Software by Rudy Rucker is a gritty, gripping science-fiction novel that explores cyberpunk themes in a retro (Pulp or early Golden Age) format. Software feel like reading an old Amazing Stories or Astounding Science Fiction magazine. The slim volume and direct prose make Software feel slightly and deliciously subversive.

Winner of the inaugural Philip K. Dick award in 1982, Software is a clear influence on many other science fiction writers, most notably Richard K. Morgan and his Takeshi Kovacs trilogy.

Rucker creates a world in which robots have broken Asimov’s laws of robotics and become self-aware and free, taking up residence on the moon. Cobb Anderson, the scientist who set this rebellion in motion, is now an aging ‘pheezer’ in Florida, slowly drinking himself to death.

The story begins almost immediately as Anderson is approached by a representative of the robots, known as boppers, with the offer of immortality. What follows is a terse, action-packed adventure that presents interesting science-fiction concepts beside bits of lurid imagery and unsubtle social commentary.

Read my entire review at the Used Books Blog:
http://usedbooksblog.com/blog/softwar... ( )

This is Rucker's short, whacky cyberpunk take. The protagonist is an aging genius, more interested in the beach and booze these days than anything else.

Robots basically now run the joint, and the bigger robots want to take over all the little robots. Get the picture? The little robots aren't a fan of this, and a metal acquaintance of our drunk dude offers to digitise him.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2006/12/software-rudy-rucker.html ( )

That Software, first published in 1982, is thought of as a “Cyberpunk Classic…The One that Started it All” (or so the cover blurb tells us), helped me to understand part of what the term cyberpunk means: the claim that we are, in a sense, nothing but software--software running in meaty biological brains as opposed to metal and plastic boxes, but software nonetheless--and that therefore our conscious processes can be modified, enhanced, duplicated and even replaced, etc. in various cybery ways, is nothing to be afraid of, or at least, it is hip to be flip about the prospect. This notion irritates. But the novel itself is cute, energetic, often amusing, and of course, somewhat hip. ( )

Enjoyed it and plan to get the next in the series (Wetware). It's a little dated but has a good story line and explores ideas of embodiment and conciousness. ( )

This is the first Rudy Rucker book I read. It was well worth the read and even more interesting for me because a high school classmate's father had written it. ( )