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adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Gosh this was a really interesting, honestly great read and I'm not sure where to begin. This book is considered to be what created cyberpunk as a genre but also was the origin of a bunch of other things I didn't know about - the concept of cyberspace before the internet, the matrix as a concept and the Japanese/science fiction aesthetic you see a lot, especially in the blade runner movie. Think fast paced, heist, Nior type of thing. With the standard cast of characters you'd expect - they don't really develop much past their archetypes.
I loved how the book didn't hold your hand throughout it felt like being thrown into a world at a very quick pace, and you were expected to keep up, especially when it comes to understanding the world, and It's something I really value in science fiction books - there is no exposition you have to work things out, most things really, based on context. This was one of the things I really liked about Do Androids as well.
The dialogue was excellent, and I loved how it was integrated into the action and text of the book. The writing itself flowed really well, it was very entertaining and thought provoking. I liked how the story effortlessly moved between real life stable things, and the dream-like sequences of being in the cyberspace area.
This was very close to being a five star read for me, very very close, but I've opted for 4.75 stars for two reasons, firstly The main character has casual sex with two of the main women in the story and it's written quite badly. and secondly, sometimes information, in the form of random new science fiction words, were casually inserted into the rather fast moving text, with zero explanation as to what they were or what they looked like. As a reader this made it a hard to visualise some of the scenes, and I also don't know how accurate what I'm imagining is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, War
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The og Cyberpunk 2077 inspo. Hard to read, hard to imagine a lot of it, not really sure I liked any of the characters. Lots of crimes and violence. I recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Physical abuse, Violence
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Murder
Minor: Mental illness, Suicide
The og Cyberpunk 2077 inspo. Hard to read, hard to imagine a lot of it, not really sure I liked any of the characters. Lots of crimes and violence. I recommend.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content
Moderate: Death
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Death, Classism
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was ok. The writing is just the way I like it, kinda poetic/metaphorical and not a lot of exposition. I also liked that, even though It's a book about computers and hackers, the narrative was more fantastical than hardcore sci-fi and the plot is very easy to follow.
The characters, on the other hand... The main cast is fine (I am biased towards asshole protagonists after all) and so is Wintermute, but some of the side characters felt like just huge racial steriotypes to me and I couldn't concentrate in some parts because of how bad it was.
This book also falls into that old tale of "female character suffers sexual related trauma, but it's ok because she is a badass warrior" and I hate that so much.
The characters, on the other hand... The main cast is fine (I am biased towards asshole protagonists after all) and so is Wintermute, but some of the side characters felt like just huge racial steriotypes to me and I couldn't concentrate in some parts because of how bad it was.
This book also falls into that old tale of "female character suffers sexual related trauma, but it's ok because she is a badass warrior" and I hate that so much.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Terminal illness
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Grief
Minor: Incest, Suicide
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed this at parts, Gibson's writing is great with the atmospheric way he describes the places and all the different technology that you have to learn to infer from the text. Especially within the cyberspace/matrix, it's word salad but a good way for me. The book kinda grinds your brain to mush sometimes with a plot that doesn't take it's time to hold your hand, but that's what makes it intriguing because it does have a good plot (mostly).
The characters aren't all that interesting, might've only liked two of the characters. The plot is interesting with how it's set up that when it was reaching the end it felt very anti-climantic? It wasn't a horrible ending but it seemed too abrupt for me personally.
Still worth reading though if you're into dense sci-fi that has classic cyberpunk vibes all over it.
The characters aren't all that interesting, might've only liked two of the characters. The plot is interesting with how it's set up that when it was reaching the end it felt very anti-climantic? It wasn't a horrible ending but it seemed too abrupt for me personally.
Still worth reading though if you're into dense sci-fi that has classic cyberpunk vibes all over it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest, Vomit
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is definitely a foundational work in the genre and the descriptions are lush and amazing. I love reading older sci-fi for the kind of grimy analog futurism and no one does that like Gibson. However, the main character is kind of pathetic and weird, the women feel like props, and the characters of colour are embarrassing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Incest, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse