Retro-review: Synners, Fools, Mind Players, Tea from an Empty Cup - Pat Cadigan

Yes, 4 books in a single review! They're all going, and I can't remember much about them as it's probably 20 years since I read them last. Which is a good enough reason to get rid of them! I should be clear, these are not bad books. They were fine to read, they just... didn't speak to me, didn't stick in my memory.

I had a "try to read cyberpunk sci-fi" phase, before eventually concluding that the genre of "good cyberpunk literature" was basically limited to the writings of William Gibson. "Cadigan is a major talent -- William Gibson" on the covers sold me initially, but I'm feeling less generous now.

The books range in their "playing with minds" technology, and more or less amounts of cyberspaces, murders, low life/high tech, Japan etc. If this makes them sound like paint-by-numbers cyberpunk affairs, they're anything but. Cadigan clearly makes her own worlds, puts her own imprint on it all. There's a refreshing lack of Tarantino violence. These are not undifferented carbon copy worlds like Altered Carbon.

All in all, a gentle shrug for a set of books that just aren't me.

Posted 2022-09-07.