I’ve seen a good bit of William Gibson in the press due to his newest novel, Zero History, hitting the stores on Sept. 7. I’ve read one of his novels and some of his short fiction. I’ve not read Neuromancer, but it’s on my list. Here is an interview with Gibson where he talks about where he gets ideas, where he lives, and having genuine 21st century material with which to work rather than having to make it up. Dig the coffee mugs on the table in front of Gibson.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIOvyCR-BSo]
I haven’t read Neuromancer either. The only book by Gibson I have read was Spook Country some months ago and thought it was good, though I haven’t been as compelled to read Pattern Recognition and now Zero History, which are part of a trilogy. But I’ll definitely keep them on my radar.
I need to get up to speed with Mr. Gibson’s more recent stuff. What was it about Spook Country that didn’t work for you?
I think what happened with Spook Country was that the hype it had received set me up to expect to be blown away. I also didn’t know before hand that Gibson was writing more about present day technology, or about the science fiction-ness of present day technology. That idea that we’re already living in the future, in the present wasn’t there. It wasn’t bad, but it just felt it was more like an average thriller.
The dreaded hype machine. It seems every time I succumb to the hype, I’m disappointed. Thank god for recommendations. The most precious experience is finding a book and going in with no expectations. It’s rare, but when it happens, the story unfolds with no baggage. I would recommend checking out Burning Chrome collection of short stories for a sampling of WG.