Helge Moulding <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> Banks and MacLeod are post-cyberpunk writers, I think, so possibly
> they have been influenced by that fantasy element. However, Banks and
> MacLeod are in no imaginable way representative of all sf: they are
> poor examples to toss out there for a phrase like "this goes for a lot
> of SF not considered cyberpunk."
It is enough example to show that this trait is not unique to cyberpunk.
> I also think it is more than just an illustration of the uselessness
> of a distinction between fantasy and SF. Most SF affirms humanity, the
> power of science, and the usefulness of technology. That is quite
> distinct from most fantasy, which loves to dwell on prophecies and
> mysticism, and relegates the free agency of humans to deciding nothing
> of consequence. However, these are also the qualities of
> cyberpunk. Neo has to talk to the Oracle, and everyone knows that Neo
> is the Chosen One. It doesn't matter what choices Neo makes: the
> Architect has already planned everything out.
I think you made another illustration of the statement that the
distinction between fantasy and SF is useless, or at least
unsatisfactory small.
Also, much of the strangeness of computer technology in certain
cyberpunk, especially Gibsons's, is that the authors themselves had
little or none experience with the technology. This is much different in
for instance Bruce Sterlings or Neal Stephensons novels, where the
computer technology a lot more plausible.
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