"You flip the page. You've been drawn into the future, more vivid in your mind's eye than it ever will be on screen. Deeper and more compelling than the screen because it doesn't have to fit into a time slot. Characters rise from the page clad in cybernetic prosthesis and trench coats as they walk the dystopic neon lit streets."

In this section you will find reviews and analysis of cyberpunk books, graphic novels, short stories, and other written media.

If you have any questions, ideas or submissions, please get in touch using hello(at)neondystopia.com.

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‘I love you Big Brother’: A Review of 1984 (film)

‘If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.’ – George Orwell, 1949. I’ve been wanting to write this for a long, long time now. Ever since I’d written my review on George Lucas’ THX 1138, Michael Radford’s interpretation of 1984 has been on my mind (especially after […]

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Last Week in Cyberpunk 6/16/17

Crowdfunding is a distributed fundraising system that closely mimics the ethos of the open source movement and that of the hacker mindset. It then comes as no surprise that many cyberpunk projects would take this approach to funding, and there are a lot this month! Meanwhile in the dystopian now, crackdowns on encrypted communications and […]

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Seoul, Cybercity of our Dreams

One of the many singular delights of new Netflix movie Okja, the first new film from visionary auteur Bong Joon-ho since his cyberpunk classic Snowpiercer, is that it’s nice to finally see a mainstream sci-fi depiction of Seoul from a South Korean. The last time we saw a cinematic chase scene set in Seoul was in Avengers […]

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Last Week in Cyberpunk 5/20/17

Chelsea Manning is free, Julian Assange has had the charges against him dropped, and the war against transparency has never been stronger. No wonder there is a resurgence in popular culture of the cyberpunk ethos. Cyberpunk Reality Chelsea Manning Free Chelsea Manning took her first steps as a free woman on Wednesday, May 17th. This […]

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First Impressions of The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the 1985 dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood and currently airing as a Hulu exclusive, is a 10-episode series by writer and creator Bruce Miller. Its story captures the never ending struggle for rights and control over our own lives with stunning visuals and a depth that doesn’t allow you to label […]

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Evolving into Sentience: Frankenstein, Ghost in the Shell, and The Man of the Crowd

“Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone.” -Jean La Bruyere, quoted by Edgar Allen Poe in “The Man of the Crowd.”   “Everybody need a partner to stand right by their side.” -Will Smith song “Potnas”   The plot of the 2004 film I, Robot, revolves around two robots that have […]

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Last Week in Cyberpunk 5/6/2017

There is a whole host of news relating to cyberpunk movies this week, some have officially died and some have moved forward, some have been resurrected. Reality, as always it seems, has ignored the warnings of cyberpunk and stepped gingerly into our cyberpunk future. Cyberpunk Reality NYPD Raises Privacy Concerns Over Use of Facial Recognition […]

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Books & Fiction
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‘This is no game’: A Review of The Running Man

It has been a long week. After the disappointment that was Ghost in the Shell, I had to perk myself up with a classic—The Running Man. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, The Running Man rounds off my reviews for previous sports-themed cyberpunk films (Rollerball and Death Race 2000). Ostensibly, it doesn’t appear too cyberpunky, but […]

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Books & Fiction
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Cyberpunk Through A Woman’s Mirrored Lens

Science fiction, cyberpunk included, has always been a bit of a boys club. Think of the names that we most readily associate with the genre. William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson, and the list goes on. Women have been part of the cyberpunk movement since the beginning, though. Pat Cadigan’s name is the most synonymous […]

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