Neuromancer by William Gibson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Neuromancer
Book Review: An excellent book.
Summary: 4 Stars
It's not so often that an author comes up with an idea so bold that it generates an entire cultural movement, but that's what Mr. Gibson has done in this book via cyberspace. Aside from that though, there is also an entertaining plotline and interesting characters.Book Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Two years ago Case was one of the best cowboys working the cyberspace Sprawl to access corporate data systems until he compared his cut of the purloined "goods" to that of his employers who provided the required specialized software. Case did something stupid by fencing an item in Amsterdam. In Memphis his employers using Russian mycotxin eradicated his talent one micron at a time over a period of thirty hours. Thus he is left "dead" since his Fall meant he no longer can attain the adrenalin rush of working the matrix.
Two years later, Case lives in Japan where he expects to find the cure in Chiba, but as his New Yen bank roll diminishes his hopes to jack into cyberspace as a rustler are shrinking by the drink. That is until Armitage offers him a job. Though he has no idea what his wealthy patron wants him to do Case assumes that Armitage will rebuild his former cyber connected body. Regardless of whether the job is life-threatening in orbit and that his apparent "partner" is the violent Molly, the chance to regain the High is worth everything to Case, a cyber addict who has spent two cold turkey years.
This reprint of a 1984 classic shows that William Gibson's tale compares well with the cyberspace and nanotechnology revolution of the last decade or so as if the author had a crystal ball. The exciting story line centers on the abusive excess of corporations in which government concedes the role of insuring fair play to the companies. The cast is a delight especially Case changing from depressed addict to user high, the gender bending crazy Molly, and several AIs in a realm that foresaw the Matrix trilogy.
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: Best book I've read in a while
Summary: 5 Stars
Finally, and interesting story with intriguing characters. I'd been settling for mediocrity for so long, I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever read a good book again. This is where they got all the ideas for the Matrix film, only this story a million times better (shocker, I'm sure). To introduce yourself to Gibson's matrix, you might want to begin with some of the short stories in Burning Chrome (not that I did) to avoid confusion, because a lot of the terminology in here is (hopefully) introduced in those stories. I know that Molly Millions starts out in Johnny Mnemonic. Did you know Gibson's short story Burning Chrome coined the term cyberspace? Amazing how much Gibson's writing has impacted our culture. I would read this book again, I LOVED it! I look forward to reading the sequel, Count Zero.Book Review: Brilliance well placed in its time
Summary: 4 Stars
When Neuromancer came out in 1982, there was nothing like it. It predicted a computer world that we basically live in right now, and that I think a lot of new readers so take that for granted that they are unwilling, or unable (maybe too young) to place this novel in the context of its original zeitgeist. Some of today's computer technology (like Wifi) was even beyond Gibson's vision of the time (his characters must jack in), so he wasn't completely prescient, but enough so to imagine what a parallel reality the internet would become. Just the way his computer savvy fringe dwellers feel about life and themselves predicates the emergence of destructive hackers and virus authors who see themselves as pure Gibson-driven cyberpunks.
Gibson also strove for literary quality in his writing, which he achieves well. He's almost the Raymond Carver of science fiction, based on his imagery and sparseness of text, mixed with beautiful descriptive powers and characterization that shows the peaks and lets the reader imagine the valleys.
If they are going to give awards for science fiction, it should always be to the kind of book Neuromancer is, innovative, clever, believable, edgy, even a bit nightmarish, but not dependent on wars among the stars that are basically westerns set in space with physics-law-violating means of travel. Neuromancer delineated the possibilities and allowed for expansion. Gibson couldn't help it that he could predict the future. Such predictions continue in books like Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, which one could call Cybernoir. The great thing about Neuromancer is that it was the beginning of a great career, not the end, and not just the entire career within itself. Gibson indeed launched a genre, and then went on to break out of it himself. He's an iconoclast's iconoclast.
Book Review: Can someone say Retarded
Summary: 1 Stars
This book has no flow and there are random facts about the story throught the book. Add to that the writer uses words that aren't even in existence and never will be because there is already terms to discribe what what talked about. This is a waist of the paper it was printed on.