Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk appeared in the beginning of the 80s. The word was probably from Bruce Bethkes novel "Cyberpunk".

Gardmer Dozois used the word to describe that kind of stories that authors like Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Rudy Rucker, and Lewis Shiner wrote.

In cyberpunk much of the stories takes place in the fantastic world of computers, the world that is much more living than the real world that suffers from air pollution and decay. The world is run by multinational comapnies rather than governments.

William Gibson's debutnovel "Neuromancer" (1984) made the term commonly known.

Famous movies in the genre of cyberpunk are "Blade Runner" (1982), "Videodrome" (1983) and Johnny Mnemonic.

SF can be divided into different groups regarding on how much technology that is present.

Hard SF is the term for stories that are built on science, where explanations are given in a reliable way rather than imaginative. Technology plays a big part.

Soft SF contains more fuzzy science, the stories are built on human phsycology and human emotions. New Wave is often Soft SF, while Cybernetics are more of Hard SF. Cyberpunk, that was evolved out of New Wave, is in something of a shadowland between Hard SF and Soft SF.

Books at Amazon.co.uk (Europe):

Neuromancer

Headcrash, Bruce Bethke

Islands in the Net, Bruce Sterling

Wetware, Rudy Rucker

Books at Amazon.com (USA):

Neuromancer

Headcrash, Bruce Bethke

Islands in the Net, Bruce Sterling

Software, Rudy Rucker