCaffrey's excellent edited volume of essays and short fiction, "Storming the Reality Studio".). But to her credit, she offers excellent fiction from the usual suspects, most notably Gibson, Sterling, Shirley and of course, herself. Notably absent is excellent short fiction from the likes of James Patrick Kelly, Neal Stephenson, Tom Maddox, or excerpts from the late George Alec Effinger's last notable body of work, a cyberpunk saga set in a politically resurgent Islamic Middle East. If you're interested in seeing some familiar examples of short cyberpunk fiction, then buy Cadigan's book. Otherwise, you're better off sticking with Sterling's anthologies and of course, Gibson's "Burning Chrome".