Over the past month, we’ve been spoiled with a number of cyberpunk books, from thrilling action cyberpunk novels, a crime investigation thriller, YA dystopia, and more. Below we take a look at August’s cyberpunk and dystopia book releases.
Freerunner
The month kicked off with the release of C.K. Miller’s cyberpunk/biopunk YA thriller, Freerunner. Centering around a young protagonist who competes at futuristic parkour as a ‘natural’, his life takes a turn when the enhancing technology his father created starts to go wrong.
Synopsis –
Freerunning is my edge.
I sprint rooftops, fly gaps, and own drops that make normal people freeze. But no matter how hard I push, there’s always someone better.
Because of the NeoGen bracers—viral tech that rewires your body to move faster, hit harder, see in the dark, even look filter-perfect. Everyone who matters has one.
Except me, Flip Carson.
Here’s the part that makes no sense: my dad invented the bracers… and he refuses to let me anywhere near one.
I guess breaking into his secure lab is easier than trying to convince him.
But the moment I strap it on, I understand why my dad never wanted me near one. I start seeing things no one else reacts to… creatures built from my worst fears, the bring-your-worst-phobia-to-life kind, hunting me.
And the corporation twisting me dad’s arm will do anything to keep the truth buried.
Now I’m not just running to belong.
I’m running to stay free.
Because if the bracers can turn fear into monsters, what happens when the whole world plugs in?
‘Flip’ Carson competes as a freerunner, on a competitive and technologically advanced parkour circuit. The other competitors use genetic enhancers, NeoGen Bracers, to improve their physical prowess, and Flip, competing as the only ‘natural’, without the use of a Bracer, struggles to keep up despite his natural talent. His father is the inventor of the technology, working towards designing a bracer that can enable Flip’s wheelchair-bound sister to live a regular life.
When his father suddenly announces the bracer project is shutting down, however, Flip can’t accept that he is giving up on Flip’s sister, and he breaks into his father’s office to steal the most advanced versions of the devices. It soon becomes apparent, however, that a wider conspiracy is at foot, and Flip uses the devices to enhance his physical abilities in order to escape. Doing so puts him at great physical and psychological risk, but he must put fear aside and unravel the conspiracy.
Freerunner is a very direct, by-the-numbers YA thriller. Flip, the protagonist, must put his skills to use for good, whilst overcoming his own fears. At odds with a powerful corporation intent on his capture, he must keep moving, picking up companions along the way. His best friend assists remotely using a drone, and Flip meets his love interest along the way, who can lead him to the key to fixing the situation. Then comes the ‘mentor’ figure, who is reluctant to help at first, and put themselves in harm’s way, but ultimately is willing to risk their own well-being for the greater good.
The story moves along at a fast clip, has plenty of action, and appropriately for the sport at the centre of Flip’s world, there is constant motion. This means the novel is always entertaining, progresses efficiently, with very little downtime. This was probably a wise move on the part of the author, as if you spend too long thinking about the practicalities of the technology at the heart of the story, it feels almost more like magic than science. No attempt is made to explain how the bracers work, other than the vague notion that it can enhance any aspect of your body and mind. The different options include enhanced speed and strength, intelligence, even thicker skin to withstand damage. It’s a fun idea, one that maybe could have been used to greater effect if it had been used more to show contrasting abilities opposing each other, for example speed versus strength, but ultimately by the story’s finale, the combatants are all just generally ‘enhanced’.
The lack of explanation for how the technology works doesn’t need to be a problem, that’s going to depend on how much science you want in your science fiction. If you’re just looking for a standard, effective YA action romp, with teamwork and morals triumphing over the overtly evil baddie, then the book is perfect. It has everything you’d want from YA dystopia – romance, hero’s journey, overcoming weakness and becoming comfortable in your own shoes. It’s a clean, fairly bloodless teen-friendly story, though it doesn’t shy away from stakes and death completely. If you’re looking for cyberpunk that’s a bit more grey and messy, though, it isn’t going to be for you.
Hard Traffic
Next came the release of J.S. Holloway’s cyberpunk novel Hard Traffic. The sequel to Hard Carry, the novel follows protagonist Felix on his next intense, high-stress courier run.
Synopsis –
The job was simple: get the data, make the drop, collect the money, and get the hell out in one piece.
But when the pickup gets raided, the client dies, and the package turns out to be a girl who’s wanted by a violent revolutionary cell, Felix has to evade capture long enough to make it home before he’s caught by the cops or snatched by Ernst Volker, a vicious psychopath with murder on his mind, a chip on his shoulder, and fury to burn.
Can Felix survive this Hard Traffic, or will he end up as just another statistic?
Hard Traffic the second book in the Neu Berlin Arc, is a Cyberpunk Thriller that drops you in it and then just keeps on going.
The first novel in the Neu Berlin arc, Hard Carry, was quick and dirty, cyberpunk the hard way, just how we like it. The plot forced Felix to be constantly on the run, moving ever forward, which kept a novel already on the short side clipping along at a blistering pace. Hard Traffic follows in the tradition, opening in transit, and never slowing down for very long. Felix is offered a quote unquote simple job. Despite his cynicism, he agrees, but things smell funny from the very off. He has a rail impacted in his arm for the purpose of carrying data, but on this occasion, the ‘data’ he is to courier is being carried by someone else, who he needs to escort.
As with Felix’s previous adventure, it turns out there’s more than one interested party, and it seems friends who were friends might now be enemies. This is one of the strengths of the Neu Berlin arc – there are always multiple parties involved, and each has their own motivations, meaning things are never just black and white. There is a lot of murk in Felix’s world, which keeps him, as the protagonist, and us, as the reader, guessing the whole time.
In Hard Carry, we were introduced to Felix as a hard boiled, cynical loner. By the end of that story, he was not quite as alone as he started, but in this second story, we get to see a slightly softer side to him, some clear evidence that he has a kind heart. When the job starts to go almost immediately south, he has the opportunity to step away, to remove himself from the situation, and self preserve. He chooses not to do so, and this is an important step in his character development. He doesn’t stick to the task for financial reasons, he does it because he is looking out for someone else’s well-being.
And what of his travel companion, who he vows to keep safe and see through to her destination? The ‘twist’ isn’t a shock when it comes, and the nature of this item that he is transporting around isn’t necessarily an original concept. But it works, because as with Felix, there is a personal journey playing out. The young girl has a lot of growing up to do over the course of the story, and it is handled well, perfectly measured, so by the climax nothing seems unbelievable, or unearned.
Topping Hard Carry was going to be difficult, and it must have been tempting to just ramp up the action, make the stakes higher, the situation more extreme. What author J.S. Holloway has very smartly done, though, is raise the stakes for Felix by removing another element of control. Where in the previous story he only needed to worry about himself, this time he is forced to act as protector. This takes the protagonist firmly out of his comfort zone, adding an additional dimension to his struggles.
Hard Traffic is the 2nd book of the Neu Berlin arc, and author J. S. Holloway is already at work on the next book in the series, Hard Exit. Hard Traffic is available now in ebook, paperback, and hardback formats.
Driven
We also had the release of Mason Coile’s hi-tech horror thriller, Driven. It follows a man who at the lowest point of his life, discovers that even his self-driving car is out to get him.
Synopsis –
A terrifying locked-room mystery from the author of Exiles and William—this time set in a cutting-edge autonomous car.
Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks.
But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.
Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.
As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he’s forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried. Driven is a taut, near-future fever-dream. Mason Coile delivers another one-sitting read that blends science fiction and psychological horror to explore loneliness, grief, and the things that make us human.
Driven plays on our very real fears about the advancement of technology, and artificial intelligence going rogue. It’s also inspired very overtly by the concerns over automated vehicles at a time when the moral quandaries around this kind of technology are coming to the forefront, as more and more car companies invest in it. If a self-driving vehicle goes rogue, and property is damaged, or people hurt or killed, who is responsible? Driven uses this as a backdrop to tell the story of a man having to come to terms with his crumbling life, past actions, and the mistakes he has made. Telling a story in effectively one confined location allows for a lot of introspection, but is very difficult to do well. It will be interesting to see how well it works here.
Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Driven is the latest novel from author Mason Coile. His previous work includes psychological horror/cyber noir William, and Mars-set horror-thriller Exiles. Mason Coile is a pseudonym of late Canadian author Andrew Pyper, who sadly lost a battle with cancer in 2025.
At time of writing, Driven has a rating of 3.6 stars on Goodreads from 152 reviews. It is available now in hardcover, and digital formats, as well as audiobook.
Tapeworld Induction
Geraldo Nascimento’s cyberpunk romantic thriller Tapeworld Induction was released this month. It follows an ex-sport star, and the daughter of infamous revolutionaries, whose burgeoning relationship is tested when they stumble upon a conspiracy whilst exploring the mysterious Tapeworld.
Synopsis –
London, 2060. The climate crisis is over. The corporations won.
ReSports champion Isaak never expected his career to end with a shattered knee. Now he makes a living pulling dangerous heists inside the TAPEWORLD – a hidden virtual reality where every mission carries real consequences.
Dylan has spent her life preparing to follow in her revolutionary parents’ footsteps. Instead, she’s stuck working a dead-end government job, wondering if she’ll ever have the chance to change the world.
When a night out brings her face-to-face with the man she’s admired for years, Isaak introduces her to the TAPEWORLD. But what begins as an escape from their problems quickly becomes a fight for survival as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens both the virtual world and reality itself.
Hunted by ruthless tech corporations, Isaak and Dylan must battle impossible odds – and their feelings for each other – before the people controlling the future erase them both.
Tapeworld Induction is a tale of romance, virtual worlds, and corporate corruption. In that way, it’s a perfectly well-rounded cyberpunk story. The protagonists of the story, Isaak and Dylan, are two good-hearted people drifting through life without a rudder. Both are, in a way, trying to escape their respective legacies. Isaak was a celebrity, a successful sports star. Whilst he was in it, he must have felt like he was at life’s pinnacle. When that came crashing down, through no fault of his own, he was immediately and hopelessly lost. Dylan, on the other hand, has never managed to escape the shadow of her parents, a pair of infamous activists. The life she lives is coloured by everything that they were, that they stood for, and she’s never quite managed to step out and find her own convictions, her own purpose.
When the two of them meet, neither is in a good place, but both are looking for… something. Whether that ‘something’ is each other is unclear at first. Tapeworld Induction is a romantic story, but it isn’t a mass produced romance novel. Both characters are heavily flawed, no-one’s ideal of a companion. They’re not two perfect specimens, that just need the length of a novel to realise their compatibility. That’s what makes the story authentic and compelling – though the world of the book is fantastical, it is grounded by its two very human main characters. You can buy into their relationship, its ups and downs, whether you are interested in the cyberpunk thriller narrative or not, because you can either see yourself, or someone you know, in one of them. Their relationship is awkward, in the way they talk at cross purposes, or misunderstand each other’s intentions. It is also confronted by additional barriers because of the plot of the story – navigating a new relationship is difficult at the best of times, let alone when there is a grand corporate conspiracy playing out in a mysterious virtual world at the same time.
It is this conspiracy that drives the plot of the story, but we’re not thrown into that immediately. We are introduced, much like Dylan, into the Tapeworld slowly. Session by session, the secrets of the Tapeworld are shown to us, and every time we visit, we find out something new. This constantly evolving understanding of the nature of this world keeps us, as a reader, unbalanced. The weirdness of the way the user enter the world immediately suggests a menace about it, an unworldly surrealism that hints at a level of threat that isn’t obvious on the surface. Our two heroes are not necessarily unaware of this potential danger, but they are too wrapped up in the excitement of it, and each other, to let it stop them. They probably do realise that it can’t possibly be a safe state to exist in, but they don’t want to admit to themselves that it may be harmful. Because they’re having too much fun. The outside world is difficult for them to navigate, but inside the Tapeworld, they can be themselves. The best versions of themselves.
Both Isaak and Dylan have a desire to forge a new path in life, and when the threat within the Tapeworld begins to show itself, they are given that opportunity. Neither is fully aware of the rules of this new struggle, but still manage to rise to the challenge. The conspiracy at hand is the exact catalyst they need to move on to the next stage of their lives, but in order for that to happen, they must survive it. And that’s when the plot really ramps up. It turns out the heists he has been pulling in the Tapeworld have consequences, and as the danger to their lives increases, the pair are forced into bringing friends and allies into the situation with them, raising the stakes, and ensuring that they can no longer just walk away from the danger.
Tapeworld Induction builds to a thrilling finale that very effectively pays off all that has gone before it. It is well constructed, fast moving, with a satisfying ending that ties in the struggles of Isaak and Dylan, enabling both to face their personal demons, and find catharsis. This is possibly the greatest success of the novel. The seamless integration of the characters, their backstories, their personal journeys, and the world built over the course of the novel is masterful, and clearly the result of a lot of hard work and planning on the part of author Geraldo Nascimento. The setting of the novel, its political climate, and the make-up of the world are introduced and explored over the course of the novel, but never explained in an info dump, leaving plenty more to learn in future stories. The mechanics of the Tapeworld are not explained, with the story taking priority, and whether that will be frustrating or not is down to personal preference. Again, though, it leaves scope for subsequent Tapeworld novels to explore, and fill in the blanks. If there are to be further novels set in the Tapeworld, we are eager to re-enter the world and discover more, which should be more than enough recommendation to check this story out.
Tapeworld Induction is available now, in paperback and ebook formats.
LOCH Thin Blue Line
IG Peters’ new cyberpunk crime thriller, LOCH Thin Blue Line, was released this month, telling the continuing story of veteran detective Nathan Loch. To celebrate this release, the 4th of Peters’ LOCH novels, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at his cyberpunk universe, and talk to him about his writing, and his cyberpunk influences. You can find the full Author Spotlight here – https://cyberstopia.com/author-spotlight-ig-peters/
Synopsis –
Veteran Nathan Loch sets out on a new path in the city his men fought a war to save.
The war was over. He won, or so they told him when he woke up in a hospital bed, weeks after the last shot had been fired. Sporting a bleeding edge, custom built, cybernetic arm, unemployed for the first time since he was a teenager.
A new city bloomed around him, bringing life back, and the chaos that came with it. Gangs fighting for corners, a corporate gold rush, and the birth of technology to redefine human potential. Keen to be of service, Loch joins the police force, putting him on a road his friends would not follow.
The first LOCH novels follow ex-sergeant major Nathan Loch, a hard drinking, hard boiled detective who has been enjoying retirement. When a copycat of a serial killer he caught years before starts a murder spree, he is coaxed out of retirement to help investigate, and then finds it difficult to walk away. Set in 2090, the series has a mix of futuristic cyberpunk technology and more analogue, post-war elements, in a gothic European setting that has seen a necessary rebuild after the devastation of a prolonged conflict.
The latest release, Book Four, Thin Blue Line, jumps back to an earlier timeline, a post-war 2062. Loch wakes up in a hospital bed, with a newly implanted cybernetic arm, with the war finally over. With a new city being built from the ashes of the war torn gothic landscape, there are new challenges to be overcome. Having spent so much of his life as a soldier, Loch takes the only job open to him that will utilize some of his hard-won skills, the police force. After several books telling the story of his time after retirement, interspersed with glimpses at his military career, it is interesting to visit that time in-between the two, and the difficult adjustment period for Nathan Loch as he transitions into a new career, one that his ex-army buddies are not a part of.
Cyberspace Void
September also saw the release of author Gregory Basham’s debut novel, Cyberspace Void. Subtitled A Set of System Failures + User Errors, it presents a set of five science-fiction short stories set in a dystopian, cyberpunk near-future.
Synopsis –
In a cyberpunk world where AI governs everything from love to war, humanity is beginning to fracture.
The void appears to be not too distant from the present, and yet, it is territory untraversed. Virtual reality simulators are more exhilarating and immersive than real life, and for a lonely boy of 12, the game matters more than anything, or anyone, else.
Androids, called silicons, walk the streets, occupying every role across the spectrum of society, from government advisor to superpartnerbot girlfriend. When a depressed college student loses access to his bot, he despairs as if he’s lost true love.
The CONINC mega corporation rakes in billions designing ASI, androids, and cybernetic implants. One of their sadistic, high ranking executives considers human beings to be as disposable as machines. Seeing this intense cruelty as weakness, a new member of his cybernetics design team plots his downfall.
Cyberspace Void is an interesting collection of stories that work very much as a cautionary tale on the advancement of technology, and our increasing reliance on it. They range from relatively small stakes, like a corporate drone struggling to deal with their obnoxious boss, to much larger scale political intrigue.
The most common theme across the various stories is the inhumanity of human beings. In a world increasingly reliant on technology, and the potential of synthetic/digital intelligence to take a prominent place in our future society, where other stories portent the fall of humanity to the rise of the machines, Basham shines a mirror on the real threat – ourselves. In our present day, we see corporate leaders and powerful politicians prioritising developing technology and development and adoption of AI over the well-being and secure future of the human race, and this tendency towards valuing tech and profit over human life is explored extensively in Cyberspace Void.
The stories follow characters from all walks of life. Where the scariest stories should be of the people that wield the most power, perhaps the most unsettling is the, potentially very real, story of a young boy corrupted by a reliance on technology. With virtual worlds becoming more viable, there’s a very real danger that the very young won’t be able to tell the difference between the real world and a digital one. If we let children play in an online world with no real consequences, how are they to learn lessons of self-preservation, and the value of life. Behaviours and habits they pick up in the safe virtual reality spaces will carry over into the real world, and they may well struggle to make the distinction.
Some of the other cautionary tales are a little more obvious, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t well presented and compelling. When a short story leaves you wanting to see more of the world and situation presented, that’s a good sign. The lack of an ongoing narrative might be unsatisfying for those who are looking to invest themselves in a world and experience a well-rounded story, but the nature of Cyberspace Void makes it perfect for reading in small chunks. Once you reach the conclusion of one story, you can put the book down and return several days or weeks later, and get straight back into the book with no worry about trying to remember where you left it. Cyberpunk, and sci-fi in general, lends itself well to short stories, as often there is a concept or situation worth exploring, but to pour it out over 70,000 words would be stretching the narrative a little too thin.
Cyberspace Void is a very enjoyable read, and as a calling card of sorts for author Gregory Basham, it is very effective. A superb piece of work, and a great start for a new author who clearly has a lot of stories to tell. We look forward to Cyberspace Void 2, which Gregory tells us is coming in 2027.
Cyberspace Void is published by Traveling Creative, and is available now in digital format on Amazon, or directly from https://www.travelingcreativemedia.com
Book – Ethical Tyranny
Then, at the end of the month, Rhys Constance’s new cyberpunk novel, Ethical Tyranny, was released. The 3rd book in his Ashton Frey series, the story sees protagonist Frey given an offer he can’t refuse.
Synopsis –
The most efficient way to trap a man is to give him nothing left to want.
They made Ashton Frey an offer. It was reasonable. It was generous. It was impossible to refuse, which was how he knew he was in real trouble. Ashton has survived fire, betrayal, and a doomsday weapon that lives in his skull and won’t stop workshopping insults about his internal organs. He knows what it looks like when someone wants him dead. He has no idea what to do about someone who wants to save him.
The domes are dying. The corpo-nations are eating each other. Strangers wait in the freezing dark outside his door, certain of things about him that aren’t true. And behind it all, something vast, patient, and quietly certain has spent a very long time arranging the furniture toward a future that runs beautifully and costs only everything. The bill arrives later.
Ethical Tyranny is a savage, funny, black-hearted reckoning with the oldest lie ever told: that if someone can build a perfect world, they should.
Burn it down with the final book of the series on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and soon on Audible, narrated by Hector Carrillo. However you choose to experience it, the offer is still on the table. That’s the problem.
Ethical Tyranny is the third and final book in Constance’s absurdist satire cyberpunk series, which started with Privatized Freedom, continued with Regulated Truth, and now concludes. The series is set on a ruined Earth, with the population living in sealed dome cities, their only barrier to the permanent impact-winter outside. The populace, ruled by corporations, use technology through neural links, but the technology also has a mind of its own. The protagonist, detective Aston Frey, has a failed neural implant, which can make life difficult, although it has its advantages when it comes to working covertly.
If you haven’t read the previous books in the series, fear not, for Rhys Constance is also releasing The Complete Ashton Frey omnibus edition on Kindle, bringing all 3 books together in 1.
Ethical Tyranny is available now in E-Book, Paperback, and Hardcover formats, with an Audiobook also on the way.
Cyberstopia now has a Discord server! Please join us and build a community for cyberpunk and dystopia discussion. We have sections for all the latest news, channels for discussion of The Ghost in the Shell series, as well as upcoming shows like Edgrerunners 2, Blade Runner 2099, and Neuromancer, as well as an author section with a number of cyberpunk authors talking about their work, giving updates on your current projects, etc… It’s a great place to hang out. https://discord.gg/qgMBwC5X8
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