Neuromancer by William Gibson

I first came across Neuromancer while I was researching classic science fiction novels for my Classics Club list. I hadn't really heard of it before, but I noticed right away that it had an impressive pedigree. It was the first science fiction novel ever to win all three of the genre's major awards: the Nebula, the Hugo, and the Philip K. Dick. It is also considered the archetypal cyberpunk work, and is credited with bringing this gritty, technological subgenre into the mainstream. So, even though it was published more recently than most of the other books on my list (1984), I decided to consider it a classic for my purposes and give it a go.

The plot centers around Henry Case, a washed up computer hacker living in a futuristic, crime-ridden city in Japan. His glory days of jacking into cyberspace and hacking advanced systems are long over; he crossed the wrong man and was abruptly kicked out of the business. Now he scrapes by committing low-level crimes around the city and drugging himself into oblivion. This changes, however, when he is approached by a mysterious man named Armitage who wants to recruit him for a hacking job.

Armitage is extremely vague on the details of what he wants him to do, and doesn't give him a choice as to whether he wants in on the scheme or not. Using a mixture of physical violence and threats, he forces him onto his team, which also includes a street samurai with high-tech silver lenses for eyes named Molly, a digital version of a long-dead hacker named Flatline, and a thief that can create holographic projections named Peter. Each member of the team was included against their will, and each have special skills that will be required in the course of the job. It's not exactly a chummy team, in other words, but it is a talented one.

Eventually, Case comes to realize that the job he is on has to do with freeing up an Artificial Intelligence program named Wintermute from the protective constraints placed on it. There are strict protocols in this world for how much an AI is allowed to do, and Case's job will be to liberate Wintermute so that it can do whatever it wants. What, exactly, it wants to do is anyone's guess, but Case doesn't have much time to wonder about the implications of his act. The timing of the job is tight, and involves lots of action, technological sneakiness, and teamwork. Figuring out exactly how to pull everything off properly and come out of the job alive is a near-impossible feat, but he has no choice but to try. Neuromancer is the story of this attempt.

I really liked this book, but it was absolutely bonkers. Gibson's writing drops you directly into his futuristic world, with very little background to help you put events into the proper context. The action starts up right away, and you have to just figure things out as you go. The current political structure, social order, and technological advances of his universe are left largely unexplained, with only short references throughout the text to help you get a sense of the setting. This had the effect of making everything feel quick and urgent, like I was rushing to fill in the missing details as I read. As a big fan of science fiction, I think I did okay interpreting the world, but readers unused to cyberpunk tropes might struggle a little.

That being said, the world I imagined was slick and dirty. The cities in Neuromancer are full of crime and drugs, the people are enhanced with plastic surgeries and technological implants, and the internet has become a real place that the savvy can wander around in. Space travel is commonplace, robot drones prowl the streets, and, somehow, samurais and ninjas are available for hire. It's a world that feels dangerous, like too much is possible. This serves as an excellent backdrop to a plot concerning high-tech capers and the possibility of an AI obtaining unchecked abilities.

The plot itself was fast-paced and engaging. It is full of weird, quirky things that definitely made me pause, reread, and think a bunch of times. I enjoyed trying to dig down into all the unanswered questions and figure out why things were happening and who was ultimately behind them. The supporting characters were very unique and fun to try and visualize. I was especially fond of Molly, with her samurai skills and silver lenses for eyes. She kicked a lot of butt and remained deliciously inscrutable. The only character that I thought wasn't particularly interesting was the protagonist, Case. Since Neuromancer is so plot-driven, and the action picks up right away, I felt like his characterization was a little bland. This wasn't enough of a problem to affect my overall enjoyment of the novel though. It was still a good time.

Neuromancer is book one of the Sprawl Trilogy, and after I finished reading it, I ordered the other novels right away. I'm really interested to see what happens next in this world, disorienting and crazy as it is. Ultimately, I'm very glad that I chose to include this book on my Classics Club list. It's one of those reads that feels foundational to the genre. I could recognize a lot of the ideas in it from other sci-fi I've gotten into over the years, so I feel good about labeling it as a classic. This read was definitely a success for me! 


Challenge Tally
Classics Club (#50 on my list): 41/100 

Total Books Read in 2019: 16