THEMES / CONCEPTS

• A.I.: Dr. Artie Fish: virus, a.i., and tremendously smug, is an important character in the second half of the book. Interestingly, Cadigan makes Artie less an intentional creation--like Wintermute or Frankenstein--and more something that just, well, happened. [ESSAY]

• THE CORPORATION: The only corp we see in Synners is Diversification, but unlike the vast majority of cyberpunks, we actually see some employees as real, three-dimensional people. Gabe is a sympathetic character, and his existance made raises of where all the pleasant, intelligent middle managers have disappeared to in books like Neuromancer and Snow Crash.

• CRIME: As in so many cyberpunk novels, a large number of the characters in this book are hackers and engaged in illegal activity. Unlike many cyberpunk novels, Cadigan describes the justice system and the consequences of their acts.

• CYBERTECH: Implants are ubiquitous in this book; designed to help people cope with brain disfunction and mental illness, they've instead found a use on the street helping people --addicts-- get off and get high. [ESSAY]

• POSTHUMANISM: In addition to Visual Mark, who dies and leaves the meat entirely behind, taking up residence inside the Net (through the power of Artie Fish's program), Gabe develops two artificial friends who participate in VR adventures with him. Marly & Caritha are B-movie grade stereotypes (intentionally), but they have their own personalities. Gabe's sense of betrayal when Manny decides to mass-market them is palpable. (Ironically, his great concern through much of the novel is that his creation of the two will be discovered and he'll be fired for violating the copyright on the original images.) For an example of what might lead to the technology of cyberfriends, check out the intelligent agents at Firefly.

• POST-WAR: Although a semi-functional government is still in place, Synners takes place in California after The Big One; while much social structure of contemporary America has remained, the psychic toll has left the state filled with burn-outs dependant on implants for stabilization.

• RELIGION: St. Dismas, Patron Saint of the Incurably Informed: is a running image throughout Synners. St. Dismas was the "good thief", so his followers liberate information in his name. It's fairly clear that St. Diz is something of an in-joke among the book's hackers, but the choice of metaphors is interesting nonetheless.

• SIMSTIM: The "simstim" in Synners is the socket; while most of the novel is merciful realistic in its description of technology (the Net is, amazingly, still text-based; VR is recognizable as VR), the Macguffin that drives the plot is the development of the socket, which enables one to record visual images from and play them back directly to the brain.