Software: Ware, Book 1

If you like William Gibson, you'll love this. Winner of the Philip K Dick Award & full of fun & freaky ideas. Short enough to zip through & compelling enough to leave you begging for more.

My edition of this starts with a gushing foreword by William Gibson, who hails Rucker as a 'natural-born American street surrealist, bordering at times on a practitioner of Art Brute. Rudy’s fiction has a much higher percentage of surrealism molecules than most fiction, science or otherwise... Rudy’s fiction is probably a bit too strong, in that regard, for some readers, but even the hard stuff, let me assure you, is an enjoyably acquired taste.' I adore surreal, leftfield sci fi and am always on the lookout for more authors that can deliver it, so Gibson really got me stoked for a wild ride ahead.Sadly, Software did not quite live up to the introductory hype. It was pretty good fun, but with none of the depth and expansiveness I anticipated, and a lot less wild surrealism than Gibson's cheerleading promised me. In the past few years I've sought out and greedily consumed some of sci fi's most bizarre, cutting edge, mind bending works, so perhaps this only felt tame to me in that context. Your mileage may vary. If Steve Aylett is a 10, Rucker's sitting more around a 5.Software felt like an easy read to me, the kind of book you could read outdoors on a sunny day with half your mind wandering and still not lose the plot, which definitely could not be said of some of the stuff I've been into recently. This is not necessarily a bad thing, depending what you are looking for. When the story takes slightly more interesting turns, Rucker often explicitly explains to the reader why something has just happened, rather than trusting us to figure it out ourselves; to me, this gave the book a slightly dumbed-down feel.Rucker is apparently known as one of the progenitors of cyberpunk, but Software feels more retrofuturist for me, with decidedly dusty, lo fi aesthetics. Everything has an almost naively analogue feel. The story takes place in the 2020s and the boppers are out to get 'brain-tapes' of the humans. Of course it was impossible for sci fi authors of the mid-to-late 20th century to anticipate the rapid technological advances of the past 30 or so years... though the truly clever ones found ways to mitigate this (e.g. the consciously explained low technology of Frank Herbert's Dune series).To my mind, an indicator of truly great sci fi is whether it can be read decades later and still feel relevant. This is of course true of all fiction to a greater or lesser extent, but in a genre that deals so heavily in imagining future worlds and technology it is a particularly desirable quality. Sadly, Software did not meet this criterion for me, and not just because of the technological aspects.If you'd asked me to guess, I'd say this novel could have been written in the late 60s or 70s. In fact, Software was written in 1982, the year of my birth (oof), but Rucker is clearly a product of that earlier era (which Gibson also mentions in the preamble). He uses a lot of 'hip and zany' language - robots are called boppers, for example - and the whole thing has an early TV sci fi or retro comic book plastic cartoonishness to it. One of the two central characters, Sta-Hi, is an edgy gonzo druggy type ripped straight from late 60s counterculture. It's a type I'm a bit tired of and don't find particularly edgy or exciting any more.There were a few cringeworthy moments where the book really showed its age. Sta-Hi merges with a piece of technology called a Happy Cloak and for no particular reason (other than we're presumably meant to find it hilarious) starts speaking in a painful-to-read mock-Chinese accent. To my shame I can recall laughing at this kind of thing as a child in the 80s, and this was a reminder to me just how far we've come ('Happi Croak! Alla same good, ferras! Something rike yellyfish!' Yikes...)Aside from the casual racism for comic effect, Rucker also seems unwilling or unable to write female characters. Every woman in this book is a walking stereotype, underdeveloped, unsympathetic and one dimensional, and mostly only present so he can provide a few sexy interludes for the male leads.I do not regret reading Software, but I think I'll set aside the other books in this series for now and go back to contemporary sci fi writers now for a while.

Alt aber gut...

How did I miss out reading this all these years?!! This was mind a far easier read than Neuromancery and in my opinion more entertaining to read. Right up to the very last sentences this book entertained me! I even found myself going back and skimming the book just fun which I never do! If you are interested in the cyberpunk genre but fear it is difficult to read (maybe because Neuromancer, as in my case, was difficult) FEAR NOT! This is a light read. But whe. You sit down and think ablut the ideas, there are some very philosophical concepts that really make you thing... what is it to be human... what are we... what is consciousness... is jt just software? Or is it a combination of hardware and sofware (body/mind)?You can read this FREE, legally! Because Rudy Rucker is an awesome person! I purchased all four books. #2 I am reading electronically while my purchased copy is mailed out.

I'd never heard of Rudy Rucker until I found (tattered, on the sidewalk, by complete chance!) a volume with a short story of his in it. The story blew me away--it was so juvenile and refreshing and irreverent and yet dealt with some pretty serious and interesting higher brow concepts. I immediately ordered a copy of Software and was not disappointed. Software is playful and serious at the same time and a great starting point for anyone interested in reading Rucker's fiction. He reminds of some Stanislaw Lem or Philip Dick (yeah, I know everyone says that). I could not put this book down and devoured the sequels just as quickly. I recommend Rucker to everyone I know that has a smidgeon of good taste.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy.What can I say?This is the genius that gave me Frek and the Elixir.I am forever in his debt.This is a toothsome frolic, all the more wonderful when one considers is was penned almost 40 years ago!Many imitators, only one Rucker, P.K.D.'s apparent grandchild.

Aufgegriffen sind die Cyperpunk-Motive "Künstliche Intelligenz" sowie die Idee, den Verstand eines Menschen in eine Maschine zu packen. Liest sich ganz flott.