proto-cyberpunk n.

a writer of proto-cyberpunk works; (also) a proto-cyberpunk protagonist

Rare.

SF Criticism

  • 1986 B. Sterling Mirrorshades Pref. p. ix page image Bruce Sterling

    These proto-cyberpunks were briefly dubbed the Mirrorshades Group.

  • 1989 J. Milicia Mississippi Review ‘Cyberpunk Issue in N.Y. Review of Science Fiction (#16) Dec. 21/1 (review) page image Joseph Milicia bibliography

    The Timothy Leary piece…seems quaint in comparison, with its citations of Columbus, Lindberg, and Japanese Ronin as proto-cyberpunks.

  • 1993 G. Westfahl in Extrapolation(vol. 34, no. 2) 190 (review of Larry McCafferty’s Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodern Fiction) Gary Westfahl

    There are other science fiction writers—A. E. van Vogt, Jack Williamson, Charles L. Harness, even the weirder Heinlein—who could be legitimately cast as proto-cyberpunks.

Research requirements

any evidence 1986
Earliest cite

Bruce Sterling, 'Mirrorshades'
Research History
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1986 cite from Bruce Sterling's preface to "Mirrorshades".

We would like cites of any date from other authors.

Last modified 2025-07-07 17:24:21
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.