Gary Westfahl: William Gibson (2013)

“The leading figure in the development of cyberpunk, William Gibson (born in 1948) crafted works in which isolated humans explored near-future worlds of ubiquitous and intrusive computer technology and cybernetics. This volume is the first comprehensive examination of the author of the seminal novel Neuromancer (and the other books in the Sprawl trilogy, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), as well as other acclaimed novels including Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History. Gary Westfahl draws upon extensive research to provide a compelling account of Gibson’s writing career and his lasting influence in the science fiction world.

Delving into numerous science fiction fanzines that the young Gibson contributed to and edited, Westfahl delivers new information about Gibson’s childhood and adolescence. He describes for the first time more than eighty virtually unknown Gibson publications from his early years, including articles, reviews, poems, cartoons, letters, and a collaborative story. The book also documents the poems, articles, and introductions that Gibson has written for various books, and its discussions are enriched by illuminating comments from various print and online interviews. The works that made Gibson famous are also featured, as Westfahl performs extended analyses of Gibson’s ten novels and nineteen short stories. Lastly, the book presents a new interview with Gibson in which the author discusses his correspondence with author Fritz Leiber, his relationship with the late scholar Susan Wood, his attitudes toward critics, his overall impact on the field of science fiction, and his recently completed screenplay and forthcoming novel.”

Publisher University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL 2013
Modern Masters of Science Fiction series
ISBN 9780252037801, 0252037804
xi+210 pages
via jl

Reviews: Benjamin Gabriel (Strange Horizons, 2013), D. Harlan Wilson (Extrapolation, 2013), Michael M. Levy (Science Fiction Studies, 2014), Lars Schmeink (Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts, 2014).

Publisher
WorldCat

PDF (43 MB)

Benjamin Noys: Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism (2014)

“We are told our lives are too fast, subject to the accelerating demand that we innovate more, work more, enjoy more, produce more, and consume more. That’s one familiar story. Another, stranger, story is told here: of those who think we haven’t gone fast enough. Instead of rejecting the increasing tempo of capitalist production they argue that we should embrace and accelerate it. Rejecting this conclusion, Malign Velocities tracks this ‘accelerationism‘ as the symptom of the misery and pain of labour under capitalism. Retracing a series of historical moments of accelerationism – the Italian Futurism; communist accelerationism after the Russian Revolution; the ‘cyberpunk phuturism’ of the ’90s and ’00s; the unconscious fantasies of our integration with machines; the apocalyptic accelerationism of the post-2008 moment of crisis; and the terminal moment of negative accelerationism – suggests the pleasures and pains of speed signal the need to disengage, negate, and develop a new politics that truly challenges the supposed pleasures of speed.”

Publisher Zero Books, 2014
ISBN 1782793003, 9781782793007
130 pages

Publisher

EPUB, EPUB (updated on 2019-6-9)

Honza ‘Klokánek’ Šípek: Zásek do živýho (1999/2012) [Czech]

Jaké je české digitální podsvětí? Kdo jsou hackeři? Zbojníci či vandalové? Co dovedou? Proč dělají své odvážné kousky? Jací jsou policisté, kteří je pronásledují? Firmy, vlády, velké společnosti, špionážní služby, státní správa, banky, komunikační satelity – je vubec něco v bezpečí?

“Tenhle text jsem napsal na gymplu v roce 1999 z okouzlení ‘jánošíkovskou’ hackerskou scénou. Plánoval jsem ‘jednou’ ji rozšířit do podoby knihy, ale jak tomu bývá, to ‘jednou’ jsem odkládal tak dlouho, až nikdy nepřišlo. Neboť po webu kolujou různé verze tohoto textu, a navíc se zdá, že o hackerské scéně v daném období toho dneska už moc dohledat nejde (zvláště o skupinách SERT a CzERT), zveřejňuju ji aspoň v nejucelenější dobové podobě, i když je možné, že se věci staly jinak, než píšu, a že bych se dneska za text v jeho naivitě už styděl, nebo se nad ním minimálně poušklíbal. Ale stejně asi stojí za existenci.

As is, no warranty, own risk, atd.

V roce 2012 byl text připraven k webovému vydání a doplněny některé Pajkusovy poznámky s odstupem let.” (author)

119 pages
via gnd

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