Book Bearings
Neuromancer
Book 1 of Sprawl trilogy
- 317 pages · about 5 hours
- First published 1984
- 65 editions
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1 About this book
Neuromancer is a 1984 science fiction novel by William Gibson. Set in the near future, the narrative follows Case, a computer hacker enlisted into a crew by a powerful artificial intelligence and a traumatised former soldier to complete a high-stakes heist. It was Gibson's debut novel and, after its success, served as the first entry in the Sprawl trilogy, followed by Count Zero (1986) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988).
Gibson had primarily written countercultural short stories for science-fiction periodicals before Neuromancer. Influences on the novel include the detective stories of Raymond Chandler, the comic art of Jean Giraud, and William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch (1959). Neuromancer expanded and popularised the setting and concepts of an earlier Gibson story, "Burning Chrome" (1981), which introduced cyberspace—a digital space traversable by humans—and "jacking in", a bio-mechanical method of interfacing with computers.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Science fiction
- Japan
- Computer hackers
- Conspiracies
- Nervous system
- Wounds and injuries
- Hackers
- Virtual reality
2 What to expect
The founding cyberpunk novel: a burned-out hacker in a neon-lit near future is hired by a mysterious employer for a job that will take him back into cyberspace. It is a heist story set between Japanese back streets, orbit and the data networks, with hard-boiled characters and a dense, slangy, fast style that explains almost nothing. The plot can be hard to follow on a first reading, and the mood is cool, gritty and noir.
Good for readers who want: cyberpunk, a high-tech heist, and stylish, high-energy prose.
3 About William Gibson
Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
4 More by William Gibson
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