SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 Neuromancer by William Gibson Hotwired to the leading edges of art and technology, Neuromancer is a cyberpunk, science fiction masterpiece—a classic that ranks with 1984 and Brave New World as one of the twentieth century’s most potent visions of the future. The Matrix is a world within the world, a global consensus-hallucination, the representation of every byte of data in cyberspace... Henry Dorsett Case was the sharpest data-thief in the business, until vengeful former employees crippled his nervous system. But now a new and very mysterious employer recruits him for a last-chance run. The target: an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence orbiting Earth in service of the sinister Tessier-Ashpool business clan. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case embarks on an adventure that ups the ante on an entire genre of fiction. The winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer was the first fully-realized glimpse of humankind’s digital future—a shocking vision that has challenged our assumptions about our technology and ourselves, reinvented the way we speak and think, and forever altered the landscape of our imaginations 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,547 Editorials Team · Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 Nice, I bought this a few years, but keep putting it off. In fact, I may have bought it immediately after finishing Snow Crash, since the two of them are supposed to be the definitive cyberpunk. And I loved that one so I'm excited. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 713 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 William Gibson was the last person I shook hands with. In March 2020. Neuromancer, you say? That's my copy - a signed true first edition, first print (this mass market paperback edition was released before either the US or UK hardcover editions). It's a fantastic book! Hope you all enjoy it. Read it for the first time as a kid in the early 90s and was blown away. I would also highly recommend his more recent books, they don't get as much attention but they're all fantastic, especially the trilogy that starts with Pattern Recognition. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 Finished first chapter and loving it. Sooo much is crammed into that first chapter that is very gripping. It's giving me Altered Carbon vibes. The crazy tech, body mods, and dirty city feelings. The wiki doesn't say much, but I'd anyone aware if this book gave inspiration to the more recent cyberpunk movies/shows/games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,547 Editorials Team · Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 I'd say it's considered one of the forefathers of the genre. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 Why do male writers write terrible sex scenes. Seriously Spoiler Let's have sex right after having surgery and are currently recovering with someone I literally just met Don't get me wrong, women writers can also do terrible jobs too, but the most cringe worthy ones are generally men. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doner24 | 1,196 Moderator · Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 51 minutes ago, SailorScoutMandy said: Why do male writers write terrible sex scenes. Seriously Reveal hidden contents Let's have sex right after having surgery and are currently recovering with someone I literally just met Don't get me wrong, women writers can also do terrible jobs too, but the most cringe worthy ones are generally men. Every sex scene I’ve ever read has been terrible, especially the ones that take over a book (stares in Patrick Rothfuss’ direction)! Be like Jim Butcher, write about the lead up to the sex and then end the chapter. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aguy | 773 Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 49 minutes ago, SailorScoutMandy said: Why do male writers write terrible sex scenes. Seriously Reveal hidden contents Let's have sex right after having surgery and are currently recovering with someone I literally just met Don't get me wrong, women writers can also do terrible jobs too, but the most cringe worthy ones are generally men. Thank you for mentioning this. I just read through the second chapter, hit that and said "skip". I think it's to portray the sexual freedom of the future, where primal urges are one of the last human experiences. And I understand it's Molly's job to keep him contained/entertained, so I understand it's purpose. But there are certainly more tactful ways of "say it without saying it". Someone should have told him to stick to techno babble. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 (edited) On 6/2/2021 at 8:40 AM, SailorScoutMandy said: The wiki doesn't say much, but I'd anyone aware if this book gave inspiration to the more recent cyberpunk movies/shows/games? I'm only aware of Cyberpunk 2077 Edited June 3, 2021 by G-type 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 42 minutes ago, doner24 said: Every sex scene I’ve ever read has been terrible, especially the ones that take over a book (stares in Patrick Rothfuss’ direction)! Be like Jim Butcher, write about the lead up to the sex and then end the chapter. Yessss, he does it very tactfully. We know what's happening, we are adults. You don't have to badly tell us he is giving it to her, lol. 36 minutes ago, Aguy said: Thank you for mentioning this. I just read through the second chapter, hit that and said "skip". I think it's to portray the sexual freedom of the future, where primal urges are one of the last human experiences. And I understand it's Molly's job to keep him contained/entertained, so I understand it's purpose. But there are certainly more tactful ways of "say it without saying it". Someone should have told him to stick to techno babble. Yea I just skipped down when it happens too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." ranks among the best opening lines for a novel. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 (edited) I'm up to chapter 11. I really liked the scene where: Spoiler Wintermute was trying to contact Case, by making each payphone ring once has he walked past a row of them... speaking of payphones... that just one of the many anachronistic references in this book which makes it feel dated, even though it's supposed to be futuristic. Same goes for the very 80s sounding arcades. And the visual representation of cyberspace is positively quaint. So far I'm enjoying the book, but I do find it very challenging to follow the plot. There is too much jumping around to new locations. And it really throws me when he starts a new chapter in a totally new place with very little lead up. I've had a to go flip back just to make sure I didn't skip a couple pages. Nope. Just a very abrupt transition. Edited June 7, 2021 by G-type 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aguy | 773 Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 2 hours ago, G-type said: I'm up to chapter 11. I really liked the scene where: Reveal hidden contents Wintermute was trying to contact Case, by making each payphone ring once has he walked past a row of them... speaking of payphones... that just one of the many anachronistic references in this book which makes it feel dated, even though it's supposed to be futuristic. Same goes for the very 80s sounding arcades. And the visual representation of cyberspace is positively quaint. So far I'm enjoying the book, but I do find it very challenging to follow the plot. There is too much jumping around to new locations. And it really throws me when he starts a new chapter in a totally new place with very little lead up. I've had a to go flip back just to make sure I didn't skip a couple pages. Nope. Just a very abrupt transition. I've had to do this a couple times when turning a single page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 713 Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 (edited) On 6/2/2021 at 5:40 AM, SailorScoutMandy said: Finished first chapter and loving it. Sooo much is crammed into that first chapter that is very gripping. It's giving me Altered Carbon vibes. The crazy tech, body mods, and dirty city feelings. The wiki doesn't say much, but I'd anyone aware if this book gave inspiration to the more recent cyberpunk movies/shows/games? Yes. Basically all of them. This book and Snow Crash are pretty much the foundation of the entire genre. No-one was really writing about this stuff before Gibson and Stephenson and Bruce Sterling. sf in general was still more or less rocket ships and aliens and computers that were just set dressing - the kind the starship captain talks to and then Stuff Happens. Edited June 7, 2021 by AdamW 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,547 Editorials Team · Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 I misplaced my book in my house a few days ago. Swear to god 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doner24 | 1,196 Moderator · Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 I gave up trying to find my copy of this, which is lost in my garage somewhere and bought it digitally today. Will start it tonight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted June 8, 2021 Author Share Posted June 8, 2021 12 hours ago, doner24 said: I gave up trying to find my copy of this, which is lost in my garage somewhere and bought it digitally today. Will start it tonight. This is why I mainly use my Kindle. Tho if I misplace the kindle..... I'm out a lot of books haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 How's everyone doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) up to page 200. It was an interesting to learn that Molly's former relationship was Johnny Mnemonic. I guess that story is sort of a loosely related prequel to Neuromancer then? Edited June 12, 2021 by G-type 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Just finished the book today. I think I appreciated it more than I liked it.. I appreciated all the worldbuilding and how it innovated this milieu of sci-fi (which I truly love).. It held my interest, but it was also incredibly challenging to read. Between the techno-jargon, the Japanese and French names, the abrupt transitions, the jumps to new locations, character perspectives, illusion vs reality... I probably only understood 90% of it and just powered through the rest. .. at its core it was a heist story that didn't really have any shocking twists, and the ending felt a bit anticlimactic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Did anyone ever play the old Neuromancer PC adventure game? I owned it but never made it very far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,482 Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aguy | 773 Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 1 hour ago, G-type said: Me reading this book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 It's little hard for me as well. Too many jumps makes for not enjoyable reading time. Feels more like school work than relaxing reading. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,547 Editorials Team · Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Finished it. While I respect it, and love how high concept it was for the time, man was that a tough read. I don't know how many times I read a section and had no idea what was going on and had to read a plot summary online to make sense of it, but it was a lot. 3/5 on Goodreads. I enjoyed Snow Crash a lot more, but will freely admit that I may just be too dumb for Neuromancer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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