It's weird that he mentions Snow Crash without even mentioning that it is a parody of cyberpunk that is making fun of the self-serious nature of the genre. I mean Stephenson's hero protagonist is literally named "Hiro Protagonist", the crime lord Uncle Enzo controls pizza delivery rather than something like hard drugs, and features countries that exist as franchises like fast food restaurants. I like the book, don't get me wrong, but the way the OP (and others) talk about the book you wouldn't expect it to be a comedy as it is.

Ready Player One is not a good book. It starts with an interesting premise then devolves in to a competition for how many 80s references it can fit in each sentence.

For anyone into cyberpunk, I recommend checking out Alfred Bested, who seriously influenced the genre.

His two masterpieces, The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man, could both be called "proto-cyberpunk", but the one that I think comes closest is Extro (1975, also published as The Computer Connection). It's a crazy, fun, ballsy, flawed novel that was panned when it came out, but way ahead of its time.

Also if you are curious...

Here are the most recommended cyberpunk books on Shepherd: https://shepherd.com/bookshelf/cyberpunk?order=most_recommen...

And the most recommended cyberpunk books from the last 3 years: https://shepherd.com/bookshelf/cyberpunk?order=most_recommen...

I just read Titanium Noir and it is fantastic if you like a noir mystery mashed with a cyberpunk universe: https://shepherd.com/book/titanium-noir

This list is so generic, so uninspired, that I'd of thought an AI generated it had it not been for the advertisement for the author's own book at the top and bottom of the page... Actually, I'm still not convinced it wasn't generated by an AI.

Author Stu Jones shares some of the best cyberpunk books he feels revolutionized the genre :)

My all-time fav is Snow Crash, blew my young mind when I read it.