Exploring the Matrix : Visions of the Cyber Present

Timed to tie in with the 2003 theatrical release of The Matrix: Reloaded the second film in the blockbuster Matrix film trilogy, Exploring the Matrix presents a collection of insightful, original essays by today's top cyberpunk, science fiction, and comic book writers on the impact the Wachowski Brothers' famous Matrix films (and cyberpunk in general) has had on popular culture and science fiction. Additional bestselling and award-winning authors include: -Pat Cadigan -Joe Haldeman -Walter Jon Williams -John Shirley -Alan Dean Foster -Dean Motter. Exploring the Matrix includes stunning original art by digital artist Robert Zohrab and work from some of the top illustrators in the comics field, making this blockbuster book a must for every fan of the Matrix films.

Karen Haber is the author of eight novels, including Star Trek: Voyager - Bless the Beasts; coauthor of Science of the X-Men; and editor of the Hugo-nominated essay anthology celebrating J.R.R. Tolkien, Mediations on Middle-earth. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and many anthologies. She reviews art books for Locus magazine and profiles artists for various publications, including Realms of Fantasy. Haber lives in Oakland, California, with her husband, Robert Silverberg.

Robert Zohrab is an Australian digital artist and designer whose work appears on book covers and in corporate brochures. His clients include the Manta recording company, for which he has designed album covers and promotional material, and ibooks, inc., for which he has supplied cover image for new trade editions of Brian Aldiss's landmark Helliconia triology, among others.

Darrel Anderson, a digital-art pioneer, emerged from the underground comix scene to create one of the earliest and longest-running art Web sites, braid.com. With members of the BRAID collective and PCA Graphics, he created the animated CGI climax of the 1995 film Johnny Mnemonic. The Science Fiction Channel Web site features forty-eight of his images, and he is profiled in Fantasy Art of the New Millennium II by Dick Jude. His artwork has received top honors in numerous international awards, including Pixar's call for images and MacWorld's Macintosh Masters competition. Anderson actually works either side of the screen, as both programmer and artist. One of his latest developments, GroBoto, is an interactive art tool intended to allow children to explore their creativity, and artists to further theirs. Anderson's work can be seen and sampled at braid.com

Introduction by Pat Cadigan

"Every Other Movie is the Blue Pill" by Bruce Sterling

"The Real Matrix" by Stephen Baxter

"The Matrix: Know Thyself" by John Shirley

"Literary Influences on the Matrix" Paul Di Filippo

"More Than You'll Ever Know: Down the Rabbit Hole of the Matrix" by Kathleen Ann Goonan

"The Matrix and the Star Maker" by Mike Resnick

"Yuen Woo-Ping and the Art of Flying" by Walter Jon Williams

"Alice in Metropolis or It's All Done With Mirrors" by Dean Motter

"The Matrix as Simulacrum" by Ian Watson

"The Matrix as Sci-fi" by Joe Haldeman

"Tomorrow May Be Different" by David Brin

"Revenge of the Nerds, Part X" by Alan Dean Foster

"Reflections in a Cyber Eye" by Karen Haber

"Meditations on the Singular Matrix" by James Patrick Kelly

"The Matrix Made Me Do It" by Kevin J. Anderson

"Dreaming Real" by Rick Berry