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A computer hacker who was caught stealing from his employer and subsequently crippled by that employer so he could no longer `jack' into cyberspace. This book is phenomenal. The book was written in 1983 and has influenced and shaped the world of today and perhaps scores of computer scientists who have worked on building the frame work that is cyberspace and the world wide web. The books protagonist is Case. The style has been said to be a turn off for many that could not wrap their heads around the ideas presented and that was one of the reasons that I waited so long to read this book. Cyberspace, matrix, and microsoft by the way were words created and coined by William Gibson.
The rest of the book details the job that the group goes on, including Molly who is also in William Gibson's short story Johnny Mnemonic.The writing style can only really be described as art for each page. Neuromancer is part of the Sprawl Trilogy. A man named Armitage gives Case the ability to jack in once again but also has a slow acting poison installed in Case's body as a means to get Case to do a job for him. Much of the book you can tell has had a major influence on the theory that the writers/directors used for The Matrix movie. The reason it is so ahead of it's time and ground breaking is because none of this at that time had been realized yet. The writing directly leads to a visual that is amazing, deep, and layered all at the same time.
It turns out I had nothing to worry about because the style totally flows so easily into the imagination and it was one of my most enjoyable read's to date.
Neuromancer is a very niche novel. Gibson is possibly the foremost cyberpunk author and indubitably defined the genre. I loved and very much related to the "living in a computer" effect of the matrix. If you are not interested those topics, it's easy to see how this book may be of no interest. The word "cyberspace" was coined by gibson in this book. It doesn't include "warp travel" or hyperspace or a lot of concepts of physics that many sci-fi novels include (which is neither good nor bad, just noteworthy), and indeed this genre is cyberpunk. If you like hackers, cyberculture, bio-computing, science fiction, and an awesome blend of high-tech and "low-tech", I don't see how you could dislike this book. It's also interesting to envision a lot of bio-computer implants and biological-technological ideas.
I think the best description of the ambiance of Neuromancer is dirty, gritty, technology. I very much related to the protagonist and enjoyed the crisp, cutting fast-paced plot development. If you have an interest in the origins of the internet, I think this book is fairly important. It's easy to see how Neuromancer directly influenced many other cypberpunk-like genres including the Matrix.
Gibson should have used a similar style to Michael Crichton's Great Train Robbery where he explains the mental sentiment of the time and helped the reader understand the setting. Like a lot of other reviewers, I was unable to really get involved with this book. I couldn't care less what happened to any of the characters and was most relieved when I finished the book.The jargon is way out of my league (this coming from an Engineering graduate with a fair background in computers) and it is never explained. Instead he assumes the reader knows what he's talking about, and crams a lot of the jargon into a dense mess that was mostly incoherent to me.If possible find an excerpt of this book and read it. You will hopefully be deterred from buying this book.
I started reading this book knowing nothing about it and with no particular expectations. The story is not gripping, the characters are either colourless and bland ( Case and his low life buddies) or shallow and cartoonish ( Corso and Molly). But I had to wonder: what is the fuss all about.
So imagine my surprise when I found out this book is practically a cult. You know, the author inundating you with made up words, places, objects. I found it often annoying, mostly bland, and only occasionally mildly entertaining.
The style is what I call pretentious, annoying, sci fi babble. Maybe it is because I read it after computers became common fixtures in most households. Maybe because I have seen enough movies about cyberspace and virtual reality and artificial intelligence that I just cannot see these concepts as groundbreaking, just trite.
but refusing to explain them as if you, the reader, are expected to know what he is talking about. This book may have been a sensation 20 years ago, but now it is ready for the attic.
I love the fact that many of Gibson's ideas were co-opted by film writers years later.
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