100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders 🚀

Synners

The Arthur C Clarke award-winning cyberpunk masterpiece for fans of William Gibson and THE MATRIX
By Pat Cadigan
Series: S.F. Masterworks
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.67 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 2,208 ratings, 204 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Synners by Pat Cadigan is a compelling exploration of a world where the boundaries between reality and technology blur. It follows the lives of people who interact with a powerful new virtual technology, delving into the societal impacts and personal transformations it triggers. As the virtual and real worlds converge, the novel presents a thought-provoking narrative on the intersection of humanity and digital realms.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're intrigued by a world where technology merges seamlessly with the mind, creating new dimensions of consciousness and virtual realities. With its cyberpunk flair, it explores themes of human enhancement and connectivity in a fast-paced, futuristic setting. Fans of speculative fiction that delves into the complex interplay between humanity and technology might find this novel particularly captivating.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Winner of the ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD, and shortlisted for the NEBULA, SYNNERS is a classic of cyberpunk fiction.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

What does it mean to be human when you're part of the machine?

Synners are synthesizers - not machines, but people. They take images from the brains of performers and turn them into a form which can be packaged, sold, and consumed. They don't use the net, they are the net.

Everything is automated. Everything is synthetic. But when the technology starts to fail, the terrifying question remains: what is a human?

Winner of the 1992 Arthur C. Clarke Award, Synners was one of Pat Cadigan's early stories. It cemented her place in the core of the cyberpunk movement and has even inspired academic works. Lauded for her complex characters and plots, and seen as a stalwart of feminist SF, Cadigan has gone on to win another Clarke and a Hugo for subsequent works.

'Racingly told, linguistically acute, simultaneously pell-mell and precise in its detailing' - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

'Ambitious, brilliantly executed . . . Cadigan is a major talent' - William Gibson

'Pat Cadigan is the undisputed Queen of Cyberpunk' - The Fantasy Hive

Series: S.F. Masterworks

View all
  • Flowers For Algernon
    Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a profoundly moving and thought-provoking novel that tells the story of Charlie Gordon, a kind-hearted and intellectually disabled man working as a floor sweeper in a bakery. Often the target of cruel jokes by his co-workers, Charlie dreams of being smart and accepted like others. His life takes a dramatic turn when he...
    By Daniel Keyes
    Paperback
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Dispossessed
    The Principle of Simultaneity is a scientific breakthrough that will revolutionise interstellar civilisation by making possible instantaneous communication. It is the life work of Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the arid anarchist world of Anarres. However, Shevek's work is being stifled by jealous colleagues, so he travels to Anarres's sister-planet Urras, hoping to find more liberty and tolerance there. But...
    By Ursula K. Le Guin
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Neuromancer
    The book that defined the cyberpunk movement, inspiring everything from The Matrix to Cyberpunk 2077. The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel. William Gibson revolutionised science fiction in his 1984 debut Neuromancer. The writer who gave us the matrix and coined the term 'cyberspace' produced a first novel that won the Hugo,...
    By William Gibson
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
    Welcome to the Best of the Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction Arthur Dent thought his day was going badly when someone tried to demolish his house. Then someone demolished his planet. Rescued by his friend Ford—who is not a human from Guilford, but an alien from somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse—Arthur is flung into an...
    By Douglas Adams
    Hardback
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Left Hand of Darkness
    'A rich and complex story of friendship and love' GUARDIAN 'Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.' Two people, until recently strangers, find themselves on a long, tortuous and dangerous journey across the ice. One is an outcast, forced to leave his beloved homeland; the other...
    By Ursula K. Le Guin
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
    World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn't 'retiring' them with his laser weapon, he dreamed of owning a live animal - the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of animal life. Then Rick got his...
    By Philip K Dick
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Book Of The New Sun: Volume 1
    An extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, in the time of a dying sun, when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, a torturer's apprentice, is exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his prisoners. Ordered to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est,...
    By Gene Wolfe
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    Backorder
    Ships late August
  • The Dispossessed
    One of the very best must-read novels of all time - with a new introduction by Roddy Doyle 'A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again' THE TIMES 'The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day...
    By Ursula K. Le Guin
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Hiero's Journey
    The world ended. People survived. Per Hiero Desteen was a priest, a telepath—and a highly trained killer. Five thousand years after the apocalyptic event known only as The Death, Hiero is tasked with finding the secrets of the old world, which could protect his civilisation from massing enemies. The planet is not the same as it used to be. Mutations...
    By Sterling E. Lanier
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Left Hand of Darkness
    'A rich and complex story of friendship and love' GUARDIAN 'Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.' Two people, until recently strangers, find themselves on a long, tortuous and dangerous journey across the ice. One is an outcast, forced to leave his beloved homeland; the other...
    By Ursula K. Le Guin
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Fire Upon the Deep
    In A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, the far future cosmos is divided into 'zones of thought', an enigmatic partitioning of space where the intelligence and capabilities of minds are directly contingent upon their spatial location. From the sublime super-intelligent entities residing in the Transcend, to the rudimentary intellects tethered in the Unthinking Depths, this universe offers a...
    By Vernor Vinge
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Roadside Picnic
    The Strugatsky brothers' poignant and introspective novel of first contact that inspired the classic film Stalker. Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those strange misfits who are compelled by some unknown force to venture illegally into the Zone and, in spite of the extreme danger, collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is...
    By Boris Strugatsky and Arkady Strugatsky
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Synners by Pat Cadigan is often praised for its visionary depiction of a networked future and its exploration of the human and technological relationship. Reviewers have highlighted the novel's complex characters and intricate narrative, while also commending its insightful commentary on the implications of virtual reality and digital consciousness. The book's rich, immersive storytelling and its relevance to modern technological debates continue to captivate readers in the sci-fi and fantasy genre.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781399617253

Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 August 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Gollancz

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 34.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 340g

Pages: 496

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Pat Cadigan Sci-Fi & Fantasy Science Fiction Series: S.F. Masterworks

About the Author

Pat Cadigan was born in 1953 in Schenectady, New York and grew up in Massachusetts, attending the University of Massachusetts. She moved to England in 1996. Her books include SYNNERS, FOOLS(both of which won the ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD) and PATTERNS.

Also by Pat Cadigan

View all
  • Alien - Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay by William Gibson
    Alien - Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay by William Gibson unveils William Gibson's never-before-adapted screenplay for the direct sequel to Aliens, revealing the fates of Ripley, Newt, the synthetic Bishop, and Corporal Hicks. When the Colonial Marines vessel Sulaco docks with the space station and military installation Anchorpoint, a new form of Xenomorph appears. This adaptation is written by Hugo...
    By William Gibson and Pat Cadigan
    Hardback
    $4500
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay by William Gibson
    The first-draft Alien screenplay by William Gibson, the founder of cyberpunk, turned into a novel by Pat Cadigan, the Hugo Award-Winning 'Queen of Cyberpunk.' William Gibson's never-before-adapted screenplay for the direct sequel to Aliens reveals the fates of Ripley, Newt, the synthetic Bishop, and Corporal Hicks. When the Colonial Marines vessel Sulaco docks with space station and military installation Anchorpoint,...
    By William Gibson and Pat Cadigan
    Paperback
    $2899
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Ultraman - Ultraseven
    Ultraman - Ultraseven is a modern adaptation of the hit 1960s series, bringing the foundational era of the iconic Japanese superhero to established fans and newcomers alike. In the not-too-distant future, Earth’s tentative steps into the wider universe see the planet besieged by aliens. Faced with seemingly insurmountable threats, the mysterious Dan Moroboshi comes to the defence of humanity, transforming...
    By Pat Cadigan
    Paperback
    $2599
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Synners
    Synners are synthesizers - not machines, but people. They take images from the brains of performers and turn them into a form which can be packaged, sold and consumed. This book is set in a world where new technology spawns new crime before it hits the streets. In Synners the line between technology and humanity is hopelessly slim; the human...
    By Pat Cadigan
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Ultraman
    Pursuing a fugitive space monster, a Being of Light enters Earth’s atmosphere. Accidentally colliding with a patrolling jet, piloted by Science Patrol Agent Shin Hayata, the Being merges with the pilot to save his life and vows to defend the Earth. Now whenever the planet is threatened by alien invaders, terrifying monsters, or any threat beyond the capabilities of humanity,...
    By Pat Cadigan
    Paperback
    $2899
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Alita: Battle Angel - The Official Movie Novelization
    Embargoed to the 6th February 2019 The official novelisation to the highly anticipated science fiction movie, Alita: Battle Angel. In the twenty-sixth century, a female cyborg is rescued from the scrap heap by a scientist. The official novelisation to the highly anticipated science fiction film Alita: Battle Angel, based on Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita manga, is set to be...
    By Pat Cadigan
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • Alita: Battle Angel - Iron City
    The official prequel novelisation to the highly anticipated science fiction film Alita: Battle Angel, based on Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita manga, set to be released on 19 July 2018. The film is directed by Robert Rodriguez, written and produced by James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar), and stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Mahershala...
    By Pat Cadigan
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from Sci-Fi & Fantasy

View all
  • The Strength of the Few
    The highly anticipated follow-up to The Will of the Many—one of 2023's most lauded and bestselling fantasy novels. The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. They still, as one, believe they know who I am. But with all that has happened—with what I fear is coming—I am not sure it matters anymore. I am no longer one. I won the...
    By James Islington
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Crossroads of Ravens
    THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON RETURNS... Every legend has an origin - and Geralt of Rivia's begins here. In this brand-new chapter of Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher series, follow Geralt in his earliest days as a Witcher, as he faces monsters and humans alike. Discover the untold stories and encounters that shaped the iconic character known today. Crossroads of Ravens brings readers into...
    By Andrzej Sapkowski
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Will of the Many
    Phenomenal! One of the best high fantasy novels I've read in years—think Red Rising meets The Name of the Wind. I couldn't put it down. - LYNETTE NONI This new edition of book one in the Hierarchy series features never-before-seen bonus materials, including a full-colour map by the author, a note to the reader, and new cover art. AUDI. VICE....
    By James Islington
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Wind and Truth
    The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the Number One New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive. Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson sees Dalinar Kholin challenge the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare, and the sudden ascension of the...
    By Brandon Sanderson
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Ministry of Time
    One of the 18 best novels of the year for the Sunday Times A book of the year for the New York Times, Guardian, Independent, Evening Standard, Spectator, Red, NPR, Vanity Fair, People, Slate, Advocate, Sydney Morning Herald, Globe and Mail, Den of Geek, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, NetGalley and Smithsonian Magazine 'A sparkling delight' Observer 'Make room on your bookshelves...
    By Kaliane Bradley
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (2)
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Assassin’s Apprentice
    Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb marks the beginning of an extraordinary adventure in the rich and immersive world of the Six Duchies. Set against the backdrop of a kingdom teetering on the brink of civil war, this gripping tale introduces readers to FitzChivalry Farseer, a royal bastard whose existence threatens the stability of the crown. When the crown prince's secret...
    By Robin Hobb
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    Backorder
    Ships late August
  • I Who Have Never Known Men
    A haunting, heartbreaking tale of female friendship and intimacy that evokes the chilling atmospheres of The Handmaid's Tale and the desolate landscapes of The Road, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman is a story that lingers long after the last page is turned. This gripping narrative takes us deep underground, where thirty-nine women are held in isolation...
    By Jacqueline Harpman
    Paperback
    $2800
    Elsewhere:
    $3299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Colour Illustrated Hobbit
    The Colour Illustrated Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien is a timeless classic that has enchanted readers for generations. This beloved tale follows Bilbo Baggins, a peace-loving hobbit from the quaint and picturesque Shire, who finds himself thrust into an epic journey far from the comforts of his cosy home. Charming and lively illustrations by Jemima Catlin breathe new life...
    By J. R. R. Tolkien
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Blood Over Bright Haven
    A riveting dark academia fantasy about the limits of truth and power, from the author of The Sword of Kaigen. The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen. For twenty years, Sciona...
    By M. L. Wang
    Paperback
    $3400
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Great Dune Trilogy
    Frank Herbert's The Great Dune Trilogy plunges readers into an evocative and grandiose saga set on the desert planet of Arrakis. This richly detailed landscape becomes the focal point for a complex tapestry of political intrigue, military conflict, and galaxy-wide repercussions. Arrakis, also known as Dune, is the sole source of the spice melange, a valuable and highly sought-after substance...
    By Frank Herbert
    Paperback
    $3900
    Elsewhere:
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

Sci-Fi & Fantasy lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all