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Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)
by William Gibson
by William Gibson
I HATE contemporary scifi. I can't stand how everything at BN and Borders under "scifi" is little more than genre fiction, carved down into meaningless bad story telling that's layered with technological fluff and ramblings written at a sixth grade level. And cliche characters! Can't forget the Cliche Characters. I'd just about given up on science fiction....until I picked up Neuromancer.
The name itself called to me, and then I read the first sentance...
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
Then the character called to me. His name is Case, and he's not a superhuman, or an elite commando soldier, or some hotshot space captain, he's a kid on the edge of society, an outcast, an iconoclast. Case is William Gibson's "Hacker" before the word was invented, a "Cyberspace Cowboy." He's a data thief who can no longer jack into the Matrix, and as a result has lost his identity. Neuromancer's synopsis says the story is all about fighting a renegade supercomputer, but I think it's about Case finding his identity again. Throughout the story, Case is constantly healing, growing, and learning, and we're right there with him through everything. The pace is fast and doesn't let up.
This story invented Cyberpunk science fiction, and pretty much laid the foundations for the internet and coined the phrase "the Matrix." It's the epitome of high-tech/low-life. Best of all, it's not genre fiction. This book did something I thought another scifi book would never do, it made me grow.
The name itself called to me, and then I read the first sentance...
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
Then the character called to me. His name is Case, and he's not a superhuman, or an elite commando soldier, or some hotshot space captain, he's a kid on the edge of society, an outcast, an iconoclast. Case is William Gibson's "Hacker" before the word was invented, a "Cyberspace Cowboy." He's a data thief who can no longer jack into the Matrix, and as a result has lost his identity. Neuromancer's synopsis says the story is all about fighting a renegade supercomputer, but I think it's about Case finding his identity again. Throughout the story, Case is constantly healing, growing, and learning, and we're right there with him through everything. The pace is fast and doesn't let up.
This story invented Cyberpunk science fiction, and pretty much laid the foundations for the internet and coined the phrase "the Matrix." It's the epitome of high-tech/low-life. Best of all, it's not genre fiction. This book did something I thought another scifi book would never do, it made me grow.
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oops- I was saying there were 3 cool used bookstores I knew about in Southern Oregon, BUT-There are is a 3rd- at Gold Beach. They still claim over 50,000 titles, they don't have as many cool books as they did a 4 years ago.
I love used book stores!
I love getting a copy of Ringworld for a buck-fifty!
But about Neuromancer:
Well, I read it a long time ago when I was a kid far, far away. I was maybe 13 or 14; late half of the 1980s. I remember certain feelings and images from it, but not a lot of understanding. I remember that the writing was differently styled. I'd started in on some of the more easily accessible Zelazny by then, and I paid a lot of attention to science.
A couple years ago I started reading some more Gibson. It started with the short story "Up In Skinner's Room." (I think that's the name of it...) Then I read The Difference Engine. I started thinking, "Oh yeah, this guy wasn't just popular, he was GOOD!" I got all the Gibson I could find at the local used bookstores. (They are the place to shop!)
So in the last 8 months or so I re-read Neuromancer and read about 5 other books by Gibson. I really love his style.
Gibson also does what a good sf writer should: he makes you THINK!!! If an SF writer doesn't make you think they aren't very good, are they? Isn't the "specualative" part of speculative fiction supposed to be about how speculative you can get after reading it?
*USED BOOKSTORES: in Oregon there are 3-
1)I don't even know the name; Gary's Used Books? He's good enough that he doesn't feel the obnoxious need to mark every book that comes in. It's on Hwy 99 in Talent,OR, just north of the Valley View intersection. (If anyone lives in the Rogue Valley and wants to go there, respond to this and I'll tell you how to get there more specifically.) He'll buy lot's of books. ...I'm just too attached to let go of any of my old stuff...
2)Another place near Medford is Village books, next to the Harry and David Store. They have a lot of books, although their sf section has become visibly smaller this year. Good selection of things but you might pay more because it might be "rare". (This is the place my wife proposed to me.....)