Horror Book Reviews
|
Title: Neuromancer |
|
Review of Neuromancer
- Case was the best interface cowboy who ever ran in earth's computer matrix. Then he doublecrossed the wrong people...
Winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards.
Book Description
- Here is the novel that started it all, launching the cyberpunk generation, and the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. With Neuromancer, William Gibson introduced the world to cyberspace--and science fiction has never been the same.
Case was the hottest computer cowboy cruising the information superhighway--jacking his consciousness into cyberspace, soaring through tactile lattices of data and logic, rustling encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a second chance--and a cure--for a price....
Amazon.com
[ Back to Homepage | Back to Horror Movie Reviews Index ]
HellHorror.com not responsible for reviews/comments and they may be removed at any time.
Submit Comment
Login / Join/Register for a free account
Comments for Neuromancer
- Posted on 2008-09-03
Lives up to the hype
Okay, now I understand what all the fuss is about. Gibson creates a vivd and engrossing world, entirely believable despite being so fantastic, and does so with a daring, sharp prose style that makes no apologies for bowling forward and leaving slow readers behind. He never holds you by the hand. Never indulges in overt descriptions and filling in all the blanks. It's just quick, cutting, laced with attitude, and on the edge of danger. This was fantastic stuff. Astonishing that this was his first novel. Thankfully I have another Gibson or two on my shelf; I'll certainly be reading them in the near future.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-08-22
Still Good After All These Years
I first read Gibson's "Neuromancer" when it first came out (about 24 years ago) and really enjoyed it. I just finished reading it again, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it's weathered the intervening decades very well. This book created a genre by envisioning a wired world when, at the time, microcomputer's barely existed and ARPANET hadn't even started the move away from the Defense/Academic community to become the internet. It's truly amazing that such a book is still worthwhile today. It does have some minor problems with the characters and pacing, but those are insignificant compared to its historical significance. I rate it at a Very Good four stars out of five.
Score: 4 - Posted on 2008-07-17
Forced my way through half of it then gave up
I think I am a pretty intelligent and well read guy. I am a fan of a variety of different types of SF, but this book simply didn't work for me. I've seen people who are obvious fans of this book lambaste the one-star reviewer in the comments section saying they must be semi-literate, inbred NASCAR fans if they didn't like this book. To you people I say, "Grow up." I'll stack my IQ up against yours any day.
Like many other one star reviews, I point to the heavy usage of unexplained jargon. More importantly, however, is that the book is so disjointed that it is difficult to determine precisely what is taking place at any given time. Is there a plot? I couldn't figure this out and after forcing myself to read half the book I decided that life was too short and set it aside.
Peter Hamilton is an SF writer who does a good job of creating futuristic technologies and presenting them in a way that the reader gets it and becomes immersed in the world he creates. I simply could not get into Gibson's world. I'm not sure I would want to.
I understand this book launched the Cyberpunk movement. Excuse me my ignorance, but I guess I don't really understand what Cyberpunk is. If this is it, then I'll happily steer clear. Give me a good John Varley book any day.
If you want to read an excellent SF story that shows a fantastical future with bizarre implications of powerful AI, then check out Varley's Steel Beach. I cannot recommend it enough.
Score: 1
- Posted on 2008-07-12
Cyberpunk or cyberjunk?
I found this book to be horrendous, if not outright painful. Perhaps the cyberpunk genre isn't my bag, but considering that my trade currently is (and has been for almost a decade now) computer programming, it should warrant a greater appreciation for the technical aspects of the novel. Unfortunately, the ideas within Neuromancer were so far fetched that it just came off as cartoonish.
In my opinion, Gibson awkwardly complicates ideas/vocabulary, in an attempt to show off erudition in technology and history, but comes off as pseudointellectual and immature. The style offers little payoff (if any) when the definition of terms manifest in later chapters and distracts from an already weak premise. The detective elements offered a hint of something to come, but the incongruous jargon and unlikeable characters left much to be desired.
I have to admit it that Neuromancer is the first fictional book (out of hundreds) I wasn't able to see to the end. I read 174 pages out of 270, and threw in the towel. Granted, Gibson occasional offered descriptive imagery which many tout poetic. Despite this, it took everything I had just to finish chapter after trite chapter, finding that with each completed page I was farther and farther away from an enjoyable plot.
Score: 1 - Posted on 2008-06-08
Not worth the hype, but worth the read.
While I did enjoy the book, it wasn't anywhere the world's greatest novel that many seem to say it is. The plot was shallow, the characters were decent but also a little shallow. The world was an ok futuristic setting, defiantly fits as a cyberpunk genre.
The book is a little confusing, many of the aspects are never really explained. And the ending was a build to something great and then just fizzled out. But even with that being said I defiantly would recommend reading it because it's a ok novel.
Score: 3
