Advantages and disadvantages of an anthology
The unequal level of stories in the anthologies is quite typical. This item is no exception. The disproportion in the quality of individual texts may not be drastic, but it is easy to notice. The authors approached the title motif in different ways and used it more or less in their stories.
Of course, the assessment of individual texts included in the collection will depend on the reader’s taste. This is a certain advantage of the anthology – the songs they contain often differ significantly. On the one hand, it increases the chance that we will like at least some of them, and on the other hand, it allows us to get acquainted with different views on the theme.
Game start
Cyberpunk Girls opens Martyna Raduchowska’s Heartbyte . This story probably best describes the spirit of cyberpunk. It doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The author unnecessarily made references to a raging pandemic in it. This text reads well, but it is not a literary masterpiece. You can feel the gaming approach very strongly. Even if it was not the writer’s goal, the whole thing resembles a Cyberpunk 2020 RPG , or even a computer game. This doesn’t have to be a downside, of course, but it’s a tad disappointing.
Martyna Raduchowska included one more text of her own in the collection – Mindblow . In terms of quality, it beats the one discussed above. The whole thing is extremely short – just a few pages, but still allows you to get a feel for the situation. It’s not a great piece, but it fits well with this anthology.
Not enough cyberpunk in cyberpunk
Unfortunately, not all stories are firmly embedded in cyberpunk. Some of them only very conventionally use selected motifs associated with this trend. This does not mean that these texts are bad, but they are a bit disappointing when we approach the anthology, counting on different views on this subgenre. This is visible, for example, in the case of Amber Jagna Rolska. This text contains quite a few cyberpunk themes, but it certainly does not reflect the spirit of this style. It is also quite mediocre in literary terms, and the idea, while interesting, has not been elaborated enough.
A much better text is to touch the darkness of Krystyna Chodorowska and Gabriela Panika. Both in terms of the implementation of the anthology’s keynote and purely literary, it beats Amber . The story is interesting and more convincing (despite being less likely). When it’s over, you want more – you want to see what happens next with the heroes. At the same time, the reader would be happy to reach for more texts presenting the past of this world.
Interesting atmosphere
The Girl Who Wasn’t There by Magdalena Kucenty is an interesting story. However, as Marcin Zwierzchowski notes in her review, the author seemed to be preparing the world for a longer story. However, despite this, the whole thing is very pleasant to read and you definitely want to dive into this universe again. Both the character of the main character and the nature of the world ask for more. If the writer ever comes back to this idea, it will definitely be a book worth reaching for.
Spandau Jagna Rolski could be a good text, but unfortunately it is a little too long. What should be a surprise at the very end of the story can be predicted much earlier, which spoils the intended effect – which is a pity.
I have mixed feelings about Nitro Agata Suchocka. It is undoubtedly not a bad story, and yet it does not really appeal to me. The author managed to include in her text motifs that fit the cyberpunk anthology – fusing the body with machines and gangs of the urban jungle. However, there is something missing in this piece – perhaps it is only a matter of taste, but after reading it I did not feel that I would like to return to the text or the created world. It was only OK.
Summary
Cyberpunk Girls isn’t a bad anthology, but unfortunately it’s not a good one either. Some of the stories are really interesting, but the same cannot be said for the whole. Not all authors have also dealt with the topic of cyberpunk – after all, introducing cybernetic modifications or other “future” themes is not all that is needed.
