Bruce Bethke
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, best known for his 1983 short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"Cyberpunk" which led to the widespread use of the term, and his novel, Headcrash.
Bethke's collected thoughts on the cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
subculture are collected on his website, in an essay entitled "The Etymology of Cyberpunk".
Maverick
Written from an outline by Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
in 1990, this novel was one of a series of novels set in Asimov's Robot universe
Isaac Asimov's Robot Series
Isaac Asimov's Robot Series is a series of short stories and novels by Isaac Asimov featuring positronic robots.- Short stories :Most of Asimov's robot short stories are set in the first age of positronic robotics and space exploration...
.
Headcrash
Bethke's first published novel, published in 1995. Headcrash is the story of Jack, a male in his mid twenties, who lives with his overbearing mother, works a dead-end job at a software firm, and escapes to the salve of virtual reality on the internet. The sites of questionable legalities cause the geeky Jack to find himself in a legal quandary when he is approached to hack into a Super User's company. This novel was awarded the Philip K. Dick Award.This work is credited with the first use of the word "Spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
" as a term for junk e-mail. Bethke replies that while he appreciates the thought, the term was in common use on usenet long before he used it in Headcrash.
Rebel Moon
A collaboration with Vox Day, Rebel Moon was the novelization of the prequel of the game Rebel Moon RisingRebel Moon Rising
Rebel Moon Rising is a PC game made by Fenris Wolf and GT Interactive. In the future, the Moon has been colonized, and due to political conflicts, the Lunar colonies are rebelling against the United Nations. In the game, the player is on the side of the Lunar alliance, fighting against United...
. The main plot is similar to The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth....
, though the book itself focuses on a few individual characters and their battles in the war, and not the political and economic ramifications of a battle for independence on the moon.
Wild Wild West
The novelization of the critically panned steampunkSteampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
film Wild Wild West
Wild Wild West
Wild Wild West is a 1999 American steampunk action-comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline , Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek.Similar to the original TV series it was based on, The Wild Wild West, the film features a large amount of gadgetry...
. Bethke summarily dismisses the novel on his website, stating it was how he paid for a new roof for his house.