I have a kind of specific fascination for proto-cyberpunk, generally stories that preceded the cyberpunk genre’s start and have most of the elements but aren’t quite there for one reason or another. I think it’s fascinating to see how these things form, to try to find strands of DNA through fiction. Writers, sometimes decades earlier, voicing the same complaints, identifying the same problems I associate specifically with cyberpunk.

The first one I thought I’d mention is a pretty safe bet: Frederik Pohl and C M. Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants

Written in 1952, this book has everything but the 1980s feel of a cyberpunk story: Megacities, corporate-states, corporate espionage, addiction-based-marketing, subscription-based-police, corporate citizenship in layers right down to indentured servitude, ecological collapse and a society that doesn’t care. Even the visuals of layered, overcrowded, continent-stretching cities.

But it feels like a 1950s science fiction story. It’s great; very slick and steeped in the language of marketing. That works awesome for it. But it doesn’t feel like a cyberpunk story.

I think that’s part of the reason I find looking at these precursor stories so fascinating. Cyberpunk discussions often fold in on ‘is this even cyberpunk?’ and it can be really interesting to see something that has so many of the elements but is still something else.

Obviously these are all just my opinions, and I’d love to hear anyone else’s on this book.

Oh, one last opinion: If you’re going to get a paperback, get the 1976 version, it looks great.