William Gibson

[Jim_Campbell]

What's amazing is that Gibson confesses to knowing absolutely nothing about computers when he started writing Neuromancer.

Heh. All the stories in Burning Chrome, Neuromancer and half of Count Zero all written on a manual typewriter.

Of course, Gibson being Gibson, even his low tech is cool:



Cheers!

Jim

[Kerrin]

Also suggest you get a copy of The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester - an incredible book that was a big inspiration of Gibson's work.

Great book! Hard to believe it was first published in 1956.

I'm a big Gibson fan and I've got to say that 'Neuromancer' is still far and away my favourite.

His latest, 'Spook Country', is a present day tale which I found enjoyable but at the same time I got the feeling he was still reaching for his original goal when the story finished. Well worth a read though.

[Grae the puppetmaker]

I re-read the Sprawl trilogy earlier this year for the first time in about a decade and was really impressed with how well it held up. Near-future SF is always in danger of dating badly, quickly. But the only part that jarred for me (reading 70's/80's SF in the 21st Century) was the use of megabytes as a large amount of data storage.

[Colm]

Having just finished Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, I have to add to the recommendations above.  Really thrilling, funny and fascinating vision of the future, given depth by interesting historical references.  The ideas about brain structure, language and viruses may not be entirely accurate, but they add to the story and you get sci-fi with smarts that doesn't forgo the action-packed narrative in order to show off the wealth of research behind it. 

The best thing about it is the fact that it was written in 1992 and its vision of the future is very accurate from the perspective of nearly 20 years later, and at the same time still seems very futuristic. 

[HOO-HAA]

I'm enjoying Gibson's Neuromancer, as we speak, and have heard nothing but good about Stephenson's Snow Crash.

As I mentioned in another thread, I am struggling a bit with Gibson's tech stuff, but it does little to distract from his compelling story-telling or vivacious characterisation.

[Mikey]

I hate sci-fi that has the emphasis on the sci rather than the fi

I presume you're talking about hard SF here? I likes mine hard now and again and definately get distracted if it's a bit soft. You know what I mean.

But is the sci in scifi not what sets the genre apart though? Big Dumb Devices and Space Opera are fine, but for me if it's actually got at least a theoretical basis it really fires my imagination.

I've only read Neuromancer - years ago too - and just haven't got 'round to picking up the rest to my shame. My first Neal Stephenson was Snow Crash and I think he gets better and better (or should that be longer and longer?)

M.

[HdE]

Ah, Neuromancer is FANTASTIC!

I generally find Gibson's writing style pretty hard to take, but in Neuromancer, he beloted out a really compelling story. The final chapters pack a real punch. I felt quite out-of-breath after I'd finished it.

[HOO-HAA]

Just to give Gibson fans the heads-up on a really cool interview with the man himself in this month's SFX magazine.

[HOO-HAA]

Just got around to finishing Neuromancer and enjoyed it immensely! Very noir feel to the book, with gritty chracters and locations. And, it stands the test of time really well. Have since picked up several other Gibson books, including the final two from the Sprawl trilogy, as well as Virtual Light, ATP and Idoru.

Great stuff!

[radiator]

Neuromancer is arsom. It's kind of a victim of it's own success though. It's been ripped off by so many things that it feels a little cliched now!

Have you read Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination HOO-HAA? Big, big influence of Neroumancer - an amazing book.

*edit* - just realised I was banging on about TSMD earlier in this thread!

[HOO-HAA]

I haven't, mate. Is it worth picking up?

What I like best about Gibson is the Noir feeling of his writing: his gritty, punky characters. It's interesting to note how Blade Runner was pretty much filmed around the same time Gibson released this - both feature a similar vibe, as well as a fascination with Japanese culture.

Are there any other books out there that mix noir with sci-fi in a similar way (apart from the one I'm writing right now!)?

[SmallBlueThing]

Just finished Mars, by Ben Bova- after years of searching for a fat scifi book that 'did it for me'. This did it for me.

"Scientifically accurate" tale of the first manned mission to Mars, that manages to be absolutely compelling, encompass all the fabulous mystery and romance of Mars, and tell a believable tale of mankind on the edge of endurance. Absolutely loved it, and am now regretting not picking up 'Titan' and the rest of what appears to be a series of novels Bova has written about our solar system, while in fp last week.

SBT

[radiator]

TSMD isn't as overtly Noir-influenced as Gibson's work, but it is very much a proto-cyberpunk novel. It covers fairly common ground to Neuromancer - colourful, fierce-looking, grungy underworld characters, cybernetic augmentation and shady global corporations are tropes they very much have in common. If you're a fan of Gibson's Sprawl trilogy it will be right up your alley.

TSMD feels weirdly anachronistic (it was written over 50 years ago!) but somehow very fresh at the same time. I always imagine in my head that if they did a screen adaptation the art direction would be like a far future Mad Men.

Another cyberpunk book I'd highly recommend is Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash - it's utterly bonkers but just keeps getting better and better the more of it you read. It's like an amped-up, dayglo take on cyberpunk.

[Art]

I'd highly recommend When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger as a great Cyberpunk book from the same vintage as Neuromancer. It's decidedly less high-tech, being set in a crime riddled walled city in a future Islamic state, and the big cyberpunk element is brain implants allowing people to adopt artificial personalities, which somehow all makes it seem much more up to date than it's peers. It's also bloody great.

[Ignatzmonster]

I'd highly recommend When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger as a great Cyberpunk book from the same vintage as Neuromancer. It's decidedly less high-tech, being set in a crime riddled walled city in a future Islamic state, and the big cyberpunk element is brain implants allowing people to adopt artificial personalities, which somehow all makes it seem much more up to date than it's peers. It's also bloody great.

Holy crap! Finally someone I (kinda sorta) know that's read Effinger. Read him back when the book came out and was blown away by it. My bro and I still discuss it.