Reviews with content warning for Violence - Neuromancer

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Neuromancer by William Gibson

32 reviews

ghast's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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.

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shinylightblue's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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sarah984's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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.

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justasking27's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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themysteriouserk's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.25

Gibson’s most famous novel isn’t his best; the tropes and stereotypes employed here range from old hat to offensive, and on the whole it feels more like a collection of stories artificially fitted together than a proper novel. Still, there’s a lot to love too, from the static sky and the setup for the rest of the Sprawl world to the memorable concepts and characters. A good read for Gibson fans and people really interested in the subject matter, but it doesn’t hold up as well or even really try to do as much as some of his newer novels (especially the Blue Ant trilogy), and feels dated both in its technological references and its lack of understanding about race and culture.

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du5t8unny's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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surelyinthefountain's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The writing is arresting -- gorgeous descriptions of ugliness throughout. The first 40% to half feels like a very different book than the latter half of the novel. I really liked the second half, which starts to skew a bit existential and pulls out of the viewpoint of Case more, giving a bit more perspective; I'd say if you're having trouble with the first half, keep in mind that this was written in the 80s and there was a...shall we say "certain kind of audience" that was into sci-fi at that time, especially hard science fiction. Gibson is very deliberately trying to hook in that kind of reader before punching them in the gut in the second half, so if you're not in that target audience, the first half can feel a little alienating, but I promise the second half earns the cult status this book has. It has so much to say that's still really relevant in 2021 (when I'm writing this review), even if a bit of a sledgehammer with those ideas in places, and it's cool to see the roots of what we now view as cyberpunk staples in their original context. There's some dated stereotypes, but I think overall the book holds up well, even in spite of its flaws.

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c_l's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Brutal and poetic. For the impact on media, and our current 2021 society, Gibson deserves the praise he's been handed. I'm interested to read some of the cultural criticism written in the last forty years. All of the characters are flawed, and most are pretty fucked up (particularly Case, the protag).

Gibson's writing style caught me off guard, and it took me some time to settle into. I bet this would make for a much better re-read. It's highly metaphorical/poetic, without taking length to fine-tune a description. The characters all point to a dynamic, hostile, and compelling broader culture. This is probably my fav takeaway, especially when the settings are more alluded to than less concretely described (it works). I would recommend because:

Valuable for understanding influence/lineage on media ("first cyberpunk").
Observe future-casting for a hostile, techno-focused, late-capitalist world.
[maybe spoilers? books been out since 1984 so...] ~~I've never seen AI used in a plot arc with this finish.~~
Gibson's writing style is worth digging into.
Cool science fiction.
Lots of heists.
The matrix.

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peachani's review

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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keegan_leech's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I found it slow to get into, but absolutely raced through the last section of the book. It's very good, but I don't imagine that it would appeal to everyone. Between a couple of quite graphic moments, and a lot of jargon, the book could be off-putting

I'd recommend it if you like creative, idea-driven sci-fi; or if you just want to read something that's dated, but rightfully defined genres for decades to come. However, the story itself doesn't quite do justice to the ideas and the tone that defines the book.

If you liked Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson, then you'll probably like Neuromancer for similar reasons, but the two books also have similar issues.

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