Gibson’s story, Red Star, Winter Orbit possess several details that make it fit in Cyber Punk. Space travel has been improved and mankind tries to escape earth. Korolev is a very good character for Cyber Punk as technological advances have taken their toll on him. Lastly the image of the future in Red Star is far more realistic than in many other science fiction stories. The dystopian future in the story and the concept of space travel cane be traced back William Gibson’s past experiences
William Gibson’s childhood was not easy as he lost his father early and then his mother as he turned 18 (Gibson). In his biography a saying refers to an orphan like Gibson as the lone survivor to a lost civilization. This meant that his experiences could greatly shift his views on life and the future unlike others. It also helped that he became interested in science fiction early on in life. Bruce Sterling acknowledges this by saying “...we owe a debt to those before us, those SF writers whose conviction, commitment, and talent enthralled us and, in truth changed our lives.” (Sterling XV)
The first element that makes Red Star a Cyber Punk is Fear, a drug slipped into Colonel Korolev’s drink. This is not necessarily surprising as the space station Kosmograd is being used as a black market. The reason Fear is an important as factor in Cyber Punk is that drugs are technology. Timothy Leary said that LSD and computers were both technology and both had great potential (Sterling xiii). Often in Cyber Punk, technology violates the body with artificial limbs, chips in the skull, and even a mood organ. Therefore drugs which can alter our body’s chemistry are just as threatening, and they are varied and available right now. Korolev has been taken advantage of by technology in other ways as well.
I can find an easy comparison between Korolev and John R. Isidore from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Both are isolated from society as the future of mankind is determined, but their positions are the exact opposite. Korolev went into space, which was supposedly the future, but now the whole plan is being abandoned and he cannot return to earth in his condition. Isidore however, cannot leave earth in his condition to join the rest of humanity in space. This is interesting because it shows how flawed mankind's solutions are to its dystopia. To stay on a dying planet is meaningless, but to enter space will also bring about consequences.
The condition of earth is never fully addressed in this story. This is a strange choice as Gibson’s hope for the future is that “That we’ll turn out not to have already terminally soiled our unthinkably rare and lovely little sphere of water and air”(Interview). All we know is that the countries in our time seem to remain unchanged except for the U.S.S.R. superiority of the United States. The predictions for the future of the U.S.S.R. still seem realistic however, as the KGB is harassing innocent people, and the citizens in space are defecting. The United States seems to be going through an energy crisis related to oil which is frighteningly similar to the current condition of the United States. Red Orbit feels like the most realistic future story I have heard. Technology feels slightly more advanced, but little has changed, and the fact that he setting is similar to our current state is very impressive. In fact Gibson feels that the current state of the world feels just like a science fiction scenario (Interview).
Red Orbit is Cyber Punk, but it feels very different from many other stories of the genre. Man’s dystopia is explored in space rather than on the surface of a decimated earth. The technology of this time is not the main focus; it is mostly about Korolev’s struggle with his own state. The plan for mankind to move to space may not be completely ended in this story, but the failure of Kosmograd does not give much confidence in it. It is a story that shows how mankind’s dystopia goes with them where ever they go. After all if earth can become devastated by man than it can happen in space and on other planets as well. Still the arrival of Americans in the end provides some hope. They represent how man will always seek to survive and strive for a better life. Also Korolev is not alone, as unlike Isidore he has companions in the end.
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