What Comes Beyond Neuromancer

Rest assured, there is more to metaversal fiction than the works of William Gibson. Not that I'm complaining about Mr Gibson's work in any way. Neuromancer and Count Zero have been two pieces of fiction that I've enjoyed very much. It has influenced my opinions on many things, biosoft/microsoft, and the origins of cyberspace. It is what allows me to enjoy Black Ice so much. It's just that I'm trying to build on continuity with my writing here, and so linear travel seemed logical.

The second of Gibson's Sprawl books is no less enjoyable than the first. It takes place after the first book, which means you get to see the fruits of Molly and Case's actions. This alone makes Count Zero a worthwhile read. The dominos were poised so perfectly at the end of Neuromancer to fall into place. What place? We had no way to know but things start to reveal themselves and it's rather rewarding. The fragments of AI and the way that they integrate to their newfound "life" are a very entertaining spin on machine sentience.

I reached a personal conclusion after my second read of Count Zero, and it's what I feel best sums up the book: it feels like the most excellent fan fiction ever. It feels as if a master fan, one with imagination and excellent wordcraft, decided to pick up the pen where Gibson left off and paint new pictures in his Sprawl world. The introspection and character definition feels good, and the world-building qualities that I enjoyed so much in Neuromancer are still there, but it feels like a love-letter to that world. Not a complaint really. I remember reading somewhere that Gibson didn't really want to continue in that world, which is why he chooses to state that Case never saw Molly again. Not sure if that's the case, but if so it makes a lot of sense to me. It's almost as if he chose to reflect on his first work in a new and different way. That's exactly what Count Zero feels like.

It you like projected future-cultures, in-orbit space travel, espionage, black ops missions, and all the biosoft goodness of Neruomancer: check out Count Zero. It is an enjoyable read, and a well told story.

Beginning at the Beginning

Fiction becomes a problem from the perspective of the reactionalist because it is, by it's very nature, a medium that requires an informed individual to read, understand, and react to it. Here is my attempt to encapsulate my reaction to Neuromancer, by William Gibson.

When Neuromancer began I was faced with a dated projection of life in our modern age. I, as a modern viewer, am able to view Gibson's writing through the lens of the modern technologist which allows a certain amount of perspective. If I were closed minded I might have used this to color his projection of modern life, but instead I noticed quite poignantly how wonderful Gibson's thoughts about modern culture would prove to be. His assessment of the modern "cowboy" tech was fascinating, which lead me into the meat of his work.

I need to comment predominantly on Gibson's origination of the "cyber-space" concept as we think of it modernly. His ideas laid the ground-work for modern metaversalism and everything that goes with it. The way that Case handles his deck is an absolute precursor to modern metaversalist fiction. The digital world that the cowboys of cyberspace spend their time in is inspirational, with their critical contact with AI's and combative defense programs laying the groundwork for Otherland's agent's and Snow Crash's antivirus software.

From the standpoints of storytelling Gibson's story has everything that a technological fiction enthusiast would want, biohacking, digital worlds, sophisticated AIs, space travel, schizophrenic team members, and lots of mind altering substances. As a fan on metaversalist fiction I have to state that William Gibson's Neuromancer is the logical starting place.