Neuromancer is the most influential science fiction novel of our time. Cyberspace and virtual reality were invented in this book. It changed forever the way we look at tomorrow and was the inspiration behind the blockbuster film The Matrix. In 2009 it celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
Neuromancer
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Amazon Review
Case was the best interface cowboy who ever ran in Earth's computer matrix. Then he double- crossed the wrong people.… Winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards.
Review
‘Set for brainstun…one of the most unusual and involving narratives to be read in many an artificially induced blue moon!’ The Times
‘A masterpiece that moves faster than the speed of thought and is chilling in its implications’ New York Times
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful book - original, packed with ideas and simply crackling with energy and wit. Gibson has documented incredible, wild vision of the (near) future. It is a world of high technology and low life, a world where designer drugs and surgical enhancements are ubiquitous. In writing this book, he created (or at least popularised) a new genre: cyberpunk.
Neuromancer is not perfect. The characterisation is patchy (at best), some of the dialogue is stilted and the plot occasionally meanders but it is a still tremendous piece of work that has stood the test of time quite well.
Note that this is the first part of a trilogy and as such leaves a number of questions hanging. The other parts of the trilogy Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive are also very good and complete the story nicely.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Ben W
Format:Paperback
I don't often foray into sci-fi and certainly not cyberpunk, but I found this fascinating. Not great, definitely not perfect, but intriguing and challenging.
The challenge comes mostly in the jargon-loaded language, but that wasn't half as tough to penetrate as I expected. Simultaneously it also provided the greatest reward - bearing in mind when this book was conceived it displays some fascinating insights and prophecies around the future of technology.
Beyond that, I have a suspicion that the book is not quite as deep as it makes out! Case and Molly are the sort of protagonists that a good book needs; special but flawed. I certainly think an opportunity was missed to deliver more richness to these and other characters, but this will hopefully develop through the trilogy. The story itself is also subservient to the technological vision, but again it does set up the following books.
The challenge comes mostly in the jargon-loaded language, but that wasn't half as tough to penetrate as I expected. Simultaneously it also provided the greatest reward - bearing in mind when this book was conceived it displays some fascinating insights and prophecies around the future of technology.
Beyond that, I have a suspicion that the book is not quite as deep as it makes out! Case and Molly are the sort of protagonists that a good book needs; special but flawed. I certainly think an opportunity was missed to deliver more richness to these and other characters, but this will hopefully develop through the trilogy. The story itself is also subservient to the technological vision, but again it does set up the following books.
53 of 58 people found the following review helpful
By Rod Williams
Format:Paperback
Like a bullet to the head, Neuromancer (and Gibson) arrived in 1984 to almost universal acclaim and allegedly kick-started the Cyberpunk movement which has influenced certain branches of SF ever since. Whether or not they choose to call their work cyberpunk or not is immaterial. The work of Simon Ings, Grimwood, Chris Moriarty, Michael Swanwick and dozens of others would arguably not have been the same had this novel not been as successful as it was.
The prose is fast, clever, snappy, set against a background of half-working neon in streets where disposable computer equipment is strewn like empty fast food cartons.
Our hero, Case, is a cyber-freelancer, able to jack himself into computer-systems and experience cyberspace as a three dimensional reality. Case, however, tried to steal from one of his more dubious clients who subsequently infected him with a Russian mycotoxin, effectively rendering him incapable of cyberspace work and therefore unemployable. We therefore meet him, down on his luck, and mixing with some rather eccentric characters in a downtown bar in Japan.
For me, it reads like `The Maltese Falcon in Space'. There is a pervasive noir element, since Case - like many a Nineteen-Forties gumshoe - is forced to take on a job, the full details of which he is not fully aware. There's a beautiful and dangerous woman (by the name of Molly) and a mysterious benefactor, as well as a supporting cast of neon-lit lowlife.
Like any classic noir novel, the action and the protagonists move between street level and the crazy billionaire family who are literally `above the clouds', since they live within their own Las Vegas style space station.
It's exciting, challenging, dense with atmosphere, and very much deserves its cult status as a modern classic.
The prose is fast, clever, snappy, set against a background of half-working neon in streets where disposable computer equipment is strewn like empty fast food cartons.
Our hero, Case, is a cyber-freelancer, able to jack himself into computer-systems and experience cyberspace as a three dimensional reality. Case, however, tried to steal from one of his more dubious clients who subsequently infected him with a Russian mycotoxin, effectively rendering him incapable of cyberspace work and therefore unemployable. We therefore meet him, down on his luck, and mixing with some rather eccentric characters in a downtown bar in Japan.
For me, it reads like `The Maltese Falcon in Space'. There is a pervasive noir element, since Case - like many a Nineteen-Forties gumshoe - is forced to take on a job, the full details of which he is not fully aware. There's a beautiful and dangerous woman (by the name of Molly) and a mysterious benefactor, as well as a supporting cast of neon-lit lowlife.
Like any classic noir novel, the action and the protagonists move between street level and the crazy billionaire family who are literally `above the clouds', since they live within their own Las Vegas style space station.
It's exciting, challenging, dense with atmosphere, and very much deserves its cult status as a modern classic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Neuromancer
Gibson creates a fully realised sci-fi dystopia and breezes through it with an exciting heist storyline but he's so concerned with world building that his characters may as well be... Read more
Published 1 day ago by Mr. J McNally
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic, unbeaten still
Stone cold classic, must be read, Gibson defines the future and redefines the relationships between our inner and extended selves
Published 2 days ago by M MCCOURT
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
Absolutely recommend this to anyone who has even a passing interest in technology and its influence on society. Has a distinct 80s feel to it too which I also loved. Buy it!
Published 10 days ago by Anthony
2.0 out of 5 stars
Neuromancer
One of the characteristics of science fiction is that it attempts to create cognitive dissonance in the reader - meaning that the writer attempts to convey to the reader that this... Read more
Published 10 days ago by N. L. Ellam
1.0 out of 5 stars
Would make a great film...
...not such a good book unfortunately. Clunky writing style distracted from a half decent story - characterisation was weak: all caricatures. Read more
Published 1 month ago by halfway up the stairs
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book...
A classic, a milestone, not just in Sci-Fi, but also in contemporary fiction. With every passing year this book seems more prophesy than fiction. Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Craven
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very creative.
I love the fact that Gibson doesn't feel the need to explain every nuance of the technology he introduces. Read more
Published 2 months ago by N. Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant cyberpunk novel
Brilliant cyberpunk novel, well written and easy enough to follow. A good bit of plot twisting and unforeseen happenings. Love the style.
Published 2 months ago by Mr WMH Watson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Over Hyped
Decided to read this, as Ide head so much about it ! Overhyped - some of the ideas are old hat & dated. A lot of the language & descriptions are difficult to understand. Read more
Published 2 months ago by kim
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just for cyber boffs!
Come on! You've got to love it!
I'm not a sci-fi / cyberpunk boff, just dipped in out of curiousity and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Read more
I'm not a sci-fi / cyberpunk boff, just dipped in out of curiousity and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mardi-Louise
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