TEXT View source
# 2025-05-07 - Mirrorshades Cyberpunk Anthology
IMG Margaret Bucci Wearing Mirrorshades (1943)
Mirrorshades is a cyberpunk anthology published in 1986 and posted
free on the web in 2022. Three years later, i finally got around
to reading it. I thoroughly enjoyed some of the stories, especially
The Gernsback Continuum by William Gibson and Tales of Houdini by
Rudy Rucker. Many of the stories had a retro-anachronistic flair
despite having cutting edge writing styles. This gives a wonderful
contrast of function over form.
I loved the point in The Gernsback Continuum about the glamor of
technology, the hype being a surface-level stage prop for people to
pretend that they are living in the future, but hidden just below
the surface are Victorian mechanisms, such as the noisy floppy drive
motor in the author's then cutting edge personal computer. The
author alludes to the eugenist tendencies of technocracy and the
cold comfort of really knowing that as bad as this timeline is, it's
just a hair's breadth away from being so very much worse.
Tales of Houdini was just rip-roaring fun. But behind all the
special effects lies some serious sleight of hand. The story is
deeper than it first appears.
Speaking of retro references, i found an interesting blog post
about that 1943 photo at the beginning of this log entry.
HTML The Eye Wear of the Beholder
The title of this book also brings to mind the Information Society
song Mirrorshades. The lyrics are totally cyberpunk material, and are
probably a reference to Molly Millions, a character by William Gibson.
HTML Mirrorshades by Information Society (1990) (requires javascript)
TEXT Molly Millions
Molly Millions is a "razorgirl" or "street samurai". I found an
excellent spoof of this cyberpunk archetype.
TEXT Cyberpunk Parody (aussies.space)
TEXT Cyberpunk Parody (local copy)
Last but not least, i'd like to give a nod to Ralf Wause's phlog post
titled The Real Cyberpunk. You, dear gopher reader, are The Real
Cyberpunk, the living dream that art has been intimating at. By
investing your attention into the smol Internet, you are nursing the
embers of open culture against the stark backdrop of corporate
domination.
TEXT The Real Cyberpunk
See Also:
DIR The Marching Morons by C. M. Kornbluth
author: Sterling, Bruce
TEXT detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Mirrorshades
LOC: PS648.S3
HTML source: https://www.rudyrucker.com/mirrorshades/
tags: ebook,sci-fi
# Tags
DIR ebook
DIR sci-fi