The best genre-defying SF books that resist labels

I first discovered Charles de Lint as a fantasy writer, so I was curious to see he had written a cyberpunk novel. While it is a bit of a departure for him, I was very happy to see that he still brings in fantasy touches. I liked this book because of the animist idea of spirits interacting with our world, even when that world is a futuristic dystopia. I also liked there’s a lot of hope, especially in his depiction of the indigenous Claver society.

I loved seeing this world through Gahzee’s eyes as he journeys from his own society (which is sort of proto-solar punk) to the dystopian city, as well as between the human world and the spirit world, as he finds his “Tribe of Three.”

This is a cyberpunk classic, but what I really love about it is the combination of modern computer technology with Sumerian mythology, the Tower of Babel myth, and how well Stephenson is able to integrate them, so we have hackers throwing around Sumerian terms like 'me' and 'nam-shub'.

And for me, I love that there’s just a lot of cool stuff happening here, like a biker with an atomic bomb on a deadman switch, a nuclear-powered needle gun. And our lead character is named Hiro Protagonist. But probably the biggest point for me is that despite the dystopian setting, there really is more hope in this story than one would think.

This book is hard to sum up and that’s why I love it. What starts out as a time travel story with our protagonist going to the early 1800s leads into a strange world of Romantic poets, werewolves, sorcerers, terrifying clowns in a story that runs between historical fantasy, horror and a comedy of manners, among other things.

In the middle of it all is Brendan Doyle as he tries to negotiate the world of 1810 and find the mysterious poet William Ashbless, while avoiding the bad guys.

One of my favorite things is to throw magic and science fiction together.  And for those of you who like a little Egyptian mythology on top, you’re in for a treat.

This is one of those ideas that I wish I had thought of—Germany of the Thirty Years War meets Appalachia of the early 2000s. I enjoy the unexpected things that time travel can bring, like a high school library being the most potent source of knowledge in the world or a high school cheerleader confronting the king of Sweden. And for those who appreciate historical accuracy, Flint does not disappoint.

For me, it’s the characters that really connect me to the story. There are a lot of them—from both 2000s America and 1630s Europe—but Flint gives enough time that I really feel like I got to know a lot of them.

This anthology has many fine stories, including alternate history classics such as Moon of Ice and Bring the Jubilee, but for me, my all-time favorite is Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner’s Mozart in Mirrorshades and the combination of 80’s cyberpunk culture with a Baroque aesthetic in an alternate Salzburg.

Some of my favorite stories are the kitchen-sink-type stories that throw everything together, and this story has it. If you want to see time travel, an evil mega-corporation threatening Thomas Jefferson, or Mongol mercenaries, this story’s got them. Personally, I loved seeing a punk rock Mozart (with Marie Antoinette as one of his groupies, no less).