OK. Let's get it straight: I like this guy. Really like him. He's important to me. Neuromancer was an important book in my formation. I love cyberpunk. Specially the early days of it.
Mr Gibson is great, one of the pioneers of the genre. Some says the pioneer.
He wrote an amazing story with the Sprawl Trilogy. But he's not a one trick pony. He's a great writer, even if he always uses the same pattern.
Strange protagonist with problem past & strange quirky skills? Check.
Cayce is a witty and fashionable woman with a pathological fear of brands, which gave her the superpower of knowing when a new logo will work or not. She's addicted to Pilates, customizing her clothes, and overall be an avaunt-guard chic woman.
Lots of strange & eccentric side characters, living on the verge of society and that will have some use in the story later? Check.
If there's one thing that Gibson does is that he follows the Chekhov's gun principle. Everyone and everything that he mentions is relevant. And plot relevant. If he presents a strange and quirky character, he will be 'used' to advance the plot somewhere. Very early we are introduced to eccentric experts, that are always floating around in his books. There's the weird but well connected experimental artist, that are connected to the curiosities trader, that are connected to a strange curta obsessive collector with a shady past. There's the always shady and kinda evil corporate man, this time upon the form of Hubertus Bigend, a marketing genius that is always trying to monetize trends. And the crazy fucking bitch is Dorothea. God, she's such a psychopath... Oh, and they all live in a kinda underground peripheral world, full of this kinda people. Very Gibsonish.
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| Here's a curta. Yeah, they're real |
Bizarre mystery that needs all the combined effort of characters to achieve? Check.
Yeah, this time is not as weird as a box full of strange things (yeah... I love Mona Lisa Overdrive) but a weird segmented movie that pop-up in different parts of the Internet and are collected and discussed on an online forum by fans. Cayce is asked by her kinda evil boss to research and find the creator. Unlimited funds are available. Obviously she goes with it. He wants to monetize it. How? Who knows... but she must comment on it as an Evil thing, otherwise it is not a Gibson book.
Oh, and this time, different from Mona Lisa Overdrive, it makes sense. The story of the movie is a very good, touching story.
A hurried ending that makes you feel like somewhere, someone was demanding that Gibson deliver the book on the deadline that he probably pushed over the acceptable? Check.
Till the moment that she meets with Dorothea in the lobby, all is cool. The pacing was good, the advancement of the plot was great, things are good! And then... It jumps in time, with not that much explanation and a last chapter that kinda try ties all loose ends. You can almost feel that there was supposed to be at least one more chapter, but the deadline and the editor said enough with the delays. (On a side note, I believe the editors from Douglas Adams and Gibson go on the case of a G. R. R. Martin. Put the fat old man in a vault and demand Winds of Winter, for the gods' sake!)
Till the moment that she meets with Dorothea in the lobby, all is cool. The pacing was good, the advancement of the plot was great, things are good! And then... It jumps in time, with not that much explanation and a last chapter that kinda try ties all loose ends. You can almost feel that there was supposed to be at least one more chapter, but the deadline and the editor said enough with the delays. (On a side note, I believe the editors from Douglas Adams and Gibson go on the case of a G. R. R. Martin. Put the fat old man in a vault and demand Winds of Winter, for the gods' sake!)
Yeah, it's a Gibson novel. And also, a good one. The way he writes, plots and plan his books are amazing. If you are looking for, you find all the mechanisms that he usually uses, as stated above, but even tho, you like it. Why? The pacing is fast, the characters are interesting, the way the plot advances is inventive and witty. Usually his mysteries are so weird and different from anything else, that you must know what it is. That's why Gibson is a master: even if you know where he's going, the journey is interesting. Even if the end is somewhat rushed, or in some cases a bad one (Count Zero anyone?) you still want to reach there.
William Gibson is a writer that you must always look for. Even his worse works will have some interesting and intriguing. He is a visionary, after all he kinda predicted the way we would use the internet. And we must never forget: his characters are always interesting.
The most curious thing in his work, to me, is that it always has a Sci-fi aftertaste in it. Even with this book, that's supposed to be on the years after 9/11, it has a sci-fi taste. Maybe the way he writes, the way he sees technology... It's not sci-fi. But I, and others, classified it as Sci-fi.
William Gibson is a writer that you must always look for. Even his worse works will have some interesting and intriguing. He is a visionary, after all he kinda predicted the way we would use the internet. And we must never forget: his characters are always interesting.
The most curious thing in his work, to me, is that it always has a Sci-fi aftertaste in it. Even with this book, that's supposed to be on the years after 9/11, it has a sci-fi taste. Maybe the way he writes, the way he sees technology... It's not sci-fi. But I, and others, classified it as Sci-fi.
As an avid fan of his work, I'll review the full Blue Ant Trilogy.
But I'll be fair: I have not great expectations for the second one. At least, till now, most of the second books on his trilogies didn't meet my tastes. Count Zero was interesting, but the ending was horrible. Minoru left a strange taste in my mouth. Maybe this one will change my views, but don't get your hopes high. I sure won't.
But I'll be fair: I have not great expectations for the second one. At least, till now, most of the second books on his trilogies didn't meet my tastes. Count Zero was interesting, but the ending was horrible. Minoru left a strange taste in my mouth. Maybe this one will change my views, but don't get your hopes high. I sure won't.
See ya.
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