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adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to Science Fiction but, I've been wanting to explore the genre to broaden my reading experience. I figured I would start with the dystopian masterpiece that help start the cyberpunk movement. This book was a whirlwind of action and technica jargon that was a lil' over my head at times but, I caught on fairly quick. I plan to read the other two installments of the trilogy!
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol
challenging
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ι should absolutely read more cyberpunk fiction, this was A BANGER
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment
Minor: Ableism
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Neuromancer, a classic that shot the world of neon skylines and futuristic cybermods into modern culture. A book that, for all intents and purposes, was ripped off to create even greater products such as Cyberpunk 2013 (What became Cyberpunk 2020) and System Shock. Starring the drug-addicted Case, a cowboy who hacks his way through cyberspace, it follows his journey from criminal scum counting down the last of his days to something more, returning back to life with purpose. When, at rock bottom, he is promised with a way to return to his beloved cyberspace, he jumps at the opportunity without realizing what he has gotten himself into. Thanks to the help of a 'street samurai' in Molly, and his dead mentor's construct guiding him, he is pulled into a heist for the mysterious Armitage. Through his journey of returning back to the virtual space he loved, he begins to realize that the job he had to do in return is much more complicated, and dangerous, than it seems.
While it is important to understand Neuromancer's influence on sci-fi, blending modern aspects with a grungy underbelly of technology, I would not say it has held up very well. The world-building is amazing and really what people enjoy from the book. The exquisite, poetic, waxing descriptions of cyberspace and the philosophy mixing with technology woven in, the seedy streets of Night City, the metropolis of BAMA, and the futuristic dystopia Freeside, all of these aspects are what inspired so many. The characters show initial promise at first and make you want to see their journies. Case is a man we see at rock bottom, and he even admits he isn't a good person. He's an anti-hero, one that has the promise of good while still committing terrible acts as he has essentially given up on life. Then comes Armitage and Molly. Armitage is a mysterious suitor, one we don't know a lot about at first. Molly is a hired merc, deadly as much as she is beautiful. And sadly, the beginning of the book is the most interesting part.
As the story goes on it begins to get a little non-sensical as William Gibson's lack of technological understanding shows, and the plot becomes so convoluted that it eventually gets hard to follow. A lot of exposition gets dumped near the end, and things are rushed over or skipped that probably shouldn't have been. It makes the story very messy and feels like he wasn't exactly sure how to properly get from Point A to Point B. Another issue I had was how descriptions were weirdly repeated. It isn't a long book, but I swear the phrase 'white/yellow/black' teeth is used way too much to describe characters. Same with 'brown breasts' for some reason. There is sex in this novel, and it feels so unbelievably forced that it almost feels sexist. She is supposed to be a badass, deadly assassin and immediately she is throwing herself at Case for absolutely no reason.
Case and Molly have almost zero chemistry, and it isn't described at all why they even like each other. Dixie and Case felt more like a proper relationship than these two. Along with that, she is supposed to be a cybernetic badass who, sadly, doesn't really get to shine. A lot of her action scenes are just skipped over, and most of her actual fighting is very little. Her fingernail blades, a unique aspect about her character, pretty much don't get used. She felt like wasted potential to me. And that's what the last half of the book feels like, wasted potential. I feel as though his focus on creating beautiful, dream-like sequences was jarring from the rest of the book, especially when it wasn't cyberspace. It made me want to return back to Night City, not stay on Freeside, and learn more about that world than the one the story was trying to focus on. It almost feels like two different short stories smashed together, and the book length doesn't allow either side of them to properly develop.
Overall, Neuromancer is no doubt a landmark novel that should be considered a modern classic as it essentially had almost all of its ideas ripped off. Mike Pondsmith basically stole half of this book. Night City, eddies, cyberspace (netrunning), cybernetic blades, constructs/engrams, and so much more that I'm surprised there wasn't a lawsuit. System Shock was much more subtle in showing the influences, and the same with The Matrix. In their respective areas, these things it helped inspired are some of the best pieces of art, and it deserves credit, but they do what Neuromancer did so much better than when you go back to look at it, you can't help but feel the disconnect of quality.
While it is important to understand Neuromancer's influence on sci-fi, blending modern aspects with a grungy underbelly of technology, I would not say it has held up very well. The world-building is amazing and really what people enjoy from the book. The exquisite, poetic, waxing descriptions of cyberspace and the philosophy mixing with technology woven in, the seedy streets of Night City, the metropolis of BAMA, and the futuristic dystopia Freeside, all of these aspects are what inspired so many. The characters show initial promise at first and make you want to see their journies. Case is a man we see at rock bottom, and he even admits he isn't a good person. He's an anti-hero, one that has the promise of good while still committing terrible acts as he has essentially given up on life. Then comes Armitage and Molly. Armitage is a mysterious suitor, one we don't know a lot about at first. Molly is a hired merc, deadly as much as she is beautiful. And sadly, the beginning of the book is the most interesting part.
As the story goes on it begins to get a little non-sensical as William Gibson's lack of technological understanding shows, and the plot becomes so convoluted that it eventually gets hard to follow. A lot of exposition gets dumped near the end, and things are rushed over or skipped that probably shouldn't have been. It makes the story very messy and feels like he wasn't exactly sure how to properly get from Point A to Point B. Another issue I had was how descriptions were weirdly repeated. It isn't a long book, but I swear the phrase 'white/yellow/black' teeth is used way too much to describe characters. Same with 'brown breasts' for some reason. There is sex in this novel, and it feels so unbelievably forced that it almost feels sexist. She is supposed to be a badass, deadly assassin and immediately she is throwing herself at Case for absolutely no reason.
Case and Molly have almost zero chemistry, and it isn't described at all why they even like each other. Dixie and Case felt more like a proper relationship than these two. Along with that, she is supposed to be a cybernetic badass who, sadly, doesn't really get to shine. A lot of her action scenes are just skipped over, and most of her actual fighting is very little. Her fingernail blades, a unique aspect about her character, pretty much don't get used. She felt like wasted potential to me. And that's what the last half of the book feels like, wasted potential. I feel as though his focus on creating beautiful, dream-like sequences was jarring from the rest of the book, especially when it wasn't cyberspace. It made me want to return back to Night City, not stay on Freeside, and learn more about that world than the one the story was trying to focus on. It almost feels like two different short stories smashed together, and the book length doesn't allow either side of them to properly develop.
Overall, Neuromancer is no doubt a landmark novel that should be considered a modern classic as it essentially had almost all of its ideas ripped off. Mike Pondsmith basically stole half of this book. Night City, eddies, cyberspace (netrunning), cybernetic blades, constructs/engrams, and so much more that I'm surprised there wasn't a lawsuit. System Shock was much more subtle in showing the influences, and the same with The Matrix. In their respective areas, these things it helped inspired are some of the best pieces of art, and it deserves credit, but they do what Neuromancer did so much better than when you go back to look at it, you can't help but feel the disconnect of quality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcohol
Minor: Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content
adventurous
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Blood, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my favorite book as the progenitor of the cyberpunk genre. This book is Lord of the Rings but for cyberpunk. It can be hard to follow at times, but Gibson built a living world for his characters to inhabit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Gore
Minor: Body horror, Terminal illness
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse
Minor: Misogyny, Violence
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the strangest read of this year.
I listened to the audiobook and tried to follow the story. At some point I got lost but continued to just listen to the story. Characters seemed to merge and I did not have a clue why this was happening. Curiosity kept me making it to the end.
Towards the end I started to read and listen together. And I discovered that I missed quite a few layers of the story, such as the spelling of the characters, the structure of the text. I expect to return to this novel to read the book digitally. The writing was too intricate for me to listen to the audiobook over a month's time.
I listened to the audiobook and tried to follow the story. At some point I got lost but continued to just listen to the story. Characters seemed to merge and I did not have a clue why this was happening. Curiosity kept me making it to the end.
Towards the end I started to read and listen together. And I discovered that I missed quite a few layers of the story, such as the spelling of the characters, the structure of the text. I expect to return to this novel to read the book digitally. The writing was too intricate for me to listen to the audiobook over a month's time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
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
A very dense story that I struggled to get through due to an unusual writing style and a lot of unexplained terminology that you have to come to understand through context and guesswork. I enjoyed the story for what it was however, and it's easy to see how it inspired the entire genre of Cyberpunk. Worth a read if for no other reason than to see where it all started!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence
Minor: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Felt like a fish out of water reading through it most the time. I got about 70% of the way through and just couldn't keep straight what was going on, what motives people had, and just couldn't care about any of what was goin on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual content
Moderate: Murder
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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
I really liked the first half of this book, but the second half kinda fell flat. The vibes really reminded me of the movie Hackers, and I absolutely love that movie. There were just a lot of weird things that kinda threw me off the whole time. It had the trope "male author always talking about breasts," and that was pretty off putting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content