Between Blade Runner and The Terminator, I was hooked on Cyberpunk. Throw in some Ghost in the Shell and Black Mirror, and the obsession was complete. With the rise of Synthwave as a musical genre and as a retro-futuristic aesthetic, I had both the soundtrack and the visual cues to which I could write Cyberpunk. I also feel strongly about our increasing reliance on technology and the blurring lines between biology and technology. This is something I explore in my writing.
This book is a thrilling, action-packed ride through a merciless world ruled by nefarious corporations and filled with deadly, genetically enhanced super-humans. As well as Cyberpunk aficionados, Early Adopters will also appeal to fans of comics as well as lovers of action and espionage. No Mary-Sues here, though. Morally grey, gritty, and grueling!
Praise For Early Adopters: Rogue Elements - Amazon Reviews
"A thumping good read."
"This is my favourite Superhero Universe now."
"Everything I wanted from The Watchmen movie and didn't get."
Over a decade ago now, a group of misfits underwent genetic editing under the auspices of scientific research. They thought they could make a difference. They thought they were going to be superheroes, but MiliTech turned them into their own living, breathing weapons.
Outside of their honeymoon period, they are disavowed and relentlessly…
Endel ‘Endgame’ Ebbinghaus is an enforcer for the Macau drug cartels. He often meets unsavoury people and sometimes he has to kill them. Endgame is a violent abusive husband, and he keeps away from his wife and kid because he’s afraid of what he might do to them. Endgame is a mindless assassin, programmed, set loose and mind-wiped when his target is eliminated. Endgame is a loving partner and parent to his two children, but they don’t live together anymore because of some poor life choices. Endgame is all of these things and none of them. He’s also something else, but he forgets what that is and may never remember.
In The Escher Man, TR Napper returns us to the cyberpunk world he so effectively realised in 36 Streets. The Escher Man was published after 36 Streets but written long before…
A cartel enforcer must escape a world of paranoia and violence to save his family in this cerebral and multi-layered cyberpunk science fiction novel. Perfect for fans of William Gibson's The Peripheral, Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon and Five Minds by Guy Morpuss.
"Your name is Endel 'Endgame' Ebbinghaus. It is Saturday 3rd September, 2101. You're head of security for Mister Long, boss of the Macau Syndicate, a drug cartel. This is your last day on the job."
Endel wants out.
Endgame is a violent man, by profession and by nature, the perfect enforcer for the Macau Syndicate. But Endel is…
Millions watch on live stream as Brit battlemage Daxx and his teammates, Asian-American twin-blade sword-dancer Qrysta and heavily-armored Aussie Orc warrior Grell, triumph in the World Championship of Sword and Sorcery.
The next thing he knows, Daxx is in the middle of a wilderness he’s never seen before. And he’s…
I grew up in a secular Jewish household where Yiddish culture, history, and politics were a part of daily life. As a result, when I began reading (and eventually writing) science fiction and fantasy, I would take note if I found a novel or short story collection that reflected any of the many flavors of Judaism and Jewish culture. While it is not all I read or write about (I make my living as a tech journalist and I have very eclectic tastes in literature), I find that my curiosity is particularly piqued when confronted with a new book that covers both those genres.
It’s hard to describe Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station, except to say that it is a fascinating study of various humans and non-humans residing—some permanently, some temporarily—in a hot, dusty spaceport/city that has sprung up between Tel Aviv and Jaffa sometime in our future. They confront questions and answers about family, memory, reality, and what is human—and occasionally come up with answers. A wonderfully written, almost hypnotic book.
Appeals to fans of classic and contemporary science fiction and mainstream fiction
Contains international and multicultural themes
Israeli-born author has also lived in Vanuatu, Laos, South Africa, Israel, and the UK
I’m an autistic unapologetic writing nerd who has spent most of their life using fiction and pop culture to connect better with the world. It has always been the tool, escape, and comfort for me when I feel overwhelmed. As I bite my tongue to keep from monologuing, I always strive to share, introduce, or connect with my passions. Now I use that and my degree in psychology to try to craft worlds that people can feel emotional about in my writing and poetry.
Another Litrpg, Seth enters a Virtual Reality game set in a fantasy feudal Japan as the technology allows him to function better while recovering from an injury taken during a martial arts tournament. For me, the setting got me worked up. I spent a decade of my gaming life playing Legend of the Five Rings, a similarly feudal Japan-inspired game world. Clans, factions, betrayals, and samurai. It brought me back to my youth in a way that few pieces of media do.
How Often Do You Get a Second Chance in Life? Seth Kinnaman’s dream has always been to become the best fighter the world has ever seen. After spending his entire life training, he’s finally ready to test his skills in the biggest tournament on Earth where hundreds of the fiercest competitors vie for the supreme title.
In the semi-finals, Seth is getting the upper hand when his opponent uses an illegal blow to take him out. Upon waking up from a coma, Seth finds out he’s lost his sight. He’s become blind and he’s completely devastated. All his dreams are…
I love the beginning premise -- teaching an AI to write poetry -- and how that grows and morphs throughout the novel. It tackles big themes, like how technology is changing humanity and the nature of parenthood, and moves through time in a beautiful way.
Negotiating the terrain of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun and Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility, a brilliant, haunting speculative novel from a #1 New York Times bestselling translator that sets out to answer the question: What does it mean to be human in a world where technology is quickly catching up to biology?
In a near-future world, a new technological therapy is quickly eradicating cancer. The body's cells are entirely replaced with nanites-robot or android cells which not only cure those afflicted but leaves them virtually immortal.
Literary researcher Yonghun teaches an AI how to understand poetry…
This was a fun and thrilling ride in a near-future dystopia. I was caught up in the personal plight of the protagonist and the mystery. Could not put it down!
It's 2032 and hacker-for-hire Kiera's living in the worst cyberpunk future. She's been gigging her ass off to keep the lights on, chasing cheaters with Angel Herrera, a luddite P.I. who talks like a '40s movie detective. But that changes when Herrera's ex-best friend turns up murdered. Their only lead: a stick of Nag Champa incense dropped at the scene.
Next thing Kiera knows, her new crush has disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a severed hand (the real one, not the cybernetic) and the familiar stink of sandalwood. Two crimes, two sticks of incense, Kiera…
This compelling techno-thriller with a metaphysical streak makes our current dark times feel timeless and hopeful. It reveals there’s nothing new about the problems we face—human beings have been working through them for millennia—and breaks through the overwhelm and hopelessness, making me feel like I can actually do something important to make our times less troubled. The writing is so fresh and the characters so vivid and authentic I felt I was in the middle of the story and it was all happening to me at each twist and turn. This is a rare book that’s both entertaining and deeply meaningful.
Darah, a tech writer living in the democratic nation of California, is dismayed to see the game she's helping develop for a Silicon Valley tech company has been tampered with. When her hacker friend Jedd investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that could change the nation-and the world.
With a circle of close friends, Jedd digs deeper and deeper into the darknet and exposes the unthinkable: an app is being developed that uses quantum computing and neuroscience to alter people's brains, totally unbeknownst to them. As the friends realize the devastating impact of this technology, they're presented with a dilemma: stay…
I was a bookseller specializing in SFF for around 13 years, during which I wrote two novels and many short stories, and I ran a review blog for many years. My love of SFF and Horror began when I was around nine years old, at which time I read Pet Sematary, which opened up the world of ‘grown-up’ books for me. I’m proud to say that I read more speculative fiction than anything else, and I love discovering new voices and visions in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
While this book is more literary than plot- or character-driven, it deals with the loss of memory and self, and the struggles to reclaim those parts of oneself. It reads like a dream, or a series of dreams – as the reader you’re not entirely sure what is important and what isn’t, but the beautiful prose and interesting situations keep things going.
"The day every person on earth lost his and her memory was not a day at all. In people's minds there was no actual event. . . and thus it could be followed by no period of shock or mourning. There could be no catharsis. Everyone was simply reset to zero."
On Day Zero, the collapse of civilization was as instantaneous as it was inevitable. A mysterious and oppressive movement rose to power in the aftermath, forcing people into isolated communes run like regimes. Kayle Jenner finds himself trapped on a remote beach, and all that remains of his life…
I first went as a student to Beijing in 1984 with a camera and a suitcase of film but not much of a plan. I found myself in a country whose young people were suddenly empowered to put their skills to use rather than let state planning order every aspect of their lives. My academic studies rapidly evolved into a vocation to photograph the changes around me. There was demand for this: one of my first assignments being for Life magazine and then a slew of US and European publications eager to expand their coverage of all that was reshaping China and in turn the world. I chose street-level life as the most relatable to an international audience and in recent years also for Chinese eager to see how this era began.
Shanghai is a city that fascinates and repels both Chinese and foreigners alike. The harsh exploitative past and the contemporary resurgence embrace a sometimes unsettling mix of wealth, style and brutality. The architectural reshaping of the megalopolis of more than 20 million souls reflects this context and no one has captured it better than Greg Girard, a Canadian photojournalist who spent much of his career in Asia. The twilight of eerie neon tones in the smoggy half-demolished city is fertile territory for this image maker chasing the phantoms.
“Shanghai—a city in the process of dismantling its history to accommodate China’s new cosmopolitan vision of itself.”—Greg Girard
As Shanghai modernizes and seeks acceptance as an international city, buildings and neighborhoods that were once preserved simply by lack of intervention are now being purposefully demolished.
Phantom Shanghai is a spectacular look at a Shanghai that won’t survive the vision the country has for itself. For the past five years, Greg Girard has been photographing the city’s buildings, shops, homes, and neighborhoods. This stunning photographic journey is a look at present-day Shanghai, where politically inspired neglect meets politically inspired development.
