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wubledoo's review against another edition
1.0
Ugh- did not like this at all. Gave up after a couple chapters. Felt like it was written by an out-of-touch old guy that had read some articles about "technology" and decided to write a "cool" book about what he learned. Ick.
jedbird's review against another edition
4.0
I read this when it was published and felt it was just meh. And, honestly, it's still meh, but I have more patience for that now. When NEUROMANCER was published, it described a version of the future that seemed dangerous and aspirational, and I read Gibson's next several books for more of that feeling. These Blue Ant books, and the Peripheral books that follow, show different takes on things that absolutely exist in our world, from the mundane to the cutting edge, and I do miss the scary, exhilarating angle from the early books.
But this is entertaining, albeit a bit slow-moving. A minor musical celebrity trying for a new career in journalism thinks she's doing a story on locative art, but it takes on dimension at a dizzying pace. A boy who lives outside of the everyday world conducts high-level espionage dependent on balance and reflexes. A drug addict with a valuable talent is almost uncomprehending as he's pulled along. There's a prank, a good one. Hubertus Bigend is occasionally on the phone, making this a Blue Ant story.
I enjoyed this more this second time, so 4* instead of 3*
But this is entertaining, albeit a bit slow-moving. A minor musical celebrity trying for a new career in journalism thinks she's doing a story on locative art, but it takes on dimension at a dizzying pace. A boy who lives outside of the everyday world conducts high-level espionage dependent on balance and reflexes. A drug addict with a valuable talent is almost uncomprehending as he's pulled along. There's a prank, a good one. Hubertus Bigend is occasionally on the phone, making this a Blue Ant story.
I enjoyed this more this second time, so 4* instead of 3*
salieri2's review against another edition
2.0
I was irritated to finally realize today why I wanted to rate [b:Spook Country|22322|Spook Country|William Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1186350896s/22322.jpg|1715356] at least 3 stars despite finding it largely unsatisfying--because somewhere in the back of my head, it reminded me of a far better book. Today was the day I realized which book it is: [b:Count Zero|22200|Count Zero|William Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167343629s/22200.jpg|879764], Gibson's 2nd Sprawl novel, published in 1986. Marly Krushkova, a pawn searching for the artist behind mysterious assemblage boxes, is a lot more interesting and human than Hollis Henry, writing about VR GPS installations which seem geekily interesting but bloodless. Tito stays compelling as long as he stays mysterious, but his Santeria/voodoo doesn't have the immediacy of the simulated Haitian AI remnants Bobby encounters in [b:Count Zero|22200|Count Zero|William Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167343629s/22200.jpg|879764]. As soon as he turns out to be afraid of flying he's halfway turned into an NBC afterschool special, and as soon as he joins an impromptu band he's suddenly mundane.
Gibson's written this book before! and did better with it. Go read [b:Neuromancer|22328|Neuromancer|William Gibson|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517YWCGDZPL._SL75_.jpg|909457], [b:Count Zero|22200|Count Zero|William Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167343629s/22200.jpg|879764], and [b:Mona Lisa Overdrive|22328|Neuromancer|William Gibson|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517YWCGDZPL._SL75_.jpg|909457] instead, if you haven't already...these are why William Gibson is great, not this later, lesser work.
Gibson's written this book before! and did better with it. Go read [b:Neuromancer|22328|Neuromancer|William Gibson|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517YWCGDZPL._SL75_.jpg|909457], [b:Count Zero|22200|Count Zero|William Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167343629s/22200.jpg|879764], and [b:Mona Lisa Overdrive|22328|Neuromancer|William Gibson|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517YWCGDZPL._SL75_.jpg|909457] instead, if you haven't already...these are why William Gibson is great, not this later, lesser work.
pastathief's review against another edition
4.0
Very much feeling like a sequel or a parallel story to Pattern Recognition, Spook Country finds Gibson honing his new contemporary style. I really think that it's in these two books that he's finally come into his own.
While Pattern Recognition in many ways was a contemporary cyberpunk novel, this novel strays further into character development and character study, with great results. The plot is perhaps less immediately arresting than Pattern Recognition's, and the main character less oddly unique. However, all of the supporting characters truly shine, fascinatingly sketched and engaging. It's really one of the few stories I've read in a long time which presented the material from multiple viewpoints anchored to multipl characters where there were no characters that I disliked and no chapters that I wanted to rush through to get back to my favourite storyline.
The way the loose threads are ultimately gathered up is slightly more coincidental and convenient than in PR, but ultimately I think more satisfying, for the triumphs are more personal and you wind up feeling for the all of the people of this story.
A really engaging read. I listened to the audiobook version, read by Robertson Dean, and he did a magnificent job, a slick, polished flatness to his voice that suited the text brilliantly while still providing enough characterization to make the characters each pop out.
Two thumbs up. :)
While Pattern Recognition in many ways was a contemporary cyberpunk novel, this novel strays further into character development and character study, with great results. The plot is perhaps less immediately arresting than Pattern Recognition's, and the main character less oddly unique. However, all of the supporting characters truly shine, fascinatingly sketched and engaging. It's really one of the few stories I've read in a long time which presented the material from multiple viewpoints anchored to multipl characters where there were no characters that I disliked and no chapters that I wanted to rush through to get back to my favourite storyline.
The way the loose threads are ultimately gathered up is slightly more coincidental and convenient than in PR, but ultimately I think more satisfying, for the triumphs are more personal and you wind up feeling for the all of the people of this story.
A really engaging read. I listened to the audiobook version, read by Robertson Dean, and he did a magnificent job, a slick, polished flatness to his voice that suited the text brilliantly while still providing enough characterization to make the characters each pop out.
Two thumbs up. :)
jeremyhornik's review against another edition
4.0
Re-read. There’s something so wildly plausible about Gibson’s writing, the evocative material world, that makes everything seem like science fiction... even the real, actual stuff of the real, actual world. It seems polished, somehow. Anyhow, read it on my iPhone, and it seems appropriate for my first novel consumed that way.
testpattern's review against another edition
4.0
I love the fact that William Gibson is getting better as I grow older. When I was 14, [book: Neuromancer] was pretty cool. These days, sexy cyborg assassins who wear sunglasses at night seem kind of childish.
Spook Country is elegant, polished, and a cracking good yarn. It's filled with characters that I found myself caring about, characters who seemed to be coming from somewhere. The turns of phrase are perfectly pitched, the details and embellishments are right on. In his mature style, Gibson's prose, while retaining its hard boiled, matte-carbon luster, has become wittier and somehow plush.
I honestly am not certain why I'm not giving this book five stars.
Spook Country is elegant, polished, and a cracking good yarn. It's filled with characters that I found myself caring about, characters who seemed to be coming from somewhere. The turns of phrase are perfectly pitched, the details and embellishments are right on. In his mature style, Gibson's prose, while retaining its hard boiled, matte-carbon luster, has become wittier and somehow plush.
I honestly am not certain why I'm not giving this book five stars.
optionalobjectives's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I guess that I'm reading Gibson's Blue Ant books in backwards order, about a decade apart. I read Zero History years ago and enjoyed it's (then) near-future, paranoid style. That's here in Spook Country too, with much of the same cast. But reading it in 2022 is more of an exercise in seeing how the then-near-future seemed in the mid aughts. It's an intriguing blend of post-cold-war espionage, hidden world corporate weirdness, and pop culture. Something that doesn't quite hold up is the main protagonist, Hollis Henry. She's formerly a member of a somewhat popular rock band that broke up. Gibson can't go a moment without mentioning that, but it's not a very interesting character trait. It's just one that keys into the plot and provides some motivation for a slight veneer of cynicism. It's a good thing that perspectives are split between her, Tito, and Milgrim, two more interesting and mysterious characters. It's still a fun, zippy ride laced with detail and a splash of tech-y stuff, which is to say that it's a Gibson novel. You know what you're in for.
saccade's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing, with an unnecessarily elaborate premise that was built up over too much narrative and flat characters, only to support a climax that doesn't really pay off. It was semi-interesting for the last fourth of the story, but too little, too late.
klieber's review against another edition
2.0
Too many questions left unanswered, along with a major aspect of the plot clumsily closed off toward the end of the book. Plus, overall writing style made the book difficult to get into. It was more of a grind than a pleasure to finish.
rpmiller's review against another edition
4.0
An unusual story made up of unusual parts. Quite a pleasure reading about things I am not as familiar with. In this case, a former band of musicians, the systema of chinese-cubans, the spoils of the war on terror and then there is Bigend and the blue ant.