this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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First of all, come join us at !cyberpunk@lemmy.zip !
Second, if you're really asking "how has cyberpunk been updated for the modern era" then I recommend reading William Gibson's The Peripheral. It's Gibson's return to the cyberpunk genre with some updated ideas. It was also turned into a (cancelled) Amazon Prime series.
Otherwise, I think Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan was the best "recent" cyberpunk book (2003). After that, I'd argue the most popular cyberpunk book was Ready Player One in 2012. But let's say that book is "divisive" at best. It was also turned into a movie directed by Steven Spielberg.
Not every year will receive a masterpiece of the genre. We'd be lucky to get a masterpiece in a decade now that cyberpunk is really no longer part of the zeitgeist and is an aging genre from the 1980s. To be honest, most cyberpunk these days are just pulp novels from indie artists on the Kindle store and aren't exactly deep or philosophical. I mean, these days, I'm mostly finding books like Jack: Into The Beanstalk or the Cyberpunk City series. They're fun, but not exactly "literature".
If you like your cyberpunk with a heavy dose of hard-boiled detectives, Bang Bang Bodhisattva is a cyberpunk novel where the main character is trans. That's something you wouldn't find in most older cyberpunk works.
There's also Titanium Noir, which I haven't read. I think that one leans more into scifi mystery than cyberpunk though, just from the description.
A trans protagonist definitely has me sold, though detective-wise it depends on whether it's just functioning as pro-cop propaganda.
Bang Bang Bodhisattva is definitely not pro-cop propaganda. It really does follow the hard-boiled detective mold where they're basically vigilantes trying to solve a crime because the police force isn't helpful.
But, if you're interested in trans characters in cyberpunk novels, I also made this post about a year ago. And while I haven't read it, I also heard about Hammajang Luck, which I guess is a queer cyberpunk novel that includes a lot of Hawaiian culture.
You have Escapeology listed in your linked post and that's the exact novel I was coming into the comments to recommend. I've never seen another person mention that book before.
Always interested in books with trans/enby characters (well... that aren't the tired serial killer/etc. demonization), will check those out!