The Sword and Laser discussion

HELP!

Please suggest classic cyberpunk and feminist cyberpunk works featuring cyborgs - I am in dire need of good titles with the deadline looming closer!

e.g. Neuromancer (Character - Molly) (Classic Cyberpunk)
He, She and It by Marge Piercy (Feminist Cyberpunk)

Have you looked at the genre listings? http://www.goodreads.com/genres/cyber...

I have, in fact, but barring a few popular names, I have no idea which would be good reads. And the recommendations for the feminist cyberpunk genre isn't good enough, which is why I need personal recommendations based on individual experience.

But thanks still!

I do feel it is important to put feminist SF in context before looking at a sub genre.

Thus I would probably look at

Mary Shelly - Frankenstein was one of the very first SF
James Tiptree Jr - probably just read one or two short stories/ novellas and read around the author - e.g. Bob Silverbergs comments about the masculinity of her writing (before it was known she was a woman)

Joanna Russ - The Female Man - Absolutely key text

For starters.

There have also been books and articles written on the subject that can be studied for references etc. These include



http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307...

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307...

Cyberpunk Women, Feminism and Science Fiction : A Critical Study

Cybersexualities: A Reader in Feminist Theory, Cyborgs and Cyberspace

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ob... free book "Mirrorshade Women: Feminism and Cyberpunk at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century"

http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/... "Nicola Nixon - Cyberpunk: Preparing the Ground for Revolution or Keeping the Boys Satisfied?"

http://www.chrismoriartybooks.com/chi... short article and list of 30 "chickpunk" writers

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cls/summ... How Information Technology Has (Not) Changed Feminism and Japanism: Cyberpunk in the Japanese Context - Kumiko Sato - would need to buy/ access somewhere else

TECHNOLOGY AND THE VULNERABLE BODY IN
FEMINIST POST-CYBERPUNK SF - http://www.academiceditingcanada.ca/w... thesis dealing with some feminist aspects of cyberpunk

http://www.cheryl-morgan.com/?page_id... interesting short article

Wilhelmina Baird did cyberpunk. IIRC, one character was a cyborg.

It's a bit of an outlier, but the Ghost in the Shell manga and TV series include some fairly heavy examination of cybernetics in society, and have a cybernetic female protagonist.

Even more of an outlier would be The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey - a woman with a starship as a 'body' is technically a cyborg, but the novel certainly isn't cyberpunk.

Westerfeld's The Risen Empire and its sequel The Killing of Worlds include an important cyborg woman, the cyborgness of whom is an important story element mirroring other characters' artificial or symbiotic parts. It's definitely cyber, but only kinda punk.

Check out the work of Pat Cadigan, particularly Synners and Fools. Both excellent. Pat is the unsung fourth pillar of Cyberpunk's heyday.

Ben wrote: "I do feel it is important to put feminist SF in context before looking at a sub genre.

Thus I would probably look at

Mary Shelly - Frankenstein was one of the very first SF
James Tiptree Jr - ..."

Hi, thanks for looking around for me and scouring links to look at, but I've read every one of these, except the book 'Cybersexualities', which I'm trying to get, and the last Cheryl-Morgan article.

However, I deeply appreciate the help and the detailed suggestions!

Thanks a lot and do let me know more sources if you can - I've also read Manifesto Cyborg by Donna J. Haraway

@P. Aaron, Osho, MarkB and kvon, I've seen Ghost in the Shell anime, as well as Akira, and also tried reading SYNNERS, but I found it too difficult to get into, though I'll take up Cadigan's works once again.

I was completely unaware of the other suggestions, so I'll look into them one by one.

Thank you all!