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r_zoner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
unfoundation's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
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? Yes
4.75
One of my favourite books. Just finished a reread.
The world is chaotic and entrancing. The plot hurtles through it at speed, twisting this way and that, but never getting lost.
It’s incredible to realize that Gibson came up with so many of these ideas and imagery in 1984. The foundational text of cyberpunk. You can see so many themes and ideas stemming from this.
Case is a complex main character but ultimately you root for him. Like seeing a friend make some bad decisions. Molly is a tragic terminator, both intimidating and sympathetic. Armitage, Wintermute and Peter are all ominous antagonists. There are a host of other amazing characters who make the world rich and leave lasting impressions.
The world is chaotic and entrancing. The plot hurtles through it at speed, twisting this way and that, but never getting lost.
It’s incredible to realize that Gibson came up with so many of these ideas and imagery in 1984. The foundational text of cyberpunk. You can see so many themes and ideas stemming from this.
Case is a complex main character but ultimately you root for him. Like seeing a friend make some bad decisions. Molly is a tragic terminator, both intimidating and sympathetic. Armitage, Wintermute and Peter are all ominous antagonists. There are a host of other amazing characters who make the world rich and leave lasting impressions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death, Sexual content, Gore, Addiction, and Alcohol
Minor: Grief, Rape, and Torture
amorphousbl0b's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Medical trauma, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
joblo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Goooood shit. A little hard to follow at times but it just adds to the vibe. In love with the language and writing style. Lots of very cool concepts and very interesting to see the beginnings of this genre/such a foundational sci-fi piece in general. Will def reread at some point!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Gore, and Addiction
Minor: Sexual violence
totallyglitched's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug use, Violence, Sexual content, Torture, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Vomit and Suicidal thoughts
missdragon's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Gosh this was a really interesting, honestly great read and I'm not sure where to begin. This book is considered to be what created cyberpunk as a genre but also was the origin of a bunch of other things I didn't know about - the concept of cyberspace before the internet, the matrix as a concept and the Japanese/science fiction aesthetic you see a lot, especially in the blade runner movie. Think fast paced, heist, Nior type of thing. With the standard cast of characters you'd expect - they don't really develop much past their archetypes.
I loved how the book didn't hold your hand throughout it felt like being thrown into a world at a very quick pace, and you were expected to keep up, especially when it comes to understanding the world, and It's something I really value in science fiction books - there is no exposition you have to work things out, most things really, based on context. This was one of the things I really liked about Do Androids as well.
The dialogue was excellent, and I loved how it was integrated into the action and text of the book. The writing itself flowed really well, it was very entertaining and thought provoking. I liked how the story effortlessly moved between real life stable things, and the dream-like sequences of being in the cyberspace area.
This was very close to being a five star read for me, very very close, but I've opted for 4.75 stars for two reasons, firstly The main character has casual sex with two of the main women in the story and it's written quite badly. and secondly, sometimes information, in the form of random new science fiction words, were casually inserted into the rather fast moving text, with zero explanation as to what they were or what they looked like. As a reader this made it a hard to visualise some of the scenes, and I also don't know how accurate what I'm imagining is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Addiction, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and War
jimgerdes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Neuromancer is a famous and influential novel.
That means it exists not just as a work of its own, but also as the cultural gravitational well its existence creates. This requires looking at this kind of story through a broader perspective, instead of as a work alone in a vacuum. How it has shaped science fiction, and our society more broadly are fascinating questions worth exploring, and indeed we cannot (and should not) avoid contending with a novel like this.
Even if you have only just heard of Neuromancer or have only a passing knowledge of what it is, because of the profound impact it has had on our society and culture (especially American culture) the concepts, tropes, and themes that have since grown to be called "cyberpunk" will be striking in their familiarity. Both literary, and socially, this novel has shaped the way our society view science fiction and technology, and much has been said about this fact in countless other places. As a result, any contemporary reflection cannot separate it from everything that has come after it.
This is probably obvious and is the case for any influential work of literature, but I think it is worth highlighting particularly for a novel like this to contextualize what exactly this book is and how best (or better yet, why) to approach it 40+ years after it was written.
As a casual read in 2024, this book appears on its surface, to not be anything particular to write home about. The book moves extremely quickly, and expects the reader to keep up. Not surprising for an adventure story with a lot of action, but this could be intimidating for some readers. Scenes happen quickly over a short amount of text, suddenly end, and then skip forward expecting the reader to infer extra details. The opening 2 acts (of 4 total) meander a bit, but the book picks up in the second half. Lots of invented slang and lingo is used, without much explanation. "Do try to keep up." Gibson seems to ask the reader.
The characters are fairly stock. We learn a bit about them as the story goes on, but none of them are particularly dynamic and what we do learn is mostly pragmatic exposition about motivation and personal relation to the plot.
Gibson's work shines particularly however with regards to the world he has created in Neuromancer and how that world communicates the novel's themes and provide the sorts of thought provoking quandaries the best science fiction gives us. This mostly happens in the background, (perhaps as it should) but permeates throughout everything, even the assumptions the characters make about their own lives and the world they live in.
The characters seem mostly focused on the task at hand and their personal motivations rather than the larger questions being posed to the reader, but the world they inhabit and the situations they are forced to deal with reveal a lot about the anxieties of the world of 1984 (a world on the cusp of a technological revolution) and what the future might look like.
What may be most interesting, is how little those anxieties have changed over the past 40 years. In today's media landscape, the "Cyberpunk" tropes and aesthetics are still very much alive (notably Cyberpunk 2077 and its assorted related media has launched this type of story back into mainstream discussion). They endure and press on the same fears and worries, and the same hopes that Gibson's work touches on in 1984. In our rapidly corporatizing technological world, particularly with regards to the rise of artificial intelligence, we can see ourselves in Neuromancer, with all the comforts and horrors that come with that vision.
This is perhaps a useful lens to approach this book with. If you are after a science fiction adventure (or "cyberpunk" flavor specifically), this book is that; unfortunately, though, looking back after 40 years at Neuromancer, it is difficult to point to over any of the other books, movies, television, video games, or tabletop roleplaying games it inspired. But looking at this book as a window into a past version of ourselves, an influence on the world we live in today and how connected we are, or as a way to understand how science fiction as a genre has branched and evolved, there is quite a bit to discover in Neuromancer.
That means it exists not just as a work of its own, but also as the cultural gravitational well its existence creates. This requires looking at this kind of story through a broader perspective, instead of as a work alone in a vacuum. How it has shaped science fiction, and our society more broadly are fascinating questions worth exploring, and indeed we cannot (and should not) avoid contending with a novel like this.
Even if you have only just heard of Neuromancer or have only a passing knowledge of what it is, because of the profound impact it has had on our society and culture (especially American culture) the concepts, tropes, and themes that have since grown to be called "cyberpunk" will be striking in their familiarity. Both literary, and socially, this novel has shaped the way our society view science fiction and technology, and much has been said about this fact in countless other places. As a result, any contemporary reflection cannot separate it from everything that has come after it.
This is probably obvious and is the case for any influential work of literature, but I think it is worth highlighting particularly for a novel like this to contextualize what exactly this book is and how best (or better yet, why) to approach it 40+ years after it was written.
As a casual read in 2024, this book appears on its surface, to not be anything particular to write home about. The book moves extremely quickly, and expects the reader to keep up. Not surprising for an adventure story with a lot of action, but this could be intimidating for some readers. Scenes happen quickly over a short amount of text, suddenly end, and then skip forward expecting the reader to infer extra details. The opening 2 acts (of 4 total) meander a bit, but the book picks up in the second half. Lots of invented slang and lingo is used, without much explanation. "Do try to keep up." Gibson seems to ask the reader.
The characters are fairly stock. We learn a bit about them as the story goes on, but none of them are particularly dynamic and what we do learn is mostly pragmatic exposition about motivation and personal relation to the plot.
Gibson's work shines particularly however with regards to the world he has created in Neuromancer and how that world communicates the novel's themes and provide the sorts of thought provoking quandaries the best science fiction gives us. This mostly happens in the background, (perhaps as it should) but permeates throughout everything, even the assumptions the characters make about their own lives and the world they live in.
The characters seem mostly focused on the task at hand and their personal motivations rather than the larger questions being posed to the reader, but the world they inhabit and the situations they are forced to deal with reveal a lot about the anxieties of the world of 1984 (a world on the cusp of a technological revolution) and what the future might look like.
What may be most interesting, is how little those anxieties have changed over the past 40 years. In today's media landscape, the "Cyberpunk" tropes and aesthetics are still very much alive (notably Cyberpunk 2077 and its assorted related media has launched this type of story back into mainstream discussion). They endure and press on the same fears and worries, and the same hopes that Gibson's work touches on in 1984. In our rapidly corporatizing technological world, particularly with regards to the rise of artificial intelligence, we can see ourselves in Neuromancer, with all the comforts and horrors that come with that vision.
This is perhaps a useful lens to approach this book with. If you are after a science fiction adventure (or "cyberpunk" flavor specifically), this book is that; unfortunately, though, looking back after 40 years at Neuromancer, it is difficult to point to over any of the other books, movies, television, video games, or tabletop roleplaying games it inspired. But looking at this book as a window into a past version of ourselves, an influence on the world we live in today and how connected we are, or as a way to understand how science fiction as a genre has branched and evolved, there is quite a bit to discover in Neuromancer.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Drug use, Police brutality, Gun violence, Addiction, Classism, Cursing, and Drug abuse
Minor: Sexism, Suicide, and Sexual content
quiteawful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The og Cyberpunk 2077 inspo. Hard to read, hard to imagine a lot of it, not really sure I liked any of the characters. Lots of crimes and violence. I recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder
Minor: Mental illness and Suicide
The og Cyberpunk 2077 inspo. Hard to read, hard to imagine a lot of it, not really sure I liked any of the characters. Lots of crimes and violence. I recommend.missmansanas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Addiction, Sexual assault, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Medical trauma
Minor: Incest and Suicidal thoughts
misty_kb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death