"Biopunk" recs?

[quinron]

I recently learned about the I-guess-you'd-call-it-a-subgenre known as "biopunk" - which is to say, I recently learned there's a term for it. Because I've been aware of its tropes for quite a while, and I absolutely love them.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good books in the subgenre. My fascination with the subgenre started with China Mieville's Bas-Lag Cycle; I haven't explored his other books, but I get the impression from the synopses that at least a few of them at least share some of the main tropes. I'm aware that Jeff VanderMeer's stuff sometimes gets into it, and I would reckon at least a few other New Weird authors do as well - I'm just not familiar enough with the New Weird to know who to check out, much less which of their works. Outside that, I just have no idea where to start looking.

[Rynjin]

The only book I know of that fits the genre is Twig (https://twigserial.wordpress.com/), which I consider to be the best of Wildbow's oeuvre. A bit of a slow starter but very good. Lots of psychological horrror/thriller.

[Mechalich]

My fascination with the subgenre started with China Mieville's Bas-Lag Cycle

While a number of online lists do label certain of Mieville's works as 'Biopunk,' particularly Perido Street Station, I'd be very, very hesitant to actually apply that label to those works. Mieville is a fantasy writer and the biological manipulation elements included in those works are poorly fantastical (also, speaking as a biologist, not very well thought out, he clearly doesn't have a scientific background). I'd classify Mieville's works as Urban Fantasy more than anything else, though it also incorporates aspects of Lovecraftian cosmic horror.

Biopunk is properly a science-fiction subgenre focused on the potential impacts of biotechnology as opposed to the impacts of computational and industrial technology in the form of its cyberpunk forebear. Like cyberpunk, biopunk is generally closely tied to near-future Earth-based settings rather than more grandiose or fantastical ones. A novel like Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, though it deals exhaustively with genetic engineering, is a far future space opera and therefore would not qualify.

Notable biopunk authors/works include Greg Bear (Blood Music and the Darwin's series of novels), Paolo Bacigalupi (The Windup Girl), and Peter Watts (the Rifters series). Beyond that Wikipedia has a not terrible, though certainly not comprehensive list of biopunk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biopunk_works) works.

So, with regard for recommendations, it really depends on what you're actually looking for. Do you want modern weird and dark fantasy or do you want stories about the potential impact of biotechnology?

With regard to the former I can't offer much. Possibly The Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe, though it's technically a Cthulhu Mythos piece. The Divine Cities Trilogy by Robot Jackson Bennett doesn't involve biological elements, but it does have considerable urban fantasy crossover with components of the new weird. In terms of that latter, I'm on firmer ground. Starfish, the initial Rifters novel, is fantastic (the rest of the series is good, but Watts kind of lost the thread a bit as he went). Clade by Mark Budtz, was one of the first true biopunk novels and is solid (though probably a bit dated now). And, I think the lesser known and older but still very fun Future Boston actually qualifies in this category and I'd recommend that one to anyone (especially people who've spent any significant time in Boston).

[The Glyphstone]

The closest thing that comes to mind is a YA trilogy I once read, the Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. It's best described as an alt-history World War I, where the Central Powers use steampunk war machines and the Entente powers use genetically-engineered biotech organisms. The worldbuilding isnt super deep, though, and the narrative focuses mostly on the teenage protagonists, so it's probably not what you are after.

[Gray Mage]

An alternate history series that combine biopunk with steam/dieselpunk is Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_(Westerfeld_novel)). It's an alternate retelling of World War I in which one side's technology is composed by steam/dieselpunk and the other is biopunk. It's more on the Young Adult side of literature (not a gritty war story).

[quinron]

While a number of online lists do label certain of Mieville's works as 'Biopunk,' particularly Perido Street Station, I'd be very, very hesitant to actually apply that label to those works. Mieville is a fantasy writer and the biological manipulation elements included in those works are poorly fantastical (also, speaking as a biologist, not very well thought out, he clearly doesn't have a scientific background). I'd classify Mieville's works as Urban Fantasy more than anything else, though it also incorporates aspects of Lovecraftian cosmic horror.

Biopunk is properly a science-fiction subgenre focused on the potential impacts of biotechnology as opposed to the impacts of computational and industrial technology in the form of its cyberpunk forebear. Like cyberpunk, biopunk is generally closely tied to near-future Earth-based settings rather than more grandiose or fantastical ones. A novel like Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, though it deals exhaustively with genetic engineering, is a far future space opera and therefore would not qualify.

Notable biopunk authors/works include Greg Bear (Blood Music and the Darwin's series of novels), Paolo Bacigalupi (The Windup Girl), and Peter Watts (the Rifters series). Beyond that Wikipedia has a not terrible, though certainly not comprehensive list of biopunk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biopunk_works) works.

So, with regard for recommendations, it really depends on what you're actually looking for. Do you want modern weird and dark fantasy or do you want stories about the potential impact of biotechnology?

With regard to the former I can't offer much. Possibly The Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe, though it's technically a Cthulhu Mythos piece. The Divine Cities Trilogy by Robot Jackson Bennett doesn't involve biological elements, but it does have considerable urban fantasy crossover with components of the new weird. In terms of that latter, I'm on firmer ground. Starfish, the initial Rifters novel, is fantastic (the rest of the series is good, but Watts kind of lost the thread a bit as he went). Clade by Mark Budtz, was one of the first true biopunk novels and is solid (though probably a bit dated now). And, I think the lesser known and older but still very fun Future Boston actually qualifies in this category and I'd recommend that one to anyone (especially people who've spent any significant time in Boston).

I know Bas-Lag isn't biopunk. I just consider it my first brush with the genre because the technological body horror aesthetics of the Remade are part of what pulled me to the series, and I enjoyed seeing the exploration in The Scar of how Remaking could be a positive process if it weren't just used as a punishment (I find it weird that they'd single out Perdido Street Station when the Remade are so comparatively marginal in it). That said, I'm not strictly looking for body horror stories.

I will admit I get bored by hard sci-fi; I tend to prefer the -punk genres specifically because the greater focus on social implications over technological explanation makes them more compelling for me. Looking briefly at Blood Music and Clade, for example, I'd definitely pick up the latter first.

Besides prompting me to clarify, thanks for the recommendations in both categories! I'll definitely check them out.

[Giggling Ghast]

Biopunk is kind of an unusual genre and I don’t know if this actually fits, but if you want to read a truly weird comic book where practically goddamn everything runs on “organic technology,” look up Orc Stain. It’s set in a world dominated by orcs (there are other humanoid races, but they have to reside in heavily-fortified strongholds) and nearly all the technology is alive - even the soda cans are living creatures.

Oh, and they use orc penises (gronches) as currency. Like I said, it’s weird.

The comic never resolves its plot and ends after seven issues - I suspect the super-detailed art led to major schedule slippage. Still, if you’re in a comic store and you see it on sale, it might be worth a look.

[quinron]

Biopunk is kind of an unusual genre and I don’t know if this actually fits, but if you want to read a truly weird comic book where practically goddamn everything runs on “organic technology,” look up Orc Stain. It’s set in a world dominated by orcs (there are other humanoid races, but they have to reside in heavily-fortified strongholds) and nearly all the technology is alive - even the soda cans are living creatures.

Oh, and they use orc penises (gronches) as currency. Like I said, it’s weird.

Just that description and a quick Google Image search confirm that this is so precisely up my alley - in more ways than just fitting some tropes I like - that I can't believe I've never heard of it. Tausend Dank.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Mechalich
Mieville is a fantasy writer and the biological manipulation elements included in those works are poorly fantastical (also, speaking as a biologist, not very well thought out, he clearly doesn't have a scientific background).

Agreed completely, and so glad to see someone else pointing this out. It’s the main reason I could never get into Mieville.

(Mammal bodies with insect heads do not work, because the circulatory systems are incompatible.)


Originally Posted by jinjitsu
I will admit I get bored by hard sci-fi; I tend to prefer the -punk genres specifically because the greater focus on social implications over technological explanation makes them more compelling for me.

Depending on how exactly “biopunk” is defined, two books by Linda Nagata might qualify, Vast and Deception Well. It’s been a while since I read them, but I remember enjoying Vast as more developed and intriguing. She deals with some interesting issues stemming from biotechnologies that allow for the construction and duplication of new human bodies, as well as new organs allowing for new modes of life.

[Dragonus45]

The only book I know of that fits the genre is Twig (https://twigserial.wordpress.com/), which I consider to be the best of Wildbow's oeuvre. A bit of a slow starter but very good. Lots of psychological horrror/thriller.

Clicked the thread specifically to recommend this one, and I agree that in retrospect it's clearly Wildbow's peak so far with a good steady climb and great characters.

[Onos]

I'd recommend Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the Rifters and Blindsight by Peter Watts, and the Revelation Space series by Alistair Reynolds. Quite cool exploration of biotech and all three authors have a fair chunk of reasonably hard sci-fi to explore if they catch your interest.