Neuromancer

William Gibson

Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)

THE OUTSTANDING NOVEL THAT WON THE HUGO AWARD, THE NEBULA AWARD AND THE PHILIP K. DICK MEMORIAL AWARD.

Case was burnt-out, useless, suicidal - his nervous system grievously maimed by a wartime Russian mycotoxin. The top Japanese experts in nerve-splicing and microbionics had taken his money and left him crippled. His days as a software cowboy seemed over. Then Case met a man who could cure him. In return, Case had to do a job. Had to. Because bonded to his artery walls were tiny sacs of the mycotoxin. Tiny sacs. slowly melting...

'A debut novel set for brain-stun... streetwise SF, whose smart-tough density of character and circumstance make it one of the most unusual and involving narratives to be read in many an artificially blue moon.'

'The glamour of Samuel Delany and the vertigo of Philip K. Dick, and better organization than either.'

'A totally new voice... an amazing, virtuoso performance. Kaleidoscopic, picaresque, flashy and decadent... totally modern... Neuromancer in every sense, is state-of-the-art.'

Review by Victim (100600) Rating (8/10)

Review by Victim
Rating 8/10
Neuromancer is set in the future, where Cyberspace is dangerous and potential prey have Black ICE - flatlining people is possible, obviously they don't have fuses any more.

The story involves Case, kind of a burnt out cybergeek (careful Phaid ;>) who has offended too many people, (ditto!), some of whom have stopped him from accessing cyberspace, kind of like taking your modem away and disconnecting the phone line...

This guy is on a serious depression trip, unable to do what he did (eh?) He is hired to do a job, basically hacking a system, with the promise that his employers will get him back 'online', with certain conditions. They also supply the rest of the team, a Psycho, another psycho who is a drug addict, a seriously cool babe (who is a psycho) and a dead console cowboy, which is different.

The rest I will leave to the reader, coz I don't want to give much away. This is a good read, slightly surreal in places, with a good 'cast' and vivid descriptions, plot twists and secondary characters recieving good treatment, it deserves its awards.

This is the guy who invented cyberspace, although the expectations are still a bit high, VR??? Where is it? Try it - its got to be better than Dr. Pepper!
Victim (10th June 2000)