Cyberpunk

One of my all time favorite genres, because, similar to fantasy, it literally takes you into a different world. My first experience was probably similar to everyone else's: Tron. I've only ever seen the original and I loved it, a guy warped into a whole new world, where his frown-upon skills in reality are key in this new universe. This I found is the basic plot of all the cyberpunk I've read. Hackers are the gods, the control and sneak around the rules of 'cyberspace'. Knowing I was interested in the genre, when an opportunity came up in my writing class last year to read 'Neuromancer' I jumped at the chance. I'll just admit, my first reaction was surprise at the seemingly random sex scene... never expected that! But the cyber punk heroine was awesome, so it was okay. She, or 'Molly the razor-girll', exemplifies her role completely as we discussed in class: she's badass, cybernetic enhancements- fingernails extended like claws and technologically enhanced sight, and she's hired by the mysterious but helpful 'Armitage'. It was an interesting book, I wrote my paper on it by focusing on all the drug referencing it contained. The main character, Case, not only had a drug addiction, but cyberspace itself was described like an acid trip. He was addicted to cyberspace, and he was losing his mind not being able to connect with it.

However, reading 'Snow Crash' was actually a bit more entertaining! Might have been because it was more modern, the whole 'mafia samurai pizza delivery boy' drew me right in and Hiro's personality and the continually building series of events kept me in! Not so much drug imagery as in 'Neuromancer', it honestly sounded more like 'Sims' or something, with the avatars that could be generic or store bought and cheap, that sounded very realistic. Even the fact that Hiro and half the world lived in storage units seemed very realistic and was a nice detail to keep the reader. Why not spend all your time in a universe where you are rich, skilled and can bend rules of the world sometimes, especially when you literally live in a box. These are the appealing and engaging elements of cyberpunk, where you can have an epic adventure with love, danger and action without even leaving your room. Modern computer games have hooked onto this and as a whole, society is addicted to it.