February 12, 2010
#6 - Neuromancer by William Gibson I consider myself fairly knowledgable about fantasy and science fiction so it pains me to tell you that I was a first-time reader of Neuromancer this past couple of weeks. It was a critical and popular hit on release in 1984 and I really wish I’d have read it then. It’s a great book but one can’t experience the seismic shocks it caused then reading it more than a quarter of a century on. Its narrative style and thematic approach seem almost familiar these days and that’s no surprise given how influential it was and has become. What was cyberpunk then seems more pedestrian these days - a bit like if you listen to the Sex Pistols’ early stuff they come across as a melodic (and slightly angry) rock ‘n’ roll band. Still, it’s a great book with some wonderful big ideas matched to fantastic detailing, particularly in his descriptions of places real and imagined. It seems that sometimes you should believe the hype. And buy and read the book. On release.

#6 - Neuromancer by William Gibson

I consider myself fairly knowledgable about fantasy and science fiction so it pains me to tell you that I was a first-time reader of Neuromancer this past couple of weeks.

It was a critical and popular hit on release in 1984 and I really wish I’d have read it then. It’s a great book but one can’t experience the seismic shocks it caused then reading it more than a quarter of a century on. Its narrative style and thematic approach seem almost familiar these days and that’s no surprise given how influential it was and has become. What was cyberpunk then seems more pedestrian these days - a bit like if you listen to the Sex Pistols’ early stuff they come across as a melodic (and slightly angry) rock ‘n’ roll band.

Still, it’s a great book with some wonderful big ideas matched to fantastic detailing, particularly in his descriptions of places real and imagined.

It seems that sometimes you should believe the hype. And buy and read the book. On release.

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