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A review by jacki_f
Agency by William Gibson
4.0
Agency, William Gibson’s latest book inhabits the same universe as [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], his last novel which came out in 2014. It’s a long time between drinks, but you don’t have to have read that book to make sense of this one (I had indeed pretty much forgotten everything - a talent of mine that enables me to re-read books often with no spoilers).
The first half of Agency introduces a number of characters across a world set in the present time (albeit an alternate history) and a future world (which may or may not be based on our timeline). Initially it's somewhat tricky keeping track of them all, but by the time the second half comes around, it's rolling along in a very enjoyable William Gibson style.
The present world storyline centers around Verity, an "App Whisperer”, Eunice an Artificial Intelligence entity (which will bring back memories of WinterMute), and Stets, some sort of generic Silicon Valley Billionaire only not a jerk. There’s a whole back story about Verity and Stets that isn’t expanded on which had me frantically googling to find out what previous Gibson book they had appeared in (none as far as I can tell - but see also the paragraph above where I describe my special superpower).
The other world is set in a very interesting and believable future London, with Russian mobsters, secret service operatives and nanobots making things furiously. Before I deleted Twitter off my phone I was following the author and it was great fun to see him asking his English fans questions about language usage and parts of London. I’ll have to re-read and do some more googling to see what made it into the book.
While this isn't Gibson's best book, it's still an enjoyable read and I’m hoping for a third in this series.
I received an advance copy for review from NetGalley.
The first half of Agency introduces a number of characters across a world set in the present time (albeit an alternate history) and a future world (which may or may not be based on our timeline). Initially it's somewhat tricky keeping track of them all, but by the time the second half comes around, it's rolling along in a very enjoyable William Gibson style.
The present world storyline centers around Verity, an "App Whisperer”, Eunice an Artificial Intelligence entity (which will bring back memories of WinterMute), and Stets, some sort of generic Silicon Valley Billionaire only not a jerk. There’s a whole back story about Verity and Stets that isn’t expanded on which had me frantically googling to find out what previous Gibson book they had appeared in (none as far as I can tell - but see also the paragraph above where I describe my special superpower).
The other world is set in a very interesting and believable future London, with Russian mobsters, secret service operatives and nanobots making things furiously. Before I deleted Twitter off my phone I was following the author and it was great fun to see him asking his English fans questions about language usage and parts of London. I’ll have to re-read and do some more googling to see what made it into the book.
While this isn't Gibson's best book, it's still an enjoyable read and I’m hoping for a third in this series.
I received an advance copy for review from NetGalley.