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Rating: 
Summary: A very fine anthology--well chosen
Review: I enjoyed this collection of cyberpunk writing immensely. McCaffery chose a fine collection of cyberpunk examples, ranging from the well known to the less known, from fiction to non-fiction ssay. The ordering is near perfection--the arrangement allows the pieces to speak to each other, and of each other (a very cyberpunkean move). Given the above reviewer's apparent distress concerning certain aspects of the book, and some misguided reductions of cyberpunk (basically just SF without hairy aliens; and his basic misunderstanding of the interpolation that occurs within the genre--i.e. his rantings re: Acker and hackdom), I hope this doesn't dissuade you from purchasing this very worthwhile book--it's wonderful. Especially exciting is the "Cyberpunk 101" section where various books and films are listed and shortly (and bitingly witty--see the one for Ballard's _Crash_) are recommended and briefly summarized.
Rating: 
Summary: Learn cyberpunk fiction in 21 days: Guaranteed!!!
Review: Ian Davis's Review of:
Storming the reality studio
How to explain this book...
The young persons guide to modern Sf,
Nahhhh...
Cyberpunk sampler....no that's not it...
Ah ha! Got it!!!
The cyberpunk catalouge! That's good...
This book is, and i'm quoting from the cover, "A casebook of post-modern and cyberpunk fiction"...
Eeeep!
Whenever I hear the words "post modern" and "fiction", in the same sentence it makes my ears sweat. I don't like the term..not one bit...
But this book over came part of that fear...and take note when I say part..because it still needs something...like better content.
Don't get me wrong..I liked the book. It has some very good art and stories..including some rare art from J. O'Barr.
But a high proportion is shit, pure pseudo SF shit at it's most dismal. It has excerpts from many a book...that's why it's like a catalouge.On how the editor Larry McCaffrey, has compiled this tome I have a theory.
McCaffery sits in his office. One man, a well dressed excec from a large publisher sits across from him in one chair, and a semi-serious Sf reader in another. They take turns choosing stories. the reader picks stories that best represent authors with a grasp of the field, and the exec looks at a list of books that sit unsold in one of his wharehouses.
I say this because that is how the book feels. some excerpts from novels have all the right in the world to be there. A "cyberpunk" book WITHOUT Neuromancer would be ludicrous. But to include bizzre poems and little picture assembled by a first year art student, is not at all good, espescially when you include books like "Empire of the senseless".
The book lacks any coherent structure, except for the flimsy Fiction, non Fiction division.
The last thing that makes me cringe is whenever McCaffery writes. He seems to think Cyberpunk is this incredible Post-MTV and MuchMusic art form, but in reality it's still Sf, just with better stories, and no talking fur covered aliens.
But you might think a hate it. Nay! I liked about 65% of it very much and another 10% quite a bit, but that last %25 wretch! Lets say what's good...
Some of the stories are quite good, printing exerpts from hard to find and little known books, like IMP plus and MetroPhage. these are really good examples of the "cyberpunk" genre. And the short stories are pretty well done. The best parts however lie in the rarest.
J. O'barrs graphics short storie is easily one of the best examples of the comic as fiction I have ever seen.
The inteview with Cyberpunk-papa William Gibson is quite interesting, and available here and here alone, as far as I've looked. Some of the essays are very nice, if you have read the books they refer to. The non-fiction peice on Japan's love of Cyberpunk is impressive, especially about the earliest stories from that country in the vein of "cyberpunk".
Two last good notes.
One part, the comaparison between the text in Kathy Ackers "Empire of the sensless" and Gibsons "Neuromancer", is quite effective in showing Acker as the low grade writer she is, demonstrating how she lifts whole sections right out of Gibsons book, only changing the name of the characters.
And finally the explanations of what several authors think is "Cyber", are interesting in their different viewpoints.
So should you get it?
If you are a purist for everything Cyber, Yes
If you want rare fiction, also yes
If you jack-all about Cyberpunk Sf, maybe
If you hate bad poetry, No!
If you want to read 5 page snippets from books, Yes
All in all, a new revised edition removing crap like Acker and the poety would be very good, and instead of cramming it with commercials for other books, more whole short fiction would be great.
All in all, an average book, you might like it, you might hate it. I, on a whole, semmed to like it, despite it's many problems.
Try it for a taste of the best (and very worst) of "Cyberpunk" Sf
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting ideas, but very scattershot
Review: It's a shame that this book had to be so big, and its excerpts so brief. McCaffery has chosen a good selection of postmodern SF, but the excerpts are too often just a couple pages long. The result is a book a mile wide and an inch deep: it touches on every aspect of postmodern SF without really explaining or clearing up anything at all. A good way to use this book might be to read through it, choose what strikes your fancy, then buy the complete books attached to those. But I'm afraid if you just read this book, your glimpses of this very exciting genre will be too fleeting for you to get a good picture of it as a whole. To his credit, McCaffery has chosen an excellent array of writers and subgenres, including many who I did not know were SF or who dealt with SF in ways I hadn't expected. I should also mention that the design of the book is fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting ideas, but very scattershot
Review: It's a shame that this book had to be so big, and its excerpts so brief. McCaffery has chosen a good selection of postmodern SF, but the excerpts are too often just a couple pages long. The result is a book a mile wide and an inch deep: it touches on every aspect of postmodern SF without really explaining or clearing up anything at all. A good way to use this book might be to read through it, choose what strikes your fancy, then buy the complete books attached to those. But I'm afraid if you just read this book, your glimpses of this very exciting genre will be too fleeting for you to get a good picture of it as a whole. To his credit, McCaffery has chosen an excellent array of writers and subgenres, including many who I did not know were SF or who dealt with SF in ways I hadn't expected. I should also mention that the design of the book is fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Strap yourself in for a great ride...
Review: This book is a must-have if you're a fan of anything cyberpunk. There are more than 40 contributors, so not every piece is brilliant, but the book still deserves a five star rating. Highlights: fiction from almost everyone who was important in the cyberpunk movement (Gibson, Rucker, Shiner, Shirley, Sterling, etc.) and some other excellent writers not usually included in the group (Ballard, W. S. Burroughs, Pynchon), along with insightful essays by a diverse selection of writers including Timothy Leary and several important figures in the world of postmodern theory (Baudrillard, Derrida, Jameson, Kroker). Storming the Reality Studio is one book that I am proud to own, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
Rating:
Summary: Strap yourself in for a great ride...
Review: This book is a must-have if you're a fan of anything cyberpunk. There are more than 40 contributors, so not every piece is brilliant, but the book still deserves a five star rating. Highlights: fiction from almost everyone who was important in the cyberpunk movement (Gibson, Rucker, Shiner, Shirley, Sterling, etc.) and some other excellent writers not usually included in the group (Ballard, W. S. Burroughs, Pynchon), along with insightful essays by a diverse selection of writers including Timothy Leary and several important figures in the world of postmodern theory (Baudrillard, Derrida, Jameson, Kroker). Storming the Reality Studio is one book that I am proud to own, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
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