I have never hacked the Gibson (which book should I start with)

[Jeffrey]

So I am a bad sci fi/fantasy reader and have never read any of William Gibson's book, so my question is which one should I start with?

[Adam]

Neuromancer is by far the most popular, and a good place to start to get a feel for his style. Gibson has three trilogies: Sprawl, Bridge, and Bigend. Neuromancer starts the Sprawl trilogy, Virtual Light the Bridge series, and Pattern Recognition the Bigend series. The Bigend series is the most recent, and also a big departure from his earlier writing in that the setting is more contemporary.

Another good place to start is Burning Chrome. This collection of short stories will also give you an idea of his style without committing yourself to a three book series. It isn't my favorite Gibson work, but I would still recommend it.

[Sandi]

I going to be unpopular and say that I didn't like Neuromancer. I didn't read it until quite recently and was seriously underwhelmed. It seemed dated to me and I never connected with either the characters or the action.

On the other hand, I read The Difference Engine that he wrote with Bruce Sterling and I really enjoyed it. It's a great example of the steampunk sub-genre. I read that when it came out, so I'm not sure how well it's held up.

I loved Pattern Recognition. I thought it was an interesting premise and the story was terrific. I have a copy of Spook Country, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

[Halbot42]

its hard now to appreciate how brilliantly Neuromancer predicted so much of what we do right now with our computers. In addition, much of the context is still in terms of us/russia cold war so that really dates things. But i mean come one, Molly Millions with super enhanced nervous system, mirrored eyes and scalpel fingernails, how can u not love her?
Give Neuromancer a shot, there's a good reason it is so high on so many peoples lists, mine included

[terpkristin]

Beware that if you do read Neuromancer, it can be a challenge to get into, you get thrust into things in Gibson's standard way. I remember having issues the first time I read it, but slogging through and enjoying it. I tried to read it a second time a couple years ago--it was one of the first S&L books if I remember right--and found it equally difficult to get into then (granted I didn't remember too many details, especially from early on in the book when doing that 2nd read-through).

[Rick]

I would recommend starting with Pattern Recognition, realizing it isn't really sci-fi in a traditional sense. If you like it, then go on to the Bridge trilogy with the thought in your mind that the "futuristic" tech is going to read as very outdated now. If you get through those, then you might just enjoy Neuromancer! IMHO!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Pattern Recognition seems like Gibson light to me. I'd start with Neuromancer but only if you're willing to at least read the second book in the trilogy too, which I found far better.

I should say the first time I read Neuromancer I was looking for Snow Crash, and didn't finish. A few years later I tried again and enjoyed it much more.

[Philip]

Halbot42 wrote: "its hard now to appreciate how brilliantly Neuromancer predicted so much of what we do right now with our computers." .... yes, that is exactly correct! I read the book shortly after it came out and was totally amazed ... had seen Tron the movie and didn't even own a computer then. wtf is this I thought ....wish i would have bought stock in internet companies back then :-)

[Tom]

Sandi wrote: "I going to be unpopular and say that I didn't like Neuromancer. I didn't read it until quite recently and was seriously underwhelmed. It seemed dated to me and I never connected with..."

Wow! I think you were channeling me when you wrote this. However, I have read Spook Country and really enjoyed it.

[Jared]

I read Neuromancer and Virtual Light back to back and could not get into them. I liked Virtual Light better but it never captured me. I followed these up with Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and found it to be much more intriguing.

[Tamahome]

I remember starting Neuromancer and not liking the style. The BBC audio drama is pretty good, although I was confused around the end. I can see where The Matrix got it's inspiration.