Neuromancer by William Gibson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Neuromancer
Book Review: Neuromancer - hmmmmm
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this title because someone told me it was what the Matrix trilogy was based on - well I'm sorry but I just couldnt see it! To me its much closer to the collection of novelettes entitled Web 2028, I felt it was very slow and to be honest I got about 9/10 of the way through and havent looked at it since! I didnt engage with the main character at all and found myself in a state of sublime indifference to his fate at the end of the book. Obviously not for everyone, but if you like it, fair play to ya!Book Review: A brilliant, groundbreaking book.
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a wonderful book - original, packed with ideas and simply crackling with energy and wit. Gibson has documented incredible, wild vision of the (near) future. It is a world of high technology and low life, a world where designer drugs and surgical enhancements are ubiquitous. In writing this book, he created (or at least popularised) a new genre: cyberpunk.Neuromancer is not perfect. The characterisation is patchy (at best), some of the dialogue is stilted and the plot occasionally meanders but it is a still tremendous piece of work that has stood the test of time quite well.
Note that this is the first part of a trilogy and as such leaves a number of questions hanging. The other parts of the trilogy Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive are also very good and complete the story nicely.
Book Review: ?Neuromancer? by William Gibson
Summary: 4 Stars
The book centres on Case, a former computer hacker who makes his living by breaking into security systems. Caught stealing from his employers, Case is rendered physically unable to withstand the rigors of access to the worldwide computer net. Unable to work, he welcomes suicidal thoughts, entering into deals that can only go bad. Willing to do anything for the chance to work again, he turns to a mysterious figure named Armitage, and by so doing begins a journey out of the gutters of 21st century Tokyo and into an ever-expanding world of multinational intrigue. Armitage pays off Case's debts, repairs his neural damage, and places him under the protection of Molly, a professional killer.Book Review: Not great, but I still like it
Summary: 4 Stars
Neuromancer tells the story of Case, a washed-out, former hacker ace who has been offered a job that will pay handsomely and allow him back into the ?matrix? that he has not been allowed to enter since double-crossing his former employers.I expected great things from this novel but I finished it feeling very let down. After all, this is the novel that supposedly started an entire sub-genre of SF and won the top 3 awards in its field. But I was very disappointed probably due to Gibson?s lacklustre writing style and the fact I heard the story a few times before in various films (e.g. Lawnmower Man, Johnny Mnemonic, and The Matrix). The plot itself is interesting enough and I particularly enjoyed the concept of the ?simstim?. This is a device attached to somebody that allows another person to see (and feel) what the other person is experiencing. However there is a lot of jargon in this novel that isn?t explained which makes things rather difficult to understand. Combined with Gibson?s ridiculously fast pace, I found I couldn?t really follow what was happening without rereading entire chapters.
Whilst the writing may be poor, and the characters rather flat I enjoyed the book and it was fun to notice what The Matrix ripped off so blatantly. For example Neuromancer?s names are all quite monosyllabic (Case, Ratz, Finn, Zone etc.) and so are The Matrix? (Neo, Tank, Apoc, Link etc.) In Neuromancer a lot of people (including a kick-ass female hired gun) go around wearing black trench coats, black jeans and one character even has some mirror sunglasses for eyes. Plus Zion appears in Neuromancer as an orbiting colony populated by Rastafarians. I knew The Matrix wasn?t that original anyway but it?s amusing to see how unoriginal it really was!
Overall a good a read!
Book Review: Dated
Summary: 4 Stars
I first read this when it came out in the 80s and thought it was brilliant. It was years ahead of its time, remember that most people didn't even have computers then and had no familiarity with the ideas like hacking etc. I recently reread it and have to agree with others that it now seems a bit ropey, thin plot relying too heavily on his own jargon.
I persuaded my son to read it because he also likes SF but he's finding it incomprehensible. I think the book is suffering now because we all have much better knowledge of the things he portrayed.