Brooders

Hardwired is a gritty underdog cyberpunk novel. I liked it.

While not quite the cyberspace cowboy style novels like “Neuromancer” and “Count Zero“, it does represent a dark future controlled by Orbital Blocs. These blocs control the pharmaceuticals and planetary wealth, and in the past have pounded the earth into submission by hurling meteorites at its surface. Everyone wants to ascend to the heavens (i.e. the blocs) to escape the rat race on earth.

The book almost has a Shadowrun feel to it. The focus on vehicle neural interface is somewhat similiar to the Shadowrun “Rigger”, as well as certain body weapons that are embedded. Other things like skill chips that a wired into peoples crystal.

Key Cyberpunk elements:

• Neural Interfaces for vehicles, phone and computer systems
• High drug use
• Underdogs doing illegal runs to make money
• Vast Mega Corporates – The orbitals, a power unto themselves and the stock market
• Body Modding – for performance
• Replacement organ and limb growth

One favourite quote in the book, refering to “the blocs” their meaning after ascension:

“They’re vampires, Cowboy. They’re sucking up Earth’s blood, because that’s what keeps them alive, but they don’t know what living is for.”

Also my other favourite quote from this book is about tears representin humanity, which I wrote about in “Tears represent humanity in Cyberpunk“.

This novel published in 1986 is well in the ripe cyberpunk fruit era, only a couple years after Neuromancer.

All in all, well worth the read. It’s dated reasonably well with nothing overtly obvious out of place.

Rating: 8/10