A corporate mercenary wakes in a reconstructed body, a beautiful woman by his side. Then Hosaka Corporation reactivates him, for a mission more dan...
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reviews
Apr 30, 2009
Chris
rated it: 
I would perhaps complain that the ending was a bit to deus ex machina for my taste, but then the entire book is wound around the theme of god being in the machine. From the vodou loa who seemingly possess various characters and steer the entire plot; to the mad European trillionare who has reached near immortality through preservation vats and virtual reality; to the insane former net cowboy who now believes he has found god in the random yet deeply moving works of art created by long abandoned
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Feb 08, 2012
Donovan
rated it: 
This is the second of The Sprawl series. It sees an emerging technique of Gibson's writing to have multiple story lines that twist together at the conclusion. While it makes for a gripping read, it can make things hard to understand until you get used to this form of writing. I very much like the way it keeps elements from Neuromancer and weaves them in to this new story.
Plot ***Spoilers***
Thread One:
In the southwestern USA, Turner, a corporate mercenary soldier, has been hi More...
Plot ***Spoilers***
Thread One:
In the southwestern USA, Turner, a corporate mercenary soldier, has been hi More...
Jan 04, 2012
Thecubanmissile
rated it:
Gibson is without a doubt one of my favorite writers. The second book in the Sprawl trilogy touches on a few of the themes in Neuromancer to great success. I do not think that the actual plot to this book has anything on the sheer racing brilliance of Neuromancer, and that is why it falls in the four star range. I would probably more accurately give the book 3 3/4 stars, but heading back into the Matrix by way of Steely Dan Sprawl is always a pleasure. Also, I really like the character arc o
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Mar 27, 2011
Andreas
rated it:
The Sprawl Trilogy consists of:
* Neuromancer
* Count Zero
* Mona Lisa Overdrive
Gibson invented the cyberpunk subgenre with this plot-wise loosely connected series of books and he revitalized SciFi in the process. His sparse, cool prose and his approach to characterization mark the writing of many of his successors, probably chief among those Neal Stephenson.
His descriptions of cyberculture have aged well, since he was wise enough not to be too sp More...
* Neuromancer
* Count Zero
* Mona Lisa Overdrive
Gibson invented the cyberpunk subgenre with this plot-wise loosely connected series of books and he revitalized SciFi in the process. His sparse, cool prose and his approach to characterization mark the writing of many of his successors, probably chief among those Neal Stephenson.
His descriptions of cyberculture have aged well, since he was wise enough not to be too sp More...
Dec 24, 2010
Pvw
rated it: 
Set in a cyberpunk world, this book contains virtual reality, cybernetics, neural implants, high-tech weaponry, total globalisation and dominating multinational corporations, amongst others. In the opening lines, which I will quote a bit further on, we are introduced to Turner. He is an extraction agent, that means his job is to assist in the 'brain drain' from one big corporation to another. Whenever a high ranking engineer is willing to defect to a rival company, Turner is called in to smuggle
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Oct 20, 2011
Joshua
rated it:
I suspect that some science fiction / fantasy readers are annoyed by novels where more happens "in the wings" than in the narrative. I am not one of those readers. As a transition between Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive I find Count Zero a by-the-numbers spy novel / cyberpunk but what I like most about it are the clues left strewn about the book about what is going on with the characters from Neuromancer. Did the Neuromancer split himself up into a bunch of AI deities? And did
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Jun 13, 2010
Vomithatsteve
rated it:
Gibson seems to be one of those authors who is long on prose and short on narrative. He creates vast, grungy worlds of shadowy corporations playing vast games of chess. Then he tells the stories of the individuals caught in the middle of these complex schemes far beyond any individual's scope to understand.
Unfortunately, he gets too caught up in the visual style of the world, and the details about what's going on tend to be neglected.
Compared to Neuromancer, Count Zero is a muc More...
Unfortunately, he gets too caught up in the visual style of the world, and the details about what's going on tend to be neglected.
Compared to Neuromancer, Count Zero is a muc More...
Dec 24, 2010
Yvette
rated it:
I always start in the middle. Not sure why that is, but I never, ever start at the beginning of the series.
Sometimes, I even start at the end! Even then, I don't work backwards logically. Nope. Not me.
So, it was with some surprise that I read the wiki on this book and learned that the "cyberspace gods" referred to, hinted at, derided, and viewed with suspicion in this book are the leftovers of characters from the last book. Well. Nobody told me. It would have been n More...
Sometimes, I even start at the end! Even then, I don't work backwards logically. Nope. Not me.
So, it was with some surprise that I read the wiki on this book and learned that the "cyberspace gods" referred to, hinted at, derided, and viewed with suspicion in this book are the leftovers of characters from the last book. Well. Nobody told me. It would have been n More...
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Aug 15, 2009
Jenny
rated it:
This is the middle book of the Sprawl Trilogy by Gibson (in between Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive), and my absolute favorite. The other two are largely action-based, and this one had a lot of that but also a lot of beautiful descriptions, somewhat mystically-oriented plotlines, and it really drew me in, probably because I'm no stranger to cyberspace myself. I really loved the ending, so much that I re-read it twice before moving on.
"Bobby had been trying to chart a way o More...
"Bobby had been trying to chart a way o More...
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Mar 28, 2009
Colleen
rated it:
Fast paced, complicated thriller that splices a future where people surf the web by direct brain patches. Several sets of characters are followed as they join or escape the corporate blogesphere. Count Zero is a kid who wants to get out of the boring Jersey suburbs and hussle his way into money. Angie is a cyborg who lives in a biotech complex in Arizona where her father has sold his soul to the corporation he works for. Other characters are more or less jaded by the freelance work they do for t
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Nov 30, 2008
Nick
rated it:
Good sequel to Neuromancer, not as mind blowing though. It took me a long time to read. The beginning jumped between three stories and didn't really start to connect the dots between them until the second half. Some good action scenes and one or two memorable characters. I'll probably read more Gibson eventually, but will switch to something else for now.
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May 25, 2010
Matt
rated it:
William Gibson's "Neuromancer," the first book in The Sprawl Trilogy, was loved by all for its original voice, and it really managed to reinvigorate science fiction in the era. The first novel to win the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick awards, the second book had a lot to live up to, and in my humble opinion, it surpasses it.
Between the first two books of the trilogy, Gibson has managed to create not only an interesting future world, but an entire culture. Everything inclu More...
Between the first two books of the trilogy, Gibson has managed to create not only an interesting future world, but an entire culture. Everything inclu More...
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Feb 01, 2012
Mateo
rated it:
My friend told me this wasn't as good as Neuromancer but I found it to be an incredibly written novel. To me they are both fantastic, but for different reasons and because they attempt different things.
Neuromancer seems more of a macro-scale novel, looking more at the big picture of the AI and how the cybernetic upgrades and such function in society. There is more revelry in the sheer possibility of the technology written about in the story.
Count Zero looks at these More...
Neuromancer seems more of a macro-scale novel, looking more at the big picture of the AI and how the cybernetic upgrades and such function in society. There is more revelry in the sheer possibility of the technology written about in the story.
Count Zero looks at these More...
Sep 22, 2011
Kat
rated it:
"They plot with men, my other selves, and men imagine they are gods."
Several years have passed since Molly and Case freed the AI who calls himself Neuromancer. Neuromancer’s been busy and now his plots have widened to involve several people whom we meet in Count Zero:
Turner is a recently reconstructed mercenary who’s been hired by the Hosaka Corporation to extract Christopher Mitchell and his daughter Angie from Mitchell’s job at Maas Biolabs. Mitchell is the creato More...
Several years have passed since Molly and Case freed the AI who calls himself Neuromancer. Neuromancer’s been busy and now his plots have widened to involve several people whom we meet in Count Zero:
Turner is a recently reconstructed mercenary who’s been hired by the Hosaka Corporation to extract Christopher Mitchell and his daughter Angie from Mitchell’s job at Maas Biolabs. Mitchell is the creato More...
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May 06, 2010
Jimboninja
rated it:
Of the Sprawl books, this is definitely my favorite. In fact, I find copies of it every now and then while rummaging through boxes...
The writing is classic Gibson with great descriptive passages that read like poetry. I especially like the opening scenes in Mexico; a hot airport, a bus ride on a mountain road, and a cheap hotel room near the beach.
Count Zero is grittier than Neuromancer with less concentration on the Matrix and more on vehicles and hardware. The main cha More...
The writing is classic Gibson with great descriptive passages that read like poetry. I especially like the opening scenes in Mexico; a hot airport, a bus ride on a mountain road, and a cheap hotel room near the beach.
Count Zero is grittier than Neuromancer with less concentration on the Matrix and more on vehicles and hardware. The main cha More...
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Jun 13, 2011
Angela
rated it:
From the back cover: "Gibson's vision of the future is stylishly hip and frighteningly probable. From the software black market and the daring keyboard cowboys who plug into systems brain-first for mega-heights...to the haute culture of the art world where true genius hides underground like hunted prey...to the exclusive realm of the corporate technocrats where members of the brilliant aristocracy need an army of hi-tech, high-paid mercs to make a career move...."
It seems as More...
It seems as More...
Dec 30, 2011
Mercurybard
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 07, 2012
Isabel
rated it:
A top research scientist's desire to defect from one corporation to another links three characters whose stories at first seem totally separate. Firstly there is Turner, the security specialist in charge of extracting the defecting scientist from his previous employer's grasp. Then there is Marly, a disgraced art dealer hired by a billionaire to track down the unknown artist who created some mysterious wooden boxes. Finally there is Bobby Newmark (aka Count Zero), who gets into a world of troubl
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May 07, 2011
Raj
rated it:
I think that the three stars I'm giving to this book are provisional at the moment, since, through no fault of the book itself, the story here never really gelled for me. The problem was that I was reading it in a very bitty way, with a chapter here or a few pages there, which never gave me enough time to hold enough of the story in my head to make things slot into place. At some point, I'll have to read it again more thoroughly and re-review it then.
Having said that, there's still More...
Having said that, there's still More...
Dec 08, 2009
well this guy his name is turner and he is a corporate mercenary and he wakes up in a reactivated body. The hosoka corporation the place where he works for reactivates him for a different mission that is more dangerous than the mission that he was recovering from. The mission is Turner has to save this guy who works for the company R&D(Maas Neotek)and Turner not only has to save Maas but also has to save this biochip that Maas has perfected. But Turner isnt the only person trying to get to Maas
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Feb 05, 2011
Paul
rated it:
I'm still a William Gibson groupie. Count Zero is another of Gibson's cyberspace-themed novels, with all the irritations that entails -- constant references to the "matrix," Metropolis-like visualizations of computer databases, keyboard jockeys swooping in and out of same when in real life they're drooling down their food-stained t-shirts as they stare at monitors, etc -- yet the plot and pacing of this novel are as tight as ever, and the story pulls you along, three seemingly-unrelat
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Aug 10, 2010
Kyle
rated it:
Very good sequel to Neuromancer. I enjoyed the plot more in this one than in its predecessor. Gibson weaved three subplots together, and it was easier to follow along than in Neuromancer. That's partly because I was more used to Gibson's style (which is common to science fiction) of not giving introductory explanations for technology and cultural situations that don't currently exist. For example, if you read the phrase, "he jacked into the Hosaka," it might take some time to figur
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Aug 08, 2010
Lee
rated it:
Count Zero is the second in a trilogy Gibson has created based on a networked society. The narrative style is a little flighty. Gibson focuses on three characters, with each represented by successive chapters: three chapters, three narratives, then loop again and again. It works in some ways because the reader isn't drowned in too many characters and can focus on the storyline, but at other times you are left wanting for of a specific scene or character, only to know that you now must wait. In
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Apr 21, 2010
Dan
rated it:
I'm a sucker for the Sprawl Trilogy, both the world and the writing. Gibson's prose is so fluid and his descriptions are so easily imagined, and yet he also knows what not to explain. So I enjoyed every minute of this and devoured it as quickly as I could.
I was a bit disappointed in the end, though, because I feel like he never really laid out the case for why the antagonist was so execrable - it seemed more like we were supposed to agree because, well, when the plot twists a certai More...
I was a bit disappointed in the end, though, because I feel like he never really laid out the case for why the antagonist was so execrable - it seemed more like we were supposed to agree because, well, when the plot twists a certai More...
Aug 07, 2011
Richard
rated it:
Not as monumental as 'Neuromancer' before it or 'Mona Lisa Overdrive' after it, this is a classic middle book of a trilogy. More character-focused than 'Neuromancer', but the characters are (mostly) interesting enough to carry the weight, and Gibson evolves the world of the Sprawl in interesting ways, showing what repercussions the climax of 'Neuromancer' has had for the Sprawl.
Interesting use of the 'loa', which feels a little forced in the beginning, but gradually starts to make mor More...
Interesting use of the 'loa', which feels a little forced in the beginning, but gradually starts to make mor More...
Aug 26, 2011
Damien
rated it:
Initially a bit confusing since I'd forgotten everything that happened in Neuromancer. However it all started coming back to me, and the stories don't rely on each other.
There are many similarities with Gibson's more recent books; strange wealthy men hiring 'intuitive' women to track down the creator of obscure but valuable art pieces. But on the whole the stories differ greatly, and are set in completely different worlds.
It's remarkable that this was written 25 years ago, be More...
There are many similarities with Gibson's more recent books; strange wealthy men hiring 'intuitive' women to track down the creator of obscure but valuable art pieces. But on the whole the stories differ greatly, and are set in completely different worlds.
It's remarkable that this was written 25 years ago, be More...
Feb 26, 2011
Mike
rated it:
Probably would award this book a "4.5+" is such a grade existed.
Not a "5" as for "Neuromancer" because as unfair as it is, that book set the bar so high that subjectively a book has to better it to get the same score. I can't really add much to my review of this (as I don't do synopsis or spoilers) that I did not just write in my text about "Neuromancer". But this book did not disappoint. It was a welcome new tale from an author I had been ver More...
Not a "5" as for "Neuromancer" because as unfair as it is, that book set the bar so high that subjectively a book has to better it to get the same score. I can't really add much to my review of this (as I don't do synopsis or spoilers) that I did not just write in my text about "Neuromancer". But this book did not disappoint. It was a welcome new tale from an author I had been ver More...
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Jan 25, 2010
Russel
rated it:
It should be noted that while this is listed here as a sequel to Neuromancer, it is more of a spiritual successor; while the books are set in the same world, the stories are not directly related. The only reason that you'd be required to read Neuromancer first would be to figure out the external players in Gibson's (rather complex) universe.
When I read this initially, I gave it three stars. I reconsidered over the following 24 hours and rerated it up to four, if only because of the More...
When I read this initially, I gave it three stars. I reconsidered over the following 24 hours and rerated it up to four, if only because of the More...
Sep 06, 2011
Punk
rated it: 
SF. Takes place in the same world as Neuromancer, a few years later, with different characters, some new tech, and some old gods. The gods literally hand us a deus ex machina. The new tech is never really explained or used all that much. The characters are better developed than those in Neuromancer, but the plot is weaker. I think the problem is that this is one of those books that starts out with a number of narrative threads and then slowly the threads converge into one story. Except these sor
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Sep 21, 2011
Jason
rated it:
While I will always admit Gibson's prose is very, very poetic, his novels & their plot-lines are so boring! Everyone looks at me in horror when I say I hate cyberpunk.
"What?!? It's one of THE most important aspects of science fiction to ever be created! How can you say you hate it?"
Well, I can & I do.
I hate THE MATRIX. I hate SNOW CRASH. I hate NEUROMANCER. & I hate cyberpunk.
Everyone says it's limitless & I say bullshit. It is so More...
"What?!? It's one of THE most important aspects of science fiction to ever be created! How can you say you hate it?"
Well, I can & I do.
I hate THE MATRIX. I hate SNOW CRASH. I hate NEUROMANCER. & I hate cyberpunk.
Everyone says it's limitless & I say bullshit. It is so More...
