Me too. I desperately want to like this movie but I’m not optimistic.

and that modern takes would either ultimately be throwback fanservice, or something so wildly different that it couldn’t even be considered cyberpunk anymore

I think this is where we’re at, yeah. If a novel actually fits the hard definition of “cyberpunk” then it’s most likely using that cliched setting of a retro-futuristic 1980s. And yet if it includes all the aspects of our modern dystopia then it just becomes “near future” and not cyberpunk anymore.

Does Gibson’s style differ in “The Peripheral” compared to “Neuromancer” though?

Yes, absolutely. As genre-defining as it was, Neuromancer was actually Gibson’s first novel. He has grown a lot as a writer since then and I think The Peripheral is much more approachable.

I had originally posted a more long-winded version of the OP in !cyberpunk@lemmy.zip but it was with my now-deleted piefed account

Did the post not go through? Did you delete it? I’m sorry you weren’t able to make the post there. I’m definitely open to more book-specific discussions, but the majority of that community is just me shouting into the void and I haven’t had anything to say about books recently. Feel free to post there!

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.

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.

The Avery Cates series is fantastic! It has a really fun dark humor to it with first-person narration.

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”.