He still dreamed of cyberspace…all the turns he'd taken and the corners he cut in Night City, and he'd still see the matrix in his dreams, bright lattices of logic unfolding across that colourless void
| Neuromancer by William Gibson | |
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| Category: Science Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Olivia Tierney
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| Summary: An innovative classic with an intriguing plot and captivating descriptions, Neuromancer is a complicated novel which can be difficult to read at first but is well worth rereading again and again. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 320 | Date: December 2016 |
| Publisher: Gollancz | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781473217386 | |
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Neuromancer follows Case, who used to be a cyber cowboy with exceptional hacking skills, before attempting to steal from his former employer, who as a result severed his connection to cyberspace by injecting him with a mycotoxin. No longer able to enter the Matrix, Case enters a dark depression having suicidal thoughts and developing a drug addiction, which is where the reader first meets our troubled protagonist and antihero. Waiting for someone to help him escape his misery, a mysterious stranger proposes a deal to restore Case's ability to connect to cyberspace in exchange for working for him. Surrounded by secrecy, Case joins the recruits on their mission to uncover artificial intelligence and start life afresh.
Gibson's novel is a sci-fi classic and cannot be denied to be a masterful creation, having won sci-fi's most prestigious literature awards. The novel's creativity and world building are hugely impressive and are the focus of the story rather than the characters. The writing itself, although at times dense and very descriptive, is intriguing and through it readers visit a completely new world, understanding aspects of the world as the story progresses. Contextually, Gibson's exploration of cyberspace is before anything of its time and launched the cyberpunk fiction genre.
Be warned however, the novel is challenging; Gibson throws the reader in at the deep end, withholding information about the world and its slang. As a result, it's confusing at times, requiring absolute focus, which can make you quite frustrated! Especially on the first read. It's a book that should definitely be tried and reread to take in more information, to make more sense of Gibson's world and delve into cyberspace.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing the Bookbag with a copy to review!
For another Science Fiction classic, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is exceptional and definitely a must-read for anyone interested in the genre.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Neuromancer by William Gibson at Amazon.com.
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