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merlandre's review against another edition
5.0
I have enjoyed William Gibson's writing for many years and discovering this newest book didn't disappoint. A wild ride with various levels of AI, telepresence, drones and a wide variety of characters in different time lines. What can I say except that I loved it. I'd love to see Eunice in a future novel.
kelfleming's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
obnorthrup's review against another edition
2.0
Usually a Gibson fan, but this was disappointing. It offers a buffet of interesting scifi ideas, but it's hard to plate an appetizing meal from a buffet. Some examples:
1) There's a strong start, with Verity and Eunice building rapport and Eunice growing in ability (agency), which gets largely thrown away when Eunice disappears for the majority of the book.
2) The promise of a headless AI network built around Verity results in monotonous chapters of characters in transit.
3) The post-jackpot characters co-piloting the Spongebob drone answers the age-old question, "What if this conference call speaker had a body?" Answer: Everyone still spends half their time asking who's on the line.
Finally, the writing overuses Gibson's style for character dialogue, reaching the point of self-parody. Everyone speaks in clipped cyphers (pro-drop and jargon), which results in conversations where the characters must ask one another to clarify who and what they are talking about. My impression is that the style is supposed to make the characters sound like competent profesionals, but it becomes tedious, and reads as though the characters are all too absorbed in what they're doing to be cooperative interlocutors.
1) There's a strong start, with Verity and Eunice building rapport and Eunice growing in ability (agency), which gets largely thrown away when Eunice disappears for the majority of the book.
2) The promise of a headless AI network built around Verity results in monotonous chapters of characters in transit.
3) The post-jackpot characters co-piloting the Spongebob drone answers the age-old question, "What if this conference call speaker had a body?" Answer: Everyone still spends half their time asking who's on the line.
Finally, the writing overuses Gibson's style for character dialogue, reaching the point of self-parody. Everyone speaks in clipped cyphers (pro-drop and jargon), which results in conversations where the characters must ask one another to clarify who and what they are talking about. My impression is that the style is supposed to make the characters sound like competent profesionals, but it becomes tedious, and reads as though the characters are all too absorbed in what they're doing to be cooperative interlocutors.
quantumdude111's review against another edition
2.0
What the heck was this? The premise was interesting and could have explored so many different topics but instead one timeline consists only of a pointless chase sequence (at some point I asked myself what the characters are even running away from. There was zero sense of urgency to the whole part) and the other, future post-apocalyptic, timeline was all just random people having conversations that had nothing to do with the plot.
Once I made through the 400 pages I sat there and wondered how Gibson managed to tell so little story on that amount of pages.
My conclusion is that this book was a lacklustre cash in or maybe mister Gibson got bored and started typing a novel. It leaves as unimpressed as his protagonist in 2017 is when people from an alternate timeline‘s future contact her through first a drone and then a transfer of her perception into a synthetic body („the peripheral“).
Once I made through the 400 pages I sat there and wondered how Gibson managed to tell so little story on that amount of pages.
My conclusion is that this book was a lacklustre cash in or maybe mister Gibson got bored and started typing a novel. It leaves as unimpressed as his protagonist in 2017 is when people from an alternate timeline‘s future contact her through first a drone and then a transfer of her perception into a synthetic body („the peripheral“).
jrc2011's review against another edition
3.0
If it gets off to a slow start, but placing it in contemporary, San Francisco is sort of appealing, with a reference to smoke from forest fires, being a toxic hazard in San Francisco (which would make this 2020, not 2019). Lots of name, checking of streets and locations in San Francisco.
The underlying premise is that some sketchy tech firm steals military AI technology and wants to figure out a way to create a product. Or not. .
Couch surfing Verity is pulled in as the “game whisperer“ through manipulations by Lowbeer (Wilf and Ash now work for her). This “ stub” is at risk of globally annihilating events.
We also see a return of Connor - and updates on the “stub” created in the first book. As the book goes on - Verity is carried along in a wave of cloak and dagger events set off like a Rube Goldberg contraption by the AI as a feud ex machine. We don’t really even need Verity except as a plot device to be running away from the bad guys and to be the new BFF of this.AI. In fact - not even sure we need the billionaire ex boyfriend or his girlfriend, Wilf or the rest.
We get a little bit of information about how China was able to create a walled garden, and avoid many of the impacts of the jackpot. Ultimately, this is a story that has some real promise, but to seems to schedule a drawn. We aren’t learning that much more about low beer, verity, and the others are also very thinly drawn. High on action low on character development. Seems like this was created as the next installment to feed to the script writers for the TV series which is fine I suppose. I’d rather have better character development.
The underlying premise is that some sketchy tech firm steals military AI technology and wants to figure out a way to create a product. Or not. .
Couch surfing Verity is pulled in as the “game whisperer“ through manipulations by Lowbeer (Wilf and Ash now work for her). This “ stub” is at risk of globally annihilating events.
We also see a return of Connor - and updates on the “stub” created in the first book. As the book goes on - Verity is carried along in a wave of cloak and dagger events set off like a Rube Goldberg contraption by the AI as a feud ex machine. We don’t really even need Verity except as a plot device to be running away from the bad guys and to be the new BFF of this.AI. In fact - not even sure we need the billionaire ex boyfriend or his girlfriend, Wilf or the rest.
We get a little bit of information about how China was able to create a walled garden, and avoid many of the impacts of the jackpot. Ultimately, this is a story that has some real promise, but to seems to schedule a drawn. We aren’t learning that much more about low beer, verity, and the others are also very thinly drawn. High on action low on character development. Seems like this was created as the next installment to feed to the script writers for the TV series which is fine I suppose. I’d rather have better character development.
robphippen's review against another edition
5.0
The master excels himself: pacy and profound
I read neuromancer when it came out and, like many, found it utterly rivetting. Since then I have read many of William Gibson's novels. I've liked them all, but never felt quite that same degree of complete absorption. Until now. This book is a masterwork.
Gibson's great skill is his way of breezily dropping in the odd profound thought while taking the action along at such a pace that you only notice when you put the book down.
It is also beautifully written. At times, I imagine Gibson lovingly polishing a sentence until it socks you between the eyes.
This novel is set in the same universe as 'The Peripheral', with the formidable Ainsley Lowbeer dealing with a new alternate 'stub' timeline, with the action there set in 2017. Much of the main action happens there, with the alternate timeline providing a chance for some musings on how things might have been.
I read neuromancer when it came out and, like many, found it utterly rivetting. Since then I have read many of William Gibson's novels. I've liked them all, but never felt quite that same degree of complete absorption. Until now. This book is a masterwork.
Gibson's great skill is his way of breezily dropping in the odd profound thought while taking the action along at such a pace that you only notice when you put the book down.
It is also beautifully written. At times, I imagine Gibson lovingly polishing a sentence until it socks you between the eyes.
This novel is set in the same universe as 'The Peripheral', with the formidable Ainsley Lowbeer dealing with a new alternate 'stub' timeline, with the action there set in 2017. Much of the main action happens there, with the alternate timeline providing a chance for some musings on how things might have been.
fae's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
shoddy23's review against another edition
4.0
Like all the best 'science fiction' writers, Gibson sends us all a message from the near future - in this case, quite literally. OK, the number of characters you have to try and keep track of is kind of confusing, especially if you haven't read [b:The Peripheral|24611819|The Peripheral|William Gibson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574084339l/24611819._SY75_.jpg|40167043]. Luckily they are given ridiculously playful names, just to help you out.
Essentially it's classic Gibson. In the seemingly mundane nougat of plot following at least two different timelines you can find plenty of nutty ideas to chew on. Agency rewards a careful, close read and possibly some cross referencing - precisely the kind of analysis today's tech generation may struggle to achieve, given that unlimited access to information seems to have simultaneously conspired to make us all stupid.
Gibson serves up a metaphorical warning disguised as a tech-noir mystery thriller: get informed about the klept, about the City of London, and about the surveillance state - or get fucked.
Essentially it's classic Gibson. In the seemingly mundane nougat of plot following at least two different timelines you can find plenty of nutty ideas to chew on. Agency rewards a careful, close read and possibly some cross referencing - precisely the kind of analysis today's tech generation may struggle to achieve, given that unlimited access to information seems to have simultaneously conspired to make us all stupid.
Gibson serves up a metaphorical warning disguised as a tech-noir mystery thriller: get informed about the klept, about the City of London, and about the surveillance state - or get fucked.