Willliam Gibson created an entirely new genre in science fiction with 1984’s Neuromancer and for his efforts he won all the major awards that year. Browsing through a used book store a few months back I thought enough time had passed since my last reading and so I took it home. Perhaps, though, too much time has passed, too many novels came after mining the same vein and too many related real world developments have come to be and so I couldn’t enjoy the book nearly as much in 2003.
Neuromancer tells the story of a cowboy named Case who roams the wide open spaces of the Matrix, a computer mediated virtual reality space, as he takes a job to remove a physical, legally-imposed constraint preventing the further development and growth of an artifical intelligence created by a secretive, wealthy, space-dwelling family. Case works with an enhanced female warrior; her eyes are covered by implanted mirror shades, each of her fingers has a short steel blade which extend out at will, and her nervous system and musculature are beyond what steroids can do. Armitage is the team’s visible boss though in truth he’s a burnt out shell with a temporary personality embossed by the AI. Peter Riviera has the ability, not sure how he got it, to project illusions, very complex and believable.
Gibson, though he’s often worked in science fiction, has never really considered himself an SF author but more in the literary tradition of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell using speculation as a dramatic tool. This novel is built on rich and vivid language, deep and subtle characterizations, dialogue well fit to a speaker’s place and persona. And for the most part the plot is deft and well-paced, though as with so many other stories the ending doesn’t quite match up to the rest of the book. Still, that’s a small complaint for what is an amazing accomplishment for a first novel.
Recommended–absolutely if you’ve never read it before.
BillSaysThis 