Spook Country by William Gibson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Spook Country
Book Review: Another in the Gibson formula
Summary: 3 Stars
Spook Country is in the same formula as Pattern Recognition. A young hip female protagonist is pulled into a job to find a shipping container for an unknown reason. The organization that is funding her is a secretive advertising agency with an over funded over bearing own who keeps showing up at improbable times. We never learn who the mysterious container belongs to, nor do we learn much about the other group competing for the container.
So Spook Country like Pattern Recognition features a number of mysterious organizations, a strange activity being done for a vague reason. These things are never really explained in the book, or if they are the explanation is not satisfying.
Gibson is a good writer so Spook Country is engrossing. It features his vivid descriptions of the objects and locations that help set a scene. In my opinion it has very little else to recommend it.
Book Review: Brilliant, but not perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
The good: This book has some brilliant characters which ultimately intertwine around a caper based climax at the end. The writing is clever and a joy to read, and paints a very realistic and plausible world, once you get past the first chapter, which was like another reviewer mentioned like wading through overly descriptive mud.
The reason it isn't perfect was that I felt the climax, which had been building nicely, didn't come to as much resolution as I would have liked. Of course there is enough material to do some sort of sequel, but that is up to Mr. Gibson.
All in all, worth the read, but not his best work.
Book Review: Gibson Irrelevant?
Summary: 2 Stars
I had high hopes for this novel. Like others, I'm a huge fan of William Gibson. I think he's done a great deal to change the face of the science fiction genre, in fact I think "Neuromancer" turned it on its head. I've read all his novels and short story collections. I wanted to enjoy this book. Unfortunately I came away unmoved and just shrugged my shoulders. As always there are interesting characters and plot points, but the overall story just doesn't go anywhere. Ultimately there is no point. One thing I enjoy about Gibson's novels is that they have wider implications than just what happens to the characters. There's a bigger picture and this picture has something to say about our society now and in the future. I didn't find that here--maybe others did. What I saw was a near future world with three stories running through it that barely connect and don't say anything. So if you like Gibson's writing, enjoy his vision of the future, and don't need a compelling plot line to keep you interested, by all means give this a try. I do believe if you are a hard-core fan you should read this book and prepare to be underwhelmed. But at the end of the day you'll probably enjoy it if your expectations aren't very high. If you're new to Gibson and want to try him out, read his earlier novels or short stories (which I highly recommend). Thanks.Book Review: Gibson just keeps getting better and better!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was quite surprised to see the low average rating of this book, given how much I enjoyed it.
As Gibson matures, he is moving away from his cyberpunk roots, but applying the same startlingly clear ability to represent the core of an era, be it 2027 or 2007. For me, "Pattern Recognition" was a major step up in the quality of Gibson's writing; where the "Neuromancer" series had moments of pure poetry, "Pattern Recognition" is made of superior stuff. "Spook Country" is even better in terms of the richness of language and the vividness of the characters and scenes that Gibson displays.
Few people can build a literary world as convincingly as Gibson (Neal Stephenson being one of said few), and I think that "Spook Country", which continues in the "Pattern Recognition" world, is another fantastic creation. "Pattern Recognition" focused on the power of media in the modern world, and "Spook Country" focuses on another aspect: intergovernmental struggles to assert a particular worldview. I cannot wait for Gibson's next novel to see what will be examined under his keen literary microscope.
People who expect cyberpunk from this book will be disappointed, but open-minded readers should find plenty to savour.
Book Review: Interesting, but not very good
Summary: 2 Stars
The writing style is engaging, and the characters are interesting - but the book seems more like a rough (and unfinished) draft than a completed novel. This is not the William Gibson I know and love.