Scan barcode
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.
bigbeardedbookseller's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a huge fan of William Gibson (I've not got a collection of Neuromancer in different editions...) and am always waiting for his next book with great anticipation, waiting to see where he takes us next.
In Agency, he gives us a 'prequel and sequel' to The Peripheral.
Like The Peripheral the story of Agency switches between two different timelines, a 2017 where Verity lives in a world where Hilary Clinton won the 2016 elections, and the other is set in the 22nd century post-Jackpot world of Russian crime families and advanced technology.
Written in short punchy chapters switching between the two time frames, developing character depth and interaction which makes you invest very quickly and ensures that you don't want to put the book down. The explanation of the technology in the book works on extrapolations from existing technology so never really seems that far fetched.
Though the way interaction with 'stubs' is achieved is the most 'out there' technology mentioned it still doesn't jar and t hat's what I've always enjoyed about Gibson's writing, especially Blue Ant Trilogy and the Bridge Trilogy, the technology could be out there now, being developed and tested as it is never an outrageous use of 'black box' technologues.
Another great addition to William Gibson's oeuvre, and I'm now back to anticipating his next work.
In Agency, he gives us a 'prequel and sequel' to The Peripheral.
Like The Peripheral the story of Agency switches between two different timelines, a 2017 where Verity lives in a world where Hilary Clinton won the 2016 elections, and the other is set in the 22nd century post-Jackpot world of Russian crime families and advanced technology.
Written in short punchy chapters switching between the two time frames, developing character depth and interaction which makes you invest very quickly and ensures that you don't want to put the book down. The explanation of the technology in the book works on extrapolations from existing technology so never really seems that far fetched.
Though the way interaction with 'stubs' is achieved is the most 'out there' technology mentioned it still doesn't jar and t hat's what I've always enjoyed about Gibson's writing, especially Blue Ant Trilogy and the Bridge Trilogy, the technology could be out there now, being developed and tested as it is never an outrageous use of 'black box' technologues.
Another great addition to William Gibson's oeuvre, and I'm now back to anticipating his next work.
categal's review
4.0
Verity is an app whisperer recruited by a tech start-up to explore and give feedback on an AI interface they have developed. She’s also in hiding from the world after breaking up with her billionaire boyfriend. There are also people from the future trying to stop a nuclear war in Verity’s time. And what about the AI, named Eunice? She’s kicky and has an agenda all her own.
This was a fun romp through San Francisco, London, present day, future. Gibson has a real way with creating absolutely believable futures — the way that self-driving cars and robots have become so normal that they’re boring, and a really fun look at how the future influenced the last election. I only found out after reading this that his earlier book The Peripherals starts this story. Back to the library!
This was a fun romp through San Francisco, London, present day, future. Gibson has a real way with creating absolutely believable futures — the way that self-driving cars and robots have become so normal that they’re boring, and a really fun look at how the future influenced the last election. I only found out after reading this that his earlier book The Peripherals starts this story. Back to the library!
charlotte_literat's review against another edition
1.0
Meh I really thought I would like this book. A fiction story about AI, the shared capacities and work of private sector & DoD and technologies’ potential and challenges for military deployment ... all sounded pretty awesome. However, the AI disappears basically at the beginning of the book, leaving behind a conglomeration of characters who the reader never gets to know on a deeper level & who all want to appear super cool and capable but remain unlikable and ineffective. While I usually love multiple story lines, time shifting etc. this book is just confusing as hell and Gibson throws too many words and concepts in there that don’t make much sense - maybe one should have read his earlier book on the topic that supposedly could be viewed as the prequel to “Agency” but not necessarily so. Anyways, I quit halfway through because there are just too many good books out there and sadly for me, this one just didn’t deliver in the way I thought it would.
Also, I feel like airport books are just not my type of genre lol.
Also, I feel like airport books are just not my type of genre lol.
justiceofkalr's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, this book was a cool concept but had a lot of issues. First off, the chapters are so short and there are so many various characters that you never really connect to any of them. In fact I spent most of the time trying to remember who all the assorted people were and why they were important. It didn't help that many of them were returning from The Peripheral, which I read a while ago and didn't really remember much of. I don't remember this being marketed as a sequel when I first heard about it, but it definitely is and you definitely would be helped by knowing all the characters from the first book. That aside, not a lot actually happens. Most characters simply do what they're told and the ending is rather anti-climactic. So between the poorly developed cast and the sketchy plot, this book was a bit of a let down. Which is frustrating because I was so excited about the concept. Argh!