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A review by xover
Neuromancer by William Gibson
4.0
Neuromancer (1984) holds up surprisingly well in 2021.
Almost four decades of technological progress and there are still no glaring holes. Gibson's exceedingly strong writing obfuscates the racial and cultural stereotypes, and the lack of strong female characters doesn't stand out because the same can mostly be said for other secondary characters. Its biggest flaw in this sense is that the intervening decades has raised the bar for plotting: readers are now wise to a plot and secondary characters that trip over themselves to accommodate the (anti)hero-protagonist. Gibson's characterisation is masterful, if not particularly subtle, but his characters are mere props.
The overall shape of the story fundamentally views the "Matrix" as something external, a parallel world one accesses through specialized equipment and requiring advanced adaptations and skill to use, rather than the ubiquitous connectivity of the smartphone era. But the smartphone era is just slightly over a decade old, and up until about 2010 or so the hyper-connected society existed mainly in geek dreams, overeager technology-sector marketing, and… science fiction. Neuromancer's assumptions held up for a quarter century, and even now the disconnectedness is not egregious.
When I dock Gibson one star here it's because of the weak plotting. It's particularly glaring since the writing and characterization is masterful, but the plotting feels nearly juvenile. There is nothing and nobody opposing the protagonist's progress along the plot's track, merely a long series of exciting incidents along the way. Even those forces who have every incentive to oppose him merely roll over, or downright bend over backwards to accommodate him.
But the bottom line is still that it was an immensely enjoyable read.
PS. Props to [a:Robertson Dean|567407|Robertson Dean|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1547618758p2/567407.jpg] who narrated the audiobook. His performance was masterful and perfectly suited to this work.
Almost four decades of technological progress and there are still no glaring holes. Gibson's exceedingly strong writing obfuscates the racial and cultural stereotypes, and the lack of strong female characters doesn't stand out because the same can mostly be said for other secondary characters. Its biggest flaw in this sense is that the intervening decades has raised the bar for plotting: readers are now wise to a plot and secondary characters that trip over themselves to accommodate the (anti)hero-protagonist. Gibson's characterisation is masterful, if not particularly subtle, but his characters are mere props.
The overall shape of the story fundamentally views the "Matrix" as something external, a parallel world one accesses through specialized equipment and requiring advanced adaptations and skill to use, rather than the ubiquitous connectivity of the smartphone era. But the smartphone era is just slightly over a decade old, and up until about 2010 or so the hyper-connected society existed mainly in geek dreams, overeager technology-sector marketing, and… science fiction. Neuromancer's assumptions held up for a quarter century, and even now the disconnectedness is not egregious.
When I dock Gibson one star here it's because of the weak plotting. It's particularly glaring since the writing and characterization is masterful, but the plotting feels nearly juvenile. There is nothing and nobody opposing the protagonist's progress along the plot's track, merely a long series of exciting incidents along the way. Even those forces who have every incentive to oppose him merely roll over, or downright bend over backwards to accommodate him.
But the bottom line is still that it was an immensely enjoyable read.
PS. Props to [a:Robertson Dean|567407|Robertson Dean|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1547618758p2/567407.jpg] who narrated the audiobook. His performance was masterful and perfectly suited to this work.