Biopunk?

[Crusader]

I'm busy with a sci-fi reading challenge and one of the challenges is to read a Biopunk novel. The problem is that I can't seem to find a definitive definition on what Biopunk actually entails.

The definition I found was "(n.) [biology + cyberpunk] a subgenre of science fiction which explores the societal effects of biotechnology and genetic engineering. "

Now using that definition something like Robert J. Sawyer's Rollback fits the bill. However someone has remarked that Biopunk needs some kind of resistance movement or oppressive government/corporation.

Now I'm totally confused. Thoughts?

[DixieGal]

The Book of Adam is exactly what you want. And you will not be able to put it down. It was fascinating to me. I got mine at Amazon.

[boydcarts]

I can't help w/ a definition, but based on your criteria I'd suggest Nancy Kress. I think "Beggars in Spain" fits the bill, and it looks to be widely available. I'll admidt I haven't read the book, but I've read several of her other books and quite enjoyed them.

[ardeegee]

The Windup Girl should work.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

The Windup Girl should work.

Second "The Windup Girl".

(love your avatar)

[poohbear_nc]

Possibly Crache (Mark Budz) or Peter Watts trilogy?

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Second "The Windup Girl".

(love your avatar)

It is from a painting by Mark Ryden:

http://www.markryden.com/paintings/index.html

[ATDrake]

Ooh. Social consequences of genetic engineering/technological uptake is one of my favourite subgenres.

If your reading challenge insists on the corporations/resistance element, then the following will fit the bill:

Nancy Kress. A lot of her work. Domain squatters have taken the obvious URL, but her official webpage can still be found here.

Beggars in Spain is mentioned above. I found it far more satisfying in the original novella version (available in Kress' collection Beaker's Dozen, which has a good many more similarly themed stories). But the trilogy that expands upon it is quite decent reading, even if the last book kind of goes off on a tangent.

If you'd prefer a standalone book, or like to have a thriller/conspiracy element mixed in, then her novel Maximum Light should suit, although frankly, it's kind of at the mid-level of her writing as far as I'm concerned. However, she is a frequent Hugo/Nebula nominee/winner, so that should put to rest any doubts this might raise about overall quality.

Peter Watts is also mentioned above. I second this recommendation and not only will the Rifters Trilogy fit your bill, he offers his works free under a Creative Commons license on his website, which doesn't seem to have hurt his sales.

Since you can't get to a synopsis without basically downloading the entire book when the huge HTML finally loads in your browser window, I'll offer one here: Starfish starts off with emotionally damaged humans modified and exploited to make perfect undersea workers for corporate interests coming across a ticking timebomb of genetic potential. Hilarity ensues The outlook for humanity gets worse from there, as the corporations scramble in response.

Brian Stableford. Like Nancy Kress, a lot of his work is built around this theme, a good chunk of which is placed under the umbrella "universe" of his Biotech Revolution. There's six novels printed by Tor which are set specifically in this world, but I've always found the original short stories/novellas which were expanded into the novels to be better reads, in my opinion. If your library has a good selection of those Gardner Dozois-edited "Year's Best Science Fiction" volumes, many of his key Biotech Revolution stories are collected there.

I especially recommend "The Magic Bullet" (YBSF 7), "The Pipes of Pan" (YBSF 15), and most of all, "Les Fleurs du Mal" (YBSF 12), which is also an excellent retro-futuristic murder mystery.

Some of Stableford's work is available DRM-free and MultiFormat via Fictionwise, including his short story collection, The Great Chain of Being and other tales of the Biotech Revolution which collects what you'd expect and is only $2.99 (less with this weekend's 30% off Fictionwise coupon in the Deals forum, although you can wait to see if FW offers another 50% coupon for the holidays or whatever).

Of the Tor novel expansions, The Cassandra Complex and Architects of Emortality are closest to your criteria. I'd go with TCC because it's truer to "The Magic Bullet" and I really liked "Les Fleurs du Mal" which AoE was based upon and felt that the expansion just basically padded it out unnecessarily while adding a superfluous third-wheel character.

Joan D. Vinge's Tiamat Cycle is perhaps the ultimate expression of this theme, though the corporate/resistance you want doesn't really kick in until World's End/The Summer Queen. And if you want something set on Earth, in the near-future, it may be a bit too far in range for your reading tastes. But it's excellent and Hugo/Nebula award-winning (and multiply-nominated for several of the volumes).

On a lower-key, her "Cat" series is broadly similar in theme, with a half-alien psychic teenager being pressed into use by special interests, and even though it's the second book, Catspaw is a good starting point as well as having the most corporate involvement/depiction of societal effects/underground resistance. Again, set off-planet.

Some of the above may not be all that easy to find in e-book format, so I also tentatively suggest without really recommending Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, which is commonly available.

However, while Atwood is a very good and award-winning prose stylist and I consider her earlier The Handmaid's Tale to be truly excellent, for a near-future sf dystopia arising from backlash against genetic meddling by corporate interests, I found OaC to be disappointly cliché and unimaginative, riddled with poorly-employed standard "tampering with nature is e-e-e-evil!" tropes and the author showing off her cleverness via CutesyCamelCaseProductNaming rather than by showing believable outcomes to an interesting setup.

But your mileage may vary and this one has been nominated for a number of awards. General literary ones, not science-fiction, though. And both Robert J. Sawyer and Peter Watts both have essays up on their websites about the problems with OaC's premise and execution from a science-fictional standpoint.

Incidentally, while you're at Robert J. Sawyer's site, take the time to read his award-winning novella, free in the Short Stories section, "The Hand You're Dealt" to get a near-perfect encapsulation of the genetic engineering/social consequences/establishment resistance themes you want. Also "Identity Theft", though that's more a hardware replacement issue kind of story.

[boydcarts]

I thought Oryx and Crake was excellent, and I read Year of the Flood in one daylong feast. I guess I didn't suggest them because I don't really consider them "Science Fiction" (though I fully understand others will).

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Peter Watts is also mentioned above. I second this recommendation and not only will the Rifters Trilogy fit your bill, he offers his works free under a Creative Commons license on his website, which doesn't seem to have hurt his sales.

Only slightly off-topic, but thanks to this link i visited the site, downloaded the four books available and then noticed a PayPal button and dropped $10 into his account. Not much for 4 books, but I could afford it.

Just received a very nice thank-you from Mr. Watts with the following comment:

I'm still kind of blown away that people feel motivated to shell out bucks when they don't have to.

Nice to surprise an author with the fact that there are still folks willing to pay for their efforts, even when they could have had them for free.

[DixieGal]

I hope those books captivate you as much as they did me. The 3 "Starfish" books were my faves of 2008.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

The Book of Adam is exactly what you want. And you will not be able to put it down. It was fascinating to me. I got mine at Amazon.

I found this very thought provoking. It can be found at smashwords also.

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

<snip>Peter Watts trilogy?

Originally Posted by ATDrake

<snip>
Peter Watts is also mentioned above. I second this recommendation and not only will the Rifters Trilogy fit your bill, he offers his works free under a Creative Commons license on his website, which doesn't seem to have hurt his sales.

Originally Posted by DixieGal

I hope those books captivate you as much as they did me. The 3 "Starfish" books were my faves of 2008.

These are available right here, in MobileRead's Patricia Clark Memorial Library, for free (lrf, prc, imp ) and at feedbooks for free (epub, kindle, etc) .