A Question

[Wordstreamer~Nifty Fairy~]

Does Cyberpunk count as Fantasy???

Because from what I can tell, reading lots of the Cyberpunk authors, some of what they write is similar to fantasy in many aspects. However, other works (also considered Cyberpunk) are more similar to science fiction.

If it isn't, then I'm sorry for essentially spamming.

I was just curious. (In my Cont. Themes class, we did a small section on Cyberpunk.)  

[Verene]

I haven't read any cyberpunk novels or stories, but what little I have heard about the genre makes me believe it is more to the Sci-Fi side of the spectrum, because it seems to be based more around computers/techonology/AI/ etc. Would that be correct?  

[JewelintheLotus]

I agree it sounds more SciFi.  

[Shiama]

I dont think i have relaly read any cyberpunk, pr at least none that i remember..  

[Harbone]

I think you could probably count things like Charles deLint's Svaha as cyberpunk/fantasy, and certainly those books based off FASA's SHADOWRUN rpg would certainly count as Fantasy/Cyberpunk (they have magic and orcs and trolls and elves, for instance, as well as cybernetic replacements and a dystopian future setting.)

However, most cyberpunk isn't really fantasy. It's kinda science fiction that made a poor guess at the shape of the future (but the late 80s stuff is pretty good for the time period.)  

[Lady Reader 2]

Verene

I haven't read any cyberpunk novels or stories, but what little I have heard about the genre makes me believe it is more to the Sci-Fi side of the spectrum, because it seems to be based more around computers/techonology/AI/ etc. Would that be correct?

Sci-Fi, completely Sci-Fi.  

[Bookwyrme]

I'd say it depends. I would say that Emma Bull's Finder is a cyberpunk fantasy, as are the other Borderland's novels she and Will Shetterly wrote.

The borders between SF and fantasy are not terribly firm anyway---that is, there are some works that are definitely fantasy, some that are certainly SF & a good lot that are somewhere in between.  

[godhi]

Whether cyberpunk is fantasy or science fiction depends on the novel in question. Neuromancer by William Gibson is definitely science fiction, while his later works in the series where the spirits of Carribean Voudoun exist in the Net could almost be viewed as science fantasy. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is science fiction for the most part but also deals with Babylonian mythology, and The Diamond Age has elements of Victorian fantasy and faerie tales but is definitely hard science fiction. Shadowrun is pretty much sword and sorcery with elements of cyberpunk, and back in the early 1990's when I used to play Shadowrun, the game was referred to as "D&D with cyberware and automatic weapons."
Cyberpunk 2020 was relatively hard science fiction, but the new edition is just fantasy--especially for its publishers, who actually believe they can make a profit from this piece of crap. But wishing something doesn't make it real...  

[Angleic Shadow]

A difficult question to be sure, I believe that I agree with godhi  

[murphyad]

I want to say that it is sci fi because alot of what they base their novels off of is kind of advancing what we have now or what we are moving towards  

[Maze353]

I don't think I've read any cyberpunk stuff. But it sounds like it would belong to the sci-fi category.  

[Tarantellatears]

I've read one or two I think, and I'd say sci-fi.  

[LuNaTiC_aNd_PrOuD_oF_It]

I've never even heard of it, so no idea.