Product Description
In Synners, the line between technology and humanity is hopelessly slim. A constant stream of new technology spawns crime before it hits the streets; the human mind and the external landscape have fused to the point where any encounter with reality is incidental. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Free SF Reader
It is interesting to see the language Cadigan was using in this book, circa 1990 : war porn, food porn, etc., being used in exactly the same way now.

A cyberpunk ahead of her time, for sure.Apart from that, an interesting tale of what happens when things go bad in a network sense, especially if you are too closely connected, particularly organically.

While her books never blow you away, it seems, she is consistently good, and real.

[...]

Like hot molten cliches oozing down a low-jack interface
Yeah and if you thought the review's title was ridiculous...

It's not so much that the book is confusing or that the characters could use a bit more depth, it's that from the get-go, the writing is cliche.Pat Cadigan, who hit a home run with Mind Players, tries way too hard to be -- captial "C" -- Cyberpunk in this book.It's possible that because I've only just read Synners while I read my first 'cyberpunk' book in the early 90s I've lost the ability to be impressed by attempts at 'hard edged' writing that tries to use slang like 'stone home' and 'hot-wire' to indicate a machine or drug centric society on the edge of destruction; but there's just so many sentences that seem oh so dutifully crafted to fit into what cyberpunk is Supposed To Be.

I give it two stars because underneath the cliche there are interesting ideas; it's just too bad one has to wade through so much over-eager writing to see them through.

If you really want to read an engaging book of speculative fiction by Pat Cadigan that bucks the cliches of cyberpunk and strikes out on its own read Mind Players.

excellent, highly complex, cyberpunk sci-fi
Pat Cadigan's "Synners" - excellent, highly complex, cyberpunk sci-fi by an author I now very much want to read more of. Perspective switches between different characters in different narratives and I'm sure I missed a lot by only reading this in bits interspersed with a lot of other things. Synners are those who take imagery from the brains of others and turn them into a consumable form through a new form of surgical cuber modules. The idea is similar to that I first saw in one of William Gibson's "Kings of Sleep", one of the short stories in the Burning chrome collection, or the performers with cybered creative skills in Joan D. Vinge's "Cat's Paw", but "Synners"takes the idea further, developing it into a complex plot with a sideline of studies in Self and Consciousness.

Very, very confusing!
To tell you the truth, I couldn't make heads nor tails out of this book.The language is too far away from even modern, and the characters are confusing.I love sci-fi, even the new computer-oriented (some call it cyberpunk) stuff like "Snow Crash", but "Synners" is just strange.Ala the Emperor's New Clothes..."Oh my, how strange!It must be good!"No, sorry, it's just strange.I actually came here (to Amazon reviews) to see if anybody else had made sense of it.I thought I might read farther if I understood it better.I'm only to page 18, and I doubt I'll finish it.
Doug

Universal themes in a sci-fi disguise
This was only the second cyberpunk novel I've ever read and I rather enjoyed it.Cadigan created truly believable characters.She showed that whether a person is "good" or "bad," that person is still human and has flaws.It was nice to see fictional, genius computer hackers with flaws.Today's culture seems to have a too high percentage of fictional computer hackers that are god-like perfect.

Cadigan also created a story that, while not impossible to put down, compels the reader to continue.She draws the reader in, shows them the pros and cons to a new technology, and leaves the rest to the reader, allowing the reader to decide its worth.

Even though the book has universal themes, I wouldn't recommend this to others that didn't read sci-fi.If you like sci-fi I would recommend giving this book a try.Keep in mind though that Cadigan doesn't give a thoroughly convincing argument to the technology's validity; I'm not sure that was her main focus. ... Read more

Product Description
The Web is the internet of the future; a vast network of virtual reality sites that have become the playground for the children of the world and the stage for mankind’s first contact.A contact that will be made with our children. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Visions of an exciting hi-tech future WOW!
In here are 5 different stories from 5 different authors. But somehow they all are connected by the same themes and characters. I managed to read this book within a week. I found it to be well written and easy to understand. It contains short sentences that are easy to absorb. I suspect it may have been written for teenagers. I'm bewildered as to why no one has reviewed this classic book. It's an honour and privilege for me to review it. While it may have been aimed for a younger market the themes in it are ageless and timeless. Mature readers will appreciate it too. What I loved about it was how my current net experience, while relatively plain, simple and uneventful, is correlated to this future vision of spectacular marvel. In one word, it's fascinating how it views the future of virtual reality and the (hopefully) future eventuating of how the Internet will prosper and develop to encompass our daily lives. I just loved how it projects people into simulated worlds like a cat with nine lives. From history to future space everything and anything is imagined within the Web 2028 and with vivid, exciting detail that humans can only dream of happening in their wildest fantasies...Overall I recommend this book. While I'm normally a sci-fi fan who liked Star Wars, X Files etc. this book appealed to me. I recommend it for all ages especially the young. I dare say it's better than Harry Potter as it's relevant to the current Zeigiest way of life and modern pop culture. Who wants to read about witches and magic when you can summon visions of a promising and idealized utopian high tech future. [Forget} Potter and Lord Of The Rings, read this book NOW!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

An intelligent, resonant Head-Trip.....
This medium-sized 'sci-fi implosion' novel could give you a bit of a head-ache. But it will be a good one; a worthwhile one. It comments on our present, shared reality, through the wary portrayal of a different one. I had read 'Tea from an Empty Cup' and was expecting another wry Cadigan 'glimpse with insights' into a more credible VR future, where young kids and cyberpunks mess around with technology and come up gasping....and where negative aspects of technology (abuse?) are encountered and (if somewhat slightly) dramatised....I was aware of her weaknesses with this other book; that she sacrfices truly involving/unsettling story-telling with a reliance on a cynical observational style which also thins her other characters....Although, this she counters with some great ideas and unexpected surprises (two more vital ingredients for sci-fi?)....plus clever humour, weaned from the exclusive use of such a style.

Well, I was right and wrong with Mindplayers. It is her usual tone; a smartass narrator that enables her to be world-weary towards advanced technology that is threatening our precious ideas about personal identity and humanity, and is full of addictive undertones and dependencies (proper, relevant sci-fiction and 'Cyberpunk'). For 1987, this automatically makes it interesting and ensures it an important, accessible (and more realistic than others) position in the canon....But what wasreally impressive was the way, in Mindplayers, she actually side-steps technology by using the conceit of hooking up mind to mind, and presenting a new future where this form of telepathy (albeit machine-enabled) is changing things. She is thus free in the book, to focus her attentions on the freedom of being perfectly lucid in other people's mental lives, and showing off her clearly knowledgable understanding of psychology.....Cadigan then achieves this thoroughly, convincingly and entertainingly.... She therefore explores virtual reality but in an intimate and psychological way, with warnings and suggestions about our identities and realities, and the way they are influenced and shaped. Her character is someone who is attempting to directly heal other people's internal lives or psychoses, although carrying the weight of her own, and this produces interesting results with relevance for how actual psychologists attempt this. Her well-honed use of a 'deadpan', emotionless tone becomes highly suited, but can still occasionally do little justice to some of the ideas, that become revelations more to herself as a writer than to us as readers. Much less so however in this work.

Ultimately, we are shown the dangers of influence, of identities altered for survival, of too much dependence on others eroding our own identity...and this is the strength of the book, along with other sci-fi assets, such as good background features and settings such as the Park and the concept of 'reality affixing', and such as mindplaying with a dead mind. This latter case is one of the more scary warnings of the imagined technology allowing for such a strong level of intrusion.

Revelations come through experiences, and those shown to us in this book, and in the rather quick crescendo at the end, which leaves us strongly reminded about the difference between reality and our 'state of existence'. The book resonates as its own mental experience, and is highly stimulating and great for meditation, for assisting us in imagining the reality - or future - it portrays. And it's a very possible future, although perhaps more indirectly.

Pat Cadigan is Awesome
Mindplayers is one of the best books I have ever read, sci-fi or otherwise. Pat Cadigan has a brilliant imagination. She tries her best to keep up with it. Her writing is a bit haphazard, but very good overall. Mindplayers is set in the future, where Mindplay has changed society for better or worse. Differing degrees of Mindplay require professionals to assist those engaging in it. One of these professionals is Deadpan Allie (love that play on words). Allie is a former layabout who has been recruited to become a professional Mindplayer. The strange characters she meets and weird situations she is in mesmerize the reader. There is also a lot of philosophy for the reader to chew on.

Recommended for sci-fi/fantasy fans. No graphic sex or violence.I also recommend Dervish is Digital, another sci-fi treasure by Cadigan.

Good, but lacking
Pat Cadigan definately has some great ideas for cyberpunk - mindplayers, custom personalities, all sorts of neat stuff - but she doesn't make a cohesive novel out of them. Each chapter or part of the book is its own little story; there's never any real tension or suspense, or plot.There was no real climax to the story, just a rather weak and contrived personal realization by the protagonist.
This would be okay if there was more depth to the setting. Beyond some nifty ideas, there is almost no detail. I don't really know what the characters look like, or what their surroundings are. It was like being blind.More detail and depth all around would have helped immensely. During the mindplaying sequences (which are very frequent) I could barely understand what was going on. It relies heavily on mental symbolism which isn't adequately explained.Her character's voice in the 1st person narrative is a good one, she just needs some more imagery to gloss over the weak plotting.
Greg Bear's Queen of Angels is a better book covering similar ideas.
If I could I'd give another half a star for all the gizmos, but the flaws count for a lot. Still, recommended as light reading!

Excellent reading!
Pat Cadigan's MindPlayers was one of the first "sci-fi" books I read, and I fell in love with it.All the characters have their own unique quirks and personality traits, but my favorite two characters were the twins, Dolby and Dolan.Each time I read Mindplayers, I find something that I missed the last time I read the book. The creative aspects of the characters is the best part of the story.It is noteworthy that almost every character within the book has an altered appearance; no one seems to be as they were at birth. Onionheads are especially interesting, although they get only a mention.Pat Cadigan has had to endure television and movie ripoffs of some of the details within Mindplayers, but this book remains a classic and the first of its kind.

One Of The Great Works Of Cyberpunk Science Fiction
Pat Cadigan made her mark in the 1980's as one of the finest writers of science fiction with her legendary short fiction and excellent novels such as "Mindplayers". Long out of print, this slender tome is one of the finest works of cyberpunk fiction; happily it is now back in print. Cadigan writes edgy, streetwise prose as carefully crafted as any by William Gibson; however, she does a better job in creating vivid, fascinating characters such as Deadpan Allie, the protagonist of "Mindplayers". Without a doubt, this could be a great psychological science fiction thriller akin to "Dark City" if anyone in Hollywood was clever enough to acquire the film rights to Cadigan's superb first novel. ... Read more

Product Description

Patterns is reminiscent ofRayBradbury's short stories, but with malevolent twists and psychoticturns that leave the reader waiting on tenterhooks for the final punchline. Fans of Cadigan's work will particularly enjoy the introductionsshe has written for each story. Those wanting to read her for thefirst time may find her novels a better introduction. --JhanaBach ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The best in mid-80s short science fiction
Another first collection, Patterns collects almost half of Pat Cadigan's short fiction from the last ten years. Cadigan writes from the dark underbelly of society, and she usually works in the impact of technology on her characters. It was this style that placed her within the Cyberpunk movement at the time. But Patterns shows that Cadigan's fiction centers more on people--it is the characters you remember from these stories, their problems, their horrors, their hopes--not ideas.

My favorite story here is "Rock On," a tale of music and ownership, the trap of job and ability. Gina, a synner (synthesizer), is on the run from her normal band, Man O'War. But Gina's problem is that she only knows how to syn, and that she loves it, even if she views it as a trap. Another author would have gone on to great detail about living synthesizers, yet Cadigan's focus is on Gina and her addiction/loathe for the job that she does so well. "Rock On" goes beyond any future punk posturings; instead, it is a metaphor for the last decades--caught in our good intentions, we are slaves to our livelihoods. (Cadigan's novel Synners is an expansion of this story.)

Then there's Martha, a businesswoman on her first trip to New Orleans in "It Was the Heat." Caught between being just one of the guys and herself, Martha's carefully created working mother persona melts under the hot sun, and she discovers that control is a delicate thing. And China in "My Brother's Keeper," the big sister from college who receives a goodbye postcard from younger brother Joe, the heroin user. She rushes back to save him, but finds that she needs to save herself.

As indicated above, Cadigan gives us the much needed female perspective in science fiction, and her style is such that it doesn't alienate male readers. If only more male writers could do the same for their female readers, science fiction could become the exciting prospect that was the hope of the cyberpunks. Until then, we should thank god that Cadigan is around to show what life, and literature, could be like. This collection is only recently available as a paperback (before it could only be had in an expensive small press edition); buy it now before it is out of print again.

excellent
You can't describe this collection of stories. They are all
magnificent. Buy this book.

Fun to read
I don't mean fun in the normal sense of fun, of course.Theses are not what anyone would call fun stories by any stretch of the imagination.

They resemble the works of Bradbury or Dan Simmons.Normal everyday events, somehow out of kilter a bit, or taking that half step behind the everyday to show... something else.

Not quite as brooding as Simmons, and not quite as adjective happy as Bradbury.Somewhere in the middle.

Overall, well worth reading, but they don't seem to fit in any particular genre.A little like this, a little like that.Horror maybe.But they're much too subtle to be horror.At least the conventional kind of everyday horror.

It hurts so good!
With the stories in this collection, Ms.Cadigan calmly and methodically rips your beating heart from your chest and shows it to you.She puts it back, but it doesn't feel quite the same any more.My initial reaction to most of these stories was "Oh god - we should warn somebody!" butthen I remembered - it's only a story.Or is it?Pat Cadigan just keepsgetting better and better!

Pat Cadigan the Queen of Cyberpunk
In this collection are some of the best cyberpunk stories around. It is good to see this book finally back in print. All will see why Pat Cadigan is a well respected writer of science fiction and in the sub genrecyberpunk. If you want to read good short stories with a bite, thenPatterns is the book for you. ... Read more

Product Description
When Marva, a Method actress, awakens in a hologram pool, carrying in her head the memory of a murder, she must think fast to find out whose life she is living and to elude the Escort Service assassins who are pursuing her. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Frightening Parable
In her first three novel-length forays into the world of cyberpunk, Pat Cadigan emerged with three distinct visions.

In her first novel, Mindplayers, she wrote a brilliant and deeply moving exposition of direct mind-to-mind contact in psychotherapy.

In her second novel, Synners, she produced an intricately plotted and fast-paced tale of corporate greed and governmental intrigue, underground resistance, and a threat to humanity's existence.

Now, in her third novel (actually a set of three closely-linked novellas), she has turned out a disturbing glimpse into a near-future struggle for human individuality.

In Fools, Ms. Cadigan plunges the reader in medias res into the mind of a young woman convinced of her being an actress who has franchised her personality to customers discontented with their own existence. Disconcertingly, she learns that the actress's acquaintances deny knowing her. To make matters worse, she recalls having killed someone or personal gain and somehow being connected with the hated Brain Police.

In the action flowing from the foregoing premise, our heroine, Marceline et al., risks her psychological integrity as she travels through her society's savage, schizoid underworld to bring justice to the victims of criminal mind-to-mind interlinks. Marceline et al. encounters/becomes/ceases to be an Escort who helps her clients kill no longer wanted personas, a memory junkie who gets high on parts of other personalities, and a mindsuck whose memories are illegally siphoned out of her for sale on the black market. On her mission she meets other pathological products of sociotechnological change, including a woman who turns the use of food into an unspeakable perversion. Throughout her odyssey Marceline et al. strives to answer a key question: "What are you but what you recall being?"

In conveying the immediacy of her heroine's experience, Ms. Cadigan has written one of the most complicated and challenging stories in sf's annals. Although she marks changes in viewpoint with changes of font, the reader will nonetheless need to pay close heed to every detail of the plot to follow its turns. (At one point the current viewpoint persona brings the complexity onstage as she thinks, "He was confused. I didn't blame him; I was starting to confuse myself.")

It is hard to imagine, though, how Ms. Cadigan could have simplified her story and still made it the frightening parable that it is. Her future is peopled, not wiht rational human beings who choose technologies for considered ends, but with empty or addictive personalities helplessly transformed by runaway technology into despoilers of the world at large. Seeing the harm that such personalities can cause with presentday technology, who would deny that they might do worse with more powerful technologies to come? In a way, the last sentence of Fools is as chilling as the last four words of 1984.

Confusing in Three Acts...
You start off with the main character.But she isn't the main character.She is one of the personalities within the main character.Or is she?
In a world of Brain Police, memory junkies, struggling actors and mind pirates a plot can get pretty twisted without help from the author.The story comes to us in three acts, three parts, which seem to be linked by the same main character.But with the switching of memories and, at one point, of bodies it makes it hard to truly understand what is going on.Maybe it is because this is a book set in a setting developed by an earlier book?Maybe if I read the earlier books or book, I will most likely understand what is going on?But in the end all I can say is I won't be reading anything else set in this world.

The cyberpunk equivalent of Sybil
The ending is what makes this book so satisfying. Fools is a novel about personality, how much is your own and how much is grafted on to you without your knowledge. Like Pat's other work, Fools is gritty and witty, pumped up on technology (high) and grifters (low). What she doesn't explore here--things like the actual workings of a mindplaying theatre group or the morality of being a Brain Police (shades of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly?)--just goes to show how much work and thought went into this book. It's a confusing book, kind of like reading Sybil except all the characters are multiple personalities. And it's the ending--the tying up of what (might have) went before into a coherent statement--that pushes this puppy to the top.

unreadable
The plot was so contorted I couldn't follow it. I want to be entertained by a book, not have a faceoff with it (and lose).

A wonderful challenge
Tired of books that insult your intelligence?This book is a challenge which matches the best fiction (not just Si-Fi) in creative thinking.Once you think you've got it figured out, there isn't just a plot twist - the whole world view shifts.I think its one of the best books written recently. ... Read more

Product Description
Jason Voorhees is resurrected in space and returns to what he does best; to slice and dice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A book you won't be able to put down
I was shocked when I found this in the bookstore.(One of my favorite experiences in life:finding unexpected treasures.)Anyway, I picked it up, skimmed a few pages, and was hooked.I plunked down my money and started reading it the second I got home.It was great!Ms. Cadigan is a great writer.It takes a good storyteller to turn a 93-minute movie into a 400-page book.

One thing I like about books based on movies:they have more time to go into more detail about the events and characters in them.I could tell from the movie that Professor Lowe was a moneygrubbing moron, but the book really fleshed out his motives and gave me a better understanding of his character.And Tsunaron and Janessa?It surprised me to learn that those two had more than two biological parents apiece.It boggles my mind to think we might actually be that clever someday.

I especially appreciated the insight into Brodski's past:joining the military when he was eight years old(!) with the absolute certainty that it was the best choice for him, the last time he saw his great-aunt, the loyalty he inspired in his troops.And he and Rowan stood a good chance of hooking up before Jason finally caught up to them.Oh, well......

And this book offered a compelling reason for why Jason is so hard to kill:He's the embodiment of a force that exists simply to kill, to wipe out all life wherever he finds it.As long as there's life of any kind in the universe, Jason will never die.

This is a good story and a wonderful companion piece to the movie. I know I like them both, and I know that a lot of others will too.I hope my review was entertaining, and may you all have good lives.

Super unrealistic !
Hay but what can u expect. It's Jason, u blow off his head (this happens in the book) and he's still not dead. The deaths were very original however.Like one girl gets sucked out of the spaceship when jason rips the wall open. If u saw the movie read it it'll explain some stuff that u were confused about (take the girl getting ripped out of the spaceship). Its a quick read but don't be ready to be impressed.Its just another old slasher flick. What u get is sex, stupid people, and gore.

The book not the movie
Since I am a fan of the Friday the 13th movies (got them all on VHS and DVD), I of course fell into this series and dropped the cash to read them. I need the occassional escape book that is nothing but fun to read, no deep plots or twists and turns, just brain jelly for the day. This book by Pat Cadigan seems to have been written directly off the movie. A few descrepencies but it is all there in print for you. The author then adds to it by developing backgrounds on Brodski and his grunts as well as Rowan and explains just why the heck there are teenagers running around in a spaceship. She also gives some reasoning to Jason's very limited thought processes which are enough to make sense without going overboard, I mean the guy is a walking slashing zombie killing machine now so how much can be going through his brain.

By no means is this the Great American Novel, it's not even the Good American Novel, but it is an entertaining read for those who are fans of the series. Those who aren't fans, just watch the movie, you'll get the same thing out of it in 1/4 of the time. It's an 80 minute movie versus an 8 hour read. For fans, check it out for backgrounds and then slip into the rest of the series.

Good Read for Fans of Jason and "Jason X"
I just finished reading "Jason X", and I have to say I liked it. It expanded the characters in the film to a more dimensional level, making their trials and tribulations (and deaths) more poignant. Stayed very true to the movie, and also gave very reasonable information and background for some of the things which the movie doesn't have the time to go into. I hope the future books in the "Jason X" series are as good.

this book was ok
I thought the book was good, but not as good as Jason X. The book dragged too much half way through it. I thought all the best parts were at the beginning when Jason was discovered in the lake then the book went down hill until the last three chapters. I hope the other Jason X novels and the Friday the 13th novels will be a lot better then this one. If I was a Jason fan I would skip this one. I was more SFI then Horror. ... Read more

Product Description
What would happen if the vastness of cyberspace was replaced by things surprising and strange?

Includes masters of speculative fiction:

Stephen Baxter, David Brin, Pat Cadigan, Paul Di Filippo, John Grant, David Hutchinson, Alex C. Irvine, Terry McGarry, John Meaney, Paul Melko, Mike Resnick & Kay Kenyon, Chris Roberson, Adam Roberts, Rudy Rucker, S.M. Stirling, Del Stone, Jr., Charles Stross, Matthew Sturges, and Michael Swanwick ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Very Uneven Anthology
The premise of this anthology is "What would a world without the internet be like?" Some are quite entertaining and inventive and others (notably David Brin and John Grant) are just boring.The majority are just readable and not really worth the time to discuss.

The Novella by John Meaney is the most complete but that may be because it's the only long story in the book and the length helps alot.Some of the writers seem to think that an abrupt ending (like a song that just stops) is how best to end a short story. IMHO it's not. A couple of the stories are just convoluted musings and go nowhere fast.

All in all Harlan Ellison has nothing to fear.

Zeb Kantrowitz

does not compute
This is a spotty collection. The premise -- a world without computers -- is certainly interesting. The antho, sadly, did not live up to its potential.

Some of the stories are excellent, thought-provoking, and moving: Alex Irvine's "Reformation," Del Stone Jr.'s "I Feed the Machine," and John Meaney's "The Swastika Bomb." A few were truly dreadful -- loosely related at best and/or more style than substance -- including a couple I couln't even make it through. Most were solid, but still dissapointing, on topic, but not credible as to how or why computers weren't in this world. One, John Grant's "No Solace for the Soul in Digitopia," was simply porn with (at its end) a veneer of alternate-universe's clothing.

The closest thing to a common thread was biotech of one sort or another replacing some functions of silicon computing, and the inherent differences of the two computing approaches. When done well (about half the time), that made for something to think about.

18 short stories diverge from the popular futuristic visions
Lou Anders edits Live Without A Net, a fine anthology of stories from masters of speculative fiction. 18 short stories diverge from the popular futuristic visions of a cyber-controlled future to consider alternative futures where cyberspace does NOT rule. Here you'll find winners by Brin, DiFilippo, and others who present startlingly different worlds.

A snapshot of the future of Science Fiction
This is an excellent compilation of stories.If you are interested in understanding how science fiction and fantasy are morphing into a new and facinating genre, then I highly recomend this book.It is a snapshot of the medium as it reaches a tipping point and shoots into the future.I have bought 4 books from authors whose short stories I read in this anthology.I highly recommend this book not only for the content, but also for the reading lists it will help you build.

A few gems, but very inconsistent.
Edited by Lou Anders, the sci-fi anthology Live Without a Net (all never-before-published stories, save one) imagines a variety of sci-fi-tinged worlds, future, past, and, present, in which IT, the Internet, and AI as we conceive of it do not exist. Introducing this limitation is an intriguing concept, and the end result is five or six very good stories, a bit of remarkable crap, and some filler.

The best stories are Adam Roberts' "New Model Computer," which puts an O. Henry twist on post-Singularity fiction; Michael Swanwick's "Smoke and Mirrors," an amusing set of short-shorts featuring the author's retro-Victorian rogues, Darger and Surplus; Charlie Stross' "Rogue Farm," David Brin's "Reality Check;" S. M. Stirling's PKD-style head-scrambler "The Crystal Method;" John Meaney's "The Swastika Bomb," a WWII spy epic in an alternate history of advanced biowarfare; and my pick for the best story of the book, Del Stone Jr's frightening doomsday cult scenario, "I Feed The Machine."

Unfortunately, most of the rest is unengaging filler or just plain awful. John Grant's "No Solace For The Soul In Digitopia" consists largely of painfully detailed descriptions of the narrator depositing his seed into his various parallel-Earth wives, and Grant is no better than most sci-fi writers when it comes to sexual matter. The most inexplicable inclusion of the anthology is Alex Irvine's "Reformation," which infuses some Islamic mysticism into a straightforward cyberpunk yarn about a hacker/Internet-revolutionary. Irvine's story completely breaks the "no Net" theme of the book and is terribly out of place. Best left undescribed are "Frek and the Grulloo Woods," Paul di Filippo's "Clouds and Cold Fires," and Dave Hutchinson's "All The News, All Time, From Everywhere."

I'd check this book out at a library for the good stories, but hold off on buying it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Highly Recommended
This collection is an unusually fine collection of stories, all by Pat Cadigan. The element that makes it exceptional is the synergy between the stories, the additional insights and connections that you make because you are reading the stories together.Several of these were stories I had read before, in magazines or other anthologies; in every case, I found new depths, new meanings, new illuminations of the weirdness of the human condition when I re-read them in the 'Cadigan context.' ... Read more

Product Description
Upgrade: Harassed mom Anna escapes from the mayhem of her all-too-real home life by fantasizing about an ideal family. But she didn't really expect to wake up one day and find they've been replaced by better versions of the people she once knew and loved... Sensuous Cindy: When a friend offers Ben a hot new kind of virtual reality program to check out, he finds himself enjoying the delights of Sensuous Cindy. But it isn't really cheating when you get it on with a computer program, is it? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Into the twilight
In this two story return to the twilight zone we have Upgrade, a story about a mother who wishes secretly that her family were just a little more refined, well sure enough she gets it and realizes maybe she didnt want that after all. While this story has great potential it falls just a bit short. It gets really old listening to her whine thats not my dog for the millionth time.
The second story Sensuous Cindy takes it up a notch with a really creepy tale of virtual reality gone wrong. Ben who is getting married is going celibate for a few months so someone takes pity on him and gives him the virtual game Sensuous Cindy. Cindy doesnt quite know when to stop though.
Pat Cadigan's trip into the Twilight Zone is definitely worth a rainy day afternoon.

Good, but not the original
Having missed most all of the newest incarnation of the Twilight Zone on UPN, I've never seen these two episodes, so I can't comment on how true they are to the shows. I CAN say that they are two good stories, though obviously not the original TZ. For one thing, Rod Serling would never have talked on and on at the beginning of an episode to set it up. Yes, he spoke for about 30 seconds, but then it was over and into the show. The rambling introduction to "Upgrade" was unnecessary to me. Still, the story managed to pull you into it fairly well. "Sensuous Cindy" was ok. Neither story really had the punch of the original, and if this is any indication of the quality of the shows on the new series, it's easy to tell why it got cancelled so quickly.

If you're a fan of the TZ and need a fix, this will do. If you're just getting into the series, try one of the Rod Serling originals first. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Cool stories, different styles
This anthology has something for everyone who likes vampire fiction and fantasy. From "The Silver Collar" which is a standard Gothic tale, to the horror of "The Sea Was Wet as Wet Can Be," to the satiric take on the cut-throat world of professional theatre called "...To Feel Another's Woe," there are so many kinds of vampires here and so many stories that are just good stories, that everyone should find something he or she likes. ... Read more

Product Description
In a city of false faces, who will discover your identity? Detective Lieutenant Dore Konstantin pursues criminals and identity crime in Artificial Reality. The heroine of Tea from an Empty Cup returns in a brilliant new novel by Pat Cadigan.Amazon.com Review
In Artificial Reality, everything is permitted and nothing is forbidden--or so they say. Run a con game in AR, and the law does not prosecute; have sex with a virtual child persona, and the police do not interfere. But infringe on a powerful corporation's copyright and the law rushes in. And so Detective Lieutenant Doré Konstantin unhappily finds herself appointed Chief Officer of the TechnoCrime AR Division. Virtual crimes are almost impossible to solve, her two-person staff is usually assigned elsewhere, and shespends so much of her life pursuing software pirates in AR that her sanity may be in danger. Things can't get any worse.

Then she is assigned to track a cyberstalker known as "Dervish," whose virtual persona is capable of manipulating AR in unprecedented ways. Konstantin reluctantly acknowledges Dervish's victim may be right: Dervish may have done the impossible. He may have traded places with an Artificial Intelligence, letting the AI take possession of his body as his mind escapes into the cyberverse of Artificial Reality, which he can manipulate as no software, even AI, ever could--impossible manipulations that include deleting all the exits from AR, and perhaps even killing the trapped investigator, Doré Konstantin.

Dervish Is Digital is the witty, sharp-edged, hardboiled sequel to the equally exciting and stylish SF mystery Tea from an Empty Cup. --Cynthia Ward ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Not Free SF Reader
Not bad, but not as good as the first novel, Tea From an Empty Cup.This is pretty much a stretched novella, I presume.The book is more of the same theme, exploring the problems of policing virtual worlds, especially when they can be in any country at any time.Then those doing the policing have to work out what is a crime, to start with.

Best Cadigan novel I've read since Mindplayers. 4.6 stars
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Picked this one up at the libe, after seeing a favorable comment somewhere. This will be an unusually disorganized "review", since I took some notes, browsed around online (finding nothing worthwhile), then witlessly returned the book before writing it up. So you'll be getting what was truly memorable...

Anyway, this is a sequel to Tea from an Empty Cup (which I haven't read), and is further hijinx in VR (here AR), which to my great relief doesn't include the (to me) odious Post-apocalyptic Noo Yawk Sitty (sic, and sicker). This one involves one Hastings Dervish, who is stalking his ex in cyberspace, and running Lt. Konstantin of the AR Police around in circles in the bowels of the casinos of digital Hong Kong. It's an sfnal police procedural, and a nice one.

Very crisp writing. Lots of lovely one-line zingers -- I'd quote you some, if I still had the book..."He morphs, he torques, he crawls on his belly like a reptile..." -- his ex, re the elusive Dervish, from a scribbled note to myself.

The ending is one of those where the book just stops, which actually works pretty well here. And the book is blessedly short. Recommended.

Incidentally, my fave Cadigan of all time is the wonderfully creepy short, "Roadside Rescue". Wham, bam, SLAM. Reprinted often, and worth looking for.

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman

Don't bother!
Bah!What an uninteresting piece of garbage.I have not failed to finish a book in about four years.This tripe will now reset the timer.The characters are flat, the plot absurd, the action stilted.I made it to page eighty-four, and that is that!Actually the best part of the book, up to where I gave up, concerned an arms deal gone bad.Even there, the writing was poor.

Well-written, but...
Cadigan is a writer of enormous talent. In this book she shows her talent for realistic characters, vivid description, and out-of-this-world settings. On top of all that, I'd have to rate her dialogue as some of the best out there - she's funny, and will engage you at every turn.

Unfortunately, this book came off as being rather convoluted. The ending was especially difficult to follow. It was wonderful to read, mind you, but plot-wise I have absolutely no idea what happened. There also seems to be an overall lack of action, which isn't always a bad thing, but here it leaves a distinct sense that something is missing.

Dervish is Amazing
Dervish is Digital is one of my favorite sci fi books.Itis classified by some as "cyberpunk."I don't really know what that genre means, but I recommend Dervish for anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, technology-heavy, mystery story.Konstantin, the main character, is a woman all women can relate to.Tough yet sensitive, aware of her flaws, she is human and engaging.

The world Cadigan created is mesmerizing.Nothing is what it seems.Her imagination is so fertile, her descriptive writing skills so honed, that you squirm with delight at each new incantation.This book is a puzzle, and not a breeze-through read, but it is immensely intriguing and has a smashing, powerful ending. ... Read more

Product Description

In The Ultimate Cyberpunk, editor Pat Cadigan takes readers through the evolution of this influential science fiction genre, from the groundbreaking forefathers of the field such as Alfred Bester and Philip K. Dick,to the founding members of the cyberpunk movement, such as William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, and forward through such innovators as Lewis Shiner and Rudy Rucker.

In this special collection, Cadigan presents the cyberpunk world, in which reality and virtual reality intersect. The growing impact of the Internet on our sense of community, the seduction of a world behind the screen, and the inherent dangers of a society in which any information can be hacked, stolen, and sold are some of the topics explored by our best cyberpunk writers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Some great tales, but a bad collection
I'm not sure why Pat Cadigan decided to edit yet another short story collection of cyberpunk and proto-cyberpunk. It certainly doesn't quite live up to the excellent literary quality found in the definitive collection "Mirrorshades" edited by Bruce Sterling or in William Gibson's "Burning Chrome" (Cadigan's collection reprints two stories from that volume, most notably the title story itself.). Nor does it try to explain exactly what the cyberpunk movement is or the origins behind it (For that, you should start with Larry McCaffrey's excellent edited volume of essays and short fiction, "Storming the Reality Studio".). But to her credit, she offers excellent fiction from the usual suspects, most notably Gibson, Sterling, Shirley and of course, herself. Notably absent is excellent short fiction from the likes of James Patrick Kelly, Neal Stephenson, Tom Maddox, or excerpts from the late George Alec Effinger's last notable body of work, a cyberpunk saga set in a politically resurgent Islamic Middle East. If you're interested in seeing some familiar examples of short cyberpunk fiction, then buy Cadigan's book. Otherwise, you're better off sticking with Sterling's anthologies and of course, Gibson's "Burning Chrome".

Excellent examples of cyberpunk
This book's cyberpunk stories from the masters to the newest makes one appreciate such complete books in this high tech genre of science fiction as: "Mona Lisa Overdrive", "Neuromancer", "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", "Cyber Hunter", and many more.

Nothing Useful Here
I thought about titling this review "Nothing New Here," but soon realized that I'd spend too much time defending the word choice. Of course there's nothing new in the book, it's an anthology. What I mean is that there is nothing to be gained from this book that cannot be gained from mirrorshades or any other Cyberpunk fiction collections that were released during the height of the movement in the mid to late 1980s.

My original review of the book mysteriously vanished. Here it is, resubmitted in hopes that it will remain this time.
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Pat Cadigan has developed a respectably lengthy body of work in the science fiction genre. She gained fame through her association with the Cyberpunk literary Movement of the 1980s and early 1990s. Despite her obvious involvement, she writes in her introduction to The Ultimate Cyberpunk that she is simply an "end-user" of the genre. This statement does little other than to nullify her authoritative claim in regard to selecting pieces for the anthology. Another curious observation she makes is that she feels that those who were in the "tribe" of the Cyberpunk Movement (hereafter CM) were of the same generation. Alfred Bester and Cordwainer Smith, whose stories Cadigan selected to appear at the front of the anthology, wrote the vast majority of their work years before the CM was even a vision. In fact, Smith died in 1966, during the height of the "hard SF" era of Heinlein, Asimov and Niven. Cadigan even explains that Bester was a source of inspiration for the 1960s Science Fiction New Wave, which explicitly disables him from being a part of the CM, especially when he, like James Tiptree, Jr. (also included in the anthology) died in 1987, when the CM was at its zenith. I suppose it isn't so far fetched to include Philip K. Dick who was arguably the most important and best known science fiction author, outside of Frank Herbert and Arthur C. Clarke. He was responsible for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), after all. But Dick died in 1982, never knowing what was to come in his wake. Furthermore, if Rudy Rucker was truly a member of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and John Shirley's generation, why, then has he been referred to as a Grandfather of Cyberpunk, not unlike Dick?

Cadigan perhaps anticipates remarks such as mine, creating an artificial group of defendants, who claim that "Cyberpunk itself is hardly anything new (Cadigan x)." It is here that she justifies her inclusion of Bester and Smith and the other previous era's authors. While this might satisfy some critics, it does not provide a strong enough reason for me. If she wanted to create an anthology of the stories leading up to and directly or indirectly causing the CM, then she should have done that. If she wanted to create a history of the CM, something which, 10 years removed from the end of the literary aspect, she could have done quite easily, she should have done so. She ought not to have tried to do both. She even makes mention of the fact that "there is no point in reprinting most of Mirrorshades," though she reprints both of John Shirley's and Lewis Shiner's pieces.

One selection she makes that I do agree with is Greg Bear's "Blood Music". I felt that the story showcased Bear's Cyberpunk leanings much better than "Petra" did, which was included in Mirrorshades. Sadly, none of the late George Alec Effinger's work makes it into the anthology. Of all the Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk era science fiction I have read, nothing speaks clearer to the aims of the movement as clearly and loudly as Effinger's Marid Audran trilogy. Sadly, Effinger never gained critical or peer acclaim, and some of the most well read science fiction fans wear a puzzled face at the mention of his name.

As with every CM anthology published to date, this book expectantly falls in line with the blatant fanaticism over the work of William Gibson. While Burning Chrome is a decent story, and one of the few actual pieces of Cyberpunk stuff in the collection, I was confused as to why only the second part of the Neuromancer graphic novel was published. The publisher, ibooks, could have probably secured the rights to publishing the other pieces. Instead, they leave those unfamiliar with Gibson's lackluster flagship title scratching their temples, and irritate the veteran fans of the genre by splintering the story.

The ibooks publishing house has made a living out of playing upon the nostalgia-storing areas of the brain, hiring second string authors to finish up manuscripts written by the masters, or to create stories based upon the universes of the science fiction grandmasters. The Ultimate Cyberpunk is no exception. It fails as both a documentation of a literary movement, and as a standard anthology, as the stories are too far apart in their publication dates to have any sense of unification.

There isn't any point in repackaging Mirrorshades, That's undeniably true. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Cadigan tried to do here tried to do, riding the coattails of the Internet and technology boom, while simultaneously creating one more outlet for her own stories and those of her pals, Sterling and Gibson.

Good Stories, Bad Collection
Pat Cadigan has developed a respectably lengthy body of work in the science fiction genre. She gained fame through her association with the Cyberpunk literary Movement of the 1980s and early 1990s. Despite her obvious involvement, she writes in her introduction to The Ultimate Cyberpunk that she is simply an "end-user" of the genre. This statement does little other than to nullify her authoritative claim in regard to selecting pieces for the anthology. Another curious observation she makes is that she feels that those who were in the "tribe" of the Cyberpunk Movement (hereafter CM) were of the same generation. Alfred Bester and Cordwainer Smith, whose stories Cadigan selected to appear at the front of the anthology, wrote the vast majority of their work years before the CM was even a vision. In fact, Smith died in 1966, during the height of the "hard SF" era of Heinlein, Asimov and Niven. Cadigan even explains that Bester was a source of inspiration for the 1960s Science Fiction New Wave, which explicitly disables him from being a part of the CM, especially when he, like James Tiptree, Jr. (also included in the anthology) died in 1987, when the CM was at its zenith. I suppose it isn't so far fetched to include Philip K. Dick who was arguably the most important and best known science fiction author, outside of Frank Herbert and Arthur C. Clarke. He was responsible for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), after all. But Dick died in 1982, never knowing what was to come in his wake. Furthermore, if Rudy Rucker was truly a member of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and John Shirley's generation, why, then has he been referred to as a Grandfather of Cyberpunk, not unlike Dick?

Cadigan perhaps anticipates remarks such as mine, creating an artificial group of defendants, who claim that "Cyberpunk itself is hardly anything new (Cadigan x)." It is here that she justifies her inclusion of Bester and Smith and the other previous era's authors. While this might satisfy some critics, it does not provide a strong enough reason for me. If she wanted to create an anthology of the stories leading up to and directly or indirectly causing the CM, then she should have done that. If she wanted to create a history of the CM, something which, 10 years removed from the end of the literary aspect, she could have done quite easily, she should have done so. She ought not to have tried to do both. She even makes mention of the fact that "there is no point in reprinting most of Mirrorshades," though she reprints both of John Shirley's and Lewis Shiner's pieces.

One selection she makes that I do agree with is Greg Bear's "Blood Music". I felt that the story showcased Bear's Cyberpunk leanings much better than "Petra" did, which was included in Mirrorshades. Sadly, none of the late George Alec Effinger's work makes it into the anthology. Of all the Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk era science fiction I have read, nothing speaks clearer to the aims of the movement as clearly and loudly as Effinger's Marid Audran trilogy. Sadly, Effinger never gained critical or peer acclaim, and some of the most well read science fiction fans wear a puzzled face at the mention of his name.

The ibooks publishing house has made a living out of playing upon the nostalgia-storing areas of the brain, hiring second string authors to finish up manuscripts written by the masters, or to create stories based upon the universes of the science fiction grandmasters. The Ultimate Cyberpunk is no exception. It fails as both a documentation of a literary movement, and as a standard anthology, as the stories are too far apart in their publication dates to have any sense of unification.

There isn't any point in repackaging Mirrorshades, That's undeniably true. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Cadigan tried to do here tried to do, riding the coattails of the Internet and technology boom, while simultaneously creating one more outlet for her own stories and those of her pals, Sterling and Gibson.

Not strictly Cyberpunk, but a good read
Cadigan herself bemoans the "Ultimate" title of this book. But the stories inside are amazingly fresh, especially considering the copyright dates on some of them. I found it interesting to first, read the stories, and then turn to the beginning of the book to check the copyright date. The roots of the Cyberpunk literary movement are all here! I highly recommend it to true cyberfans.
[webmail] ... Read more

Product Description
Lost in Space

Hopelessly lost in the trackless depths of interstellar space, the Jupiter Two, piloted by John and Maureen Robinson, is suddenly beamed aboard a starship the size of a small planet. Inside is a place beyond imagination where secret dreams can seemingly come true. Is this the Eden the Robinsons longed for when they first blasted off from a polluted, dying Earth?Or is it something more sinister? Are they honored guests--or helpless prisoners? The answer soon becomes clear as John and Maureen Robinson, their children, Penny, Will, and Judy, and their crewmates, the murderous stowaway Dr. Zachary Smith and swaggering fighter jock Don West, face their biggest challenge yet.

One of today's most popular authors, award-winning "Queen of Cyberpunk" Pat Cadigan gives an exciting new spin to science fiction's most popular series in this authorized original novel that continues the adventures of the Robinsons begun in the hit film Lost in Space. This all-new Lost in Space combines the nonstop thrills of the classic serieswith an exciting contemporary edge

Promised Land ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Well written but bland
I am not a big fan of the 1998 "reimagining" of Lost In Space.However I was curious to read this book and see if it captured either the flavor of the original show or the movie.I must say that the dialog patterns and charaterizations meshed perfectly with the movie take on the Robinsons and Dr. Smith.As I read the dialog I could hear Matt Leblanc and the rest of the cast in my head delivering the lines.The author did a great job here.However, the plot of the book left me a bit cold.It is basically a first contact story.There are many misunderstanding as the Robinsons meet members of an alien culture.That's about all that happens.If you want action you will have to look for it elsewhere.If you are a strong fan of the movie, this book is worth a read.If you prefer the original series and like action as opposed to philisophical debates, you can safely skip this book.

Intersting and lots of fun
Fans of the old and new will like these new books from Harper.I liked both this book and the audio version read by Bill Mumy.Of particular interest to me in this book was the psychological study of Smiths addictionto a drug he calls the Kiss and his "kicking it" at the end.Iwont tell you about what happens between him and Judy at the end, you'llhave to find out for yourselves!

WAY COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so glad that they came out with a series of books on this epic tale of space explores with their REALLY handsome pilot. I hope that there are a lot more to come:) A 16 yr. old reader

Interesting
I thought it was interresting on how there was a differant piont of thinking. I never new the charitars from the old sieries , but I think I like how Penny never changes, from her laser eyeshe,he, whell gotta go,but this book was good anuff so that I would whant to know when the nextone comes out so Ill see you there.

An easy read.
I thought this was a good book, and an easy read.It was a little confusing at first, what with the constantly change point of view.But after I quickly adjusted to that, it was quite enjoyable and veryimaginative.The plot was good too.The only thing I found weird was as Iwas reading, I pictured the old Don West instead of the new one.Everyother character was just like in the movie. ... Read more