Reviews - Count Zero | The StoryGraph

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614 reviews for:

Count Zero

William Gibson

3.86 AVERAGE

pablochristian's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

freakydug's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

ekingjones's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

founddrama's review against another edition

2.0

I had a terrible time getting through this one. When I put it down, I remember thinking that this was the novel that Gibson wrote after his agent told him: "Write something that we can easily turn into a video game. Or at least an action movie." The plot has a very definite, predictable story arc and the characters don't develop particularly well. I'm told that you need to read [b:Mona Lisa Overdrive|154091|Mona Lisa Overdrive (Sprawl, #3)|William Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320558292s/154091.jpg|1263322] for everything in here to come together. That said: why does every other Gibson book work as a stand-alone just fine?

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See also:
• http://io9.com/5481558/20-great-infodumps-from-science-fiction-novels

alltidfrisk's review against another edition

4.5

tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

hrdboildwndrlnd's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A triad of characters hack, murder, and flee their way through Gibson's Boston-Bama Sprawl setting. Chronologically the sequel to Neuromancer, the books don't share too much other than some characters, a setting, and the bleak pessimism of the cyberpunk future. Like Neuromancer the action in this book is clipped and tense, particularly in one scene midway through with the corporate hired muscle character Turner. The introduction of voodoo gods within cyberspace certainly adds flavor to the book, though I'm not sure it does much to actually push the thematic space of the book in new directions. The Marly storyline involves an art gallerist tracking down the creator of strange copycat pieces of art and does most of the books heavy lifting in terms of substance to chew on and think about. Unfortunately the titlular Bobby "Count Zero" Newmark storyline is the least interesting of the three, but does lend itself well to filling out the world that Gibson started in Neuromancer. It's a fully realized setting unlike any other I've seen in fiction, but it does suffer compared to Neuromancer due to Count Zero's lack of interest in character and motivation.