The Big Book(s) of Cyberpunk

First up, some exciting news.

The Big Book of Cyberpunk is finally landing on British soil, and with an audible thud. A pair of thuds, in fact.

It looks like this:

And this:

There’s a lot going on here, but the highlights are:

• The Book has been split into two volumes, each around 900 pages

• Those volumes are hardcovers

• One of them has a cat on the cover, meaning I’ve levelled up as a Science Fiction Person

The illustrations are by the rather spectacular Danguiz, an Italian visual artist who does, well, stuff like this (waves at awesomeness).

The one volume, super-sized American version is undeniably spectacular, with its two-column layout and shelf-crashing majesty. But there’s also something really nice about this classic construction, and two hearty-but-slightly-more-portable books.

The UK also let me do a wee bit of fiddling for this edition! For example, there’s a brand new introduction for the second volume and a new appendix of ‘recommended further reading’ - something I’ve been dying to add.

The Big Book/s of Cyberpunk release/s in the UK on 2 May 2024. You can pre-order copies now through all the usual suspects, including:

• Amazon (Volume 1, Volume 2)

• Blackwells (Volume 1, Volume 2)

• Bookshop.org (Volume 1, Volume 2)

• Foyles (Volume 1, Volume 2)

• Hive (Volume 1, Volume 2)

• Waterstones (Volume 1, Volume 2)

• WH Smith (Volume 1, Volume 2)

Or, best of all, your local independent bookshop.

If you’re not in the UK, you can still enjoy The Big Book of Cyberpunk as a single (cat-less) volume.

Anne and I share a regular column in ParSec called “In the Weeds”, talking about some of the challenges and opportunities in publishing. This issue’s cold take talks about how the industry (and the media) prays on authors’ insecurities, and how that can lead to some very bad decisions.

And proud to see that The Big Book of Cyberpunk has earned a place on the Locus Recommended Reading List.

And delighted to see the read-along continues over on Reddit.

And also amazed at the size of this Cyberpunk Humble Bundle. (And also peeved: when I was researching The Big Book, I tracked down a lot of these on eBay and, well, now they’re all here. And it is cheap and convenient. Very rude.)

And excited to be talking cyberpunk with Anne at the Village Well next Thursday evening. Please come along if you’re in the area!

What I’m reading (online):

• The amazing story and work of Victor Dubreuil, the thief(?) turned artist(!) turned counterfeiter(?).

• An absolutely astounding collection of knowledge, as the What Works Centre for Wellbeing wraps up (woe), they’ve tidied up all their research and insight into a single place. Includes guidance on evaluation and metrics, a massive evidence base, and, of course, their store of knowledge of ‘what works’ in promoting and protecting individual and collective wellbeing. The Centre will be well-missed.

• SPACE LAW is a real thing, and a really important one.

• “Reading the wall labels is like you're trying to have a conversation with the artwork, but someone keeps interrupting.” - a delightfully snarky look at the elitism of the art world

• Imagining the future of libraries.

• “Yet if there is one lesson this war should have taught us, it is that no present reality or narrative is nearly as solid as it seems.” - a journalist reflects on the ‘war of narratives’ in Ukraine.

• Where is the ‘heart of London’?

• Yet another look into Facebook’s dodgy safety practices.

• “Robo-dinosaur scares grasshoppers” is a great headline. But it is for SCIENCE!