ISBN 0-246-13755-X (UK hbk),,, 0-586-21147-0 (UK pbk)

"Synners are synthesizers -- not machines, but real people. They take images from the brains of performers and turn them into a form which can be packaged, sold and consumed. Of course, some images are more sought after then others...

"Pat Cadigan's ferocious second novel plunges us into a fast-moving, high-tech future -- exotic, exciting and very dangerous. It's a world where new technology spawns new crime even before it hits the streets. A world where computer viruses appear all but human. A world of new drugs and even newer side-effects. A world where the human mind and the external landscape have fused to the point that reality is constantly being moulded, destroyed then re-created. And the greatest reality manipulatiors of them all are the synners..."

"To be a Synner is to join the on-line hardcore, an outlaw band of video hackers, simulation pirates and reality synthesizers -- hot-wired socket-jockeys hooked on artificial reality and virtual space. Now you can change yourself to suit the machines -- jack into cyberspace dreamscapes and leave the meat behind. All it costs you is your freedom -- and your humanity.

"But something new is loose in the network, a wildfire virus with a mind of its own that can crash the system and trash your brain. The Synners created it. Now it's up to them to stop it." [jacket blurb, UK hbk/pbk, 1991]

"Pat's second book, Synners , had me in awe of her writing. The plot was convoluted, yet skimmed along with silvery ease. As in Mindplayers , the novel was permeated with mantras, little loops that stuck in the brain, the murmuring, insistent, almost sinister undercurrent that underlined the neuroses of certain protagonists within the story. Pat insisted to me she was not an aficionado of new technology, yet this was far from apparent in the book. However, the story was never sacrificed to the technology; the characters were (literally in some cases) part of it, yet vital and credible in their own right, with their own developed histories and futures. The subculture of the synners (hacker/punk/drug/music) was explored without resorting to cliché. Pat spoke with confidence and vision, almost as if she herself had experienced the wild life of her female lead, Gina. Also, Pat being a mistress of cynical asides, the book had been written with humour, even if it was often bitter sweet." --Storm Constantine (in her Introduction to Dirty Work , 1993).

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

"Synners is a knock-out. Witty, rude, and rich with ideas." --Ellen Datlow (science fiction editor, Omni ).

"Beside Synners , most previous cyberpunk novels look like vignettes...settle back for a great read." -- (in Locus ).

"Brilliant writing. Hardcore cyberpunk. A must read." --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , 1995).

Highly recommended.

Pat Cadigan's Homepage
("The web pages for Pat are an attempt to inform people about her work, and sustain interest in it. This is especially necessary as so much of her work is out of print at the moment in the US and the UK..." --Chris Fowler.)