Gibson*

Take a shot every time Daniel says gibbons

I saw a show where they interviewed Gibson and he talked about how he wrote Neuromancer and the next book on a typewriter. He had never used a computer and assumed them to be far more advanced and magical. So when he did get his first computer and turned it on, he heard a strange noise from it and took it back to the store. There he was told the noise was from the fan. "They use fans? They need to cool? Don't they use like spinning crystals and cold fusion etc?". But he said it was good that he did not know more about computers when he started writing, as that would just have limited his visions. He also mentioned how fans of his books assumed that he was some super cool mega hacker, so once he was in a mall to sign his book and he saw this big biker like dude walk towards him with a very well read and worn copy of Neuromancer. For each step he got closer to William, the man looked more and more disappointed until he was finally there. With a sigh he handed Gibson the book and with sadness in his voice said "I guess you can sign it anyway..."

"The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead station" - Such perfect imagery. I can see it in my head immediately.

Didn't realise Whallian Gibber finally got that new name he was talking about. Good for him.

Inspiration for Cyberpunk 2077? It's the effing inspiration for EVERY cyberpunk story.

'William Gibbons"

One of the best opening lines in literary history, even if it's a little outdated now.

Neuromancer was one of those novels one finds themselves liking while having absolutely no idea what the hell it is about.

aw man, my hair looked TERRIBLE in that photo

'Burning Chrome' is an anthology of some of Gibson's short stories that build up to The Sprawl. If you dig Neuromancer you should track it down.

Hey so that camera angle where we are constantly seeing the side of your face --- I know u r experimenting on the channel but I wasn’t a huge fan of it (Just some feedback). Broke immersion kinda, so that’s just my feelings, but u do what u wanna do

This is one of the most confusing books I've ever read. I felt like there were pages on pages where I didn't even know what tf was happening.😅

Good review Daniel. However, I find the new camera angle jarring which ruins the flow of the video.

William Gibson was one of the greatest forces in changing Sci-fi "after" the new wave

I loved the experience of reading Neuromancer (he writes so darn pretty) but enjoyed the story of Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive even more.

The story kinda reminded me of Nolan's Inception. At the heart of Neuromancer is an elaborate heist but, there's a sci-fi twist. At the beginning the prose was kinda jarring but, by the end I fell in love with it. P. S: "The sky was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel." That one remains as one of the best openers in the sci-fi genre

You hadn't read it?? Honestly I'm kinda jealous because I'd love to discover that universe for the first time again :D It may be cliché for some but the first sentence is etched in my mind as one of the greatest opening in sci-fi, ever. What a great, great book. Gibson is a master.

Note: this was also William Gibson's first full length novel, he'd only done short stories before this

Welcome to the cyberpunk world, chummer.

Cyberpunk 2077 was actually based on Cyberpunk role playing D&D type book

I love Neuromancer and I usually reread it once a year. It was one of the novels that inspired me to be a sci-fi writer. It definitely isn't a perfect book, but so much of it did work for me. This genre is very much my jam. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and hope you'll check out the rest of the Sprawl trilogy and other books of his and the genre.

You've convinced me, I'll have to check it out. If you want more cyberpunk I'd recommend "Akira" (the iconic manga) and some of Moebius' work like "The Long Tomorrow" with author Dan O'Bannon, which supposedly had a big influence on the Blade Runner movie (that said, the later one has better art than story, as is usually the case with Moebius comics).

Multiple angled shots: meh tbh

This book has been on my to-read list since Adam Savage has described it as one of his favorite SciFi books.

Since you liked Neuromancer, will you reveiw the other two Books in the Sprawl Trilogy as well?

I think it would be more accurate to say Neuromancer inspired Mike Pondsmith when he created the Cyberpunk 2013 TTRPG and CDPR was inspired by that to make Cyberpunk 2077.

Hi Daniel, I would just like to say thank you. Given the state of the world at the moment I've been quite down and suffering from mental illness but your videos never fail to cheer me up so thanks :) keep up the great work buddy!👍

Over the years there have been two books given to me by a close friend who just said "Here read this." Both made me reply "Holy shit! Why didn't I read this before now? Thank you." The first was Neuromancer. I immediately bought all of Gibson's other books and have been making my way through them. They haven't disappointed. And what's the second book you ask? Snow Crash.

Reading it when it came out was amazing. There was not really anything like it. One thing, Gibson knew next to nothing about the nuts and bolts of technology. Just wow. This book and Snow Crash seriously rocked my world. And I have read it many times... still great.

Absolutely loved Neuromancer when I read it, and it was so exciting seeing Matrix come to cinema and playing Shadowrun with this book at the back of my mind. Don't forget to read his short story collection "Burning Chrome", those are also very nice

Fun fact: William Gibbons also used to moonlight as a kick-ass guitarist for some Texan band, IIRC...

After the Sprawl Trilogy and Burning Chrome from Gibson last year, I've read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Great (post)cyberpunk, and a big influence for Cyberpunk 2077. Seriously, Cyberpunk 2077 is heavily books-influenced, more than any other media with cyberpunk themes or aesthetics.

The first line something along the lines of "the sky was the color of a dead channels static on tv" perfectly sets the entire time for the whole book. Such an amazing freaking book. I was hoping you'd cover this!!!

The copy of neuromancer that i bought 2 days ago had been in the store for 21 years, so when I first saw this i was like, wait what? Then i remembered 2077, but for a little while the coincidence was wild

As far as books that are somewhat foundational to the genre, I would also check out Snowcrash, by Neil Stephenson. And if you like that, I would also check out Diamond Age from Neil Stephenson, then just read Cryptonomicon, also by Neil Stephenson. Then, moving to a more modern take on Cyberpunk going into post singularity stuff, maybe go to Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge and Accelerado by Charles Stross. And now that you are sick of cyberpunk / sci fi, but want something with some fantasy in it, I recommend the Laundry series by Charles Stross.

I love that you emphasized William Gibson's prose. It's easy to focus on his world-building and genre-defining influence, but I remember reading his books for the first time and being so impressed by his skill with words. The opening phrase in Neuromancer is probably one of the most famous quotes in sci-fi/fantasy writing because it represents how Gibson's writing drips with atmosphere.

I have tried three, maybe four, times to read Neuromancer. For some reason, I'm just having trouble getting into it. Snow Crash, on the other hand, I had no problems with getting into. As several others have already mentioned, it's a great book that you should add to your list. Really, anything by Stephenson is pretty good.

I’ve been waiting for this for a looong time

Watching this makes me excited about the book all over again. Maybe I'll reread it!

Thanks, i'll check it out.

Hopefully you do a postmortem on the whole Sprawl series. They're all so good.

Neuromancer is amazing! Every page I read wanted to know what would happen next! Now one thing ... This is the cover of the Brazilian edition, so are you reading this edition? Because if it is she is incredible! From the cover art to the details of the pages.

I am so happy you reviewed Neuromancer! This is, by far, my favorite book of all time. I read it the first time when I was 13, just a young hacker, and it highly impacted my life. I still read it about once a year. The other two books (Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive) are equally as good IMHO.

I like Neuromancer, but Snow Crash is probably my favorite cyberpunk novel. I’m a sucker for chapter long explanations of Sumerian myths, I guess

Yes 👍 I'm so glad you did this review

you convinced me, i was always curious about this genre and now I know the perfect place to start, I ordered a copy as soon as I finished the video

A year ago I studied in Akita and my professor recommended us to read this book (he even let us borrow it from him) and I somehow managed to miss this opportunity! Now it seems the world is sending me signs to read it (playing Cyberpunk 2077, watching Daniel's video), so I will start it today! *turns on CP2077 soundtrack in the background for atmosphere"

Love your enthusiasm. For someone who read it some 25 years ago, I'm happy that new generations appreciate what is undoubtedly a classic. Try also "The Peripheral", which is pretty much as jaw-dropping in its ideas as Neuromancer was.

I started reading it earlier but I decided to stop since school got crazy busy. I’m even more excited to start it over again. Thanks for the review Daniel.

Thanks for the vid DG! Neuromancer is my favorite book. I've explored it to pretty extreme degrees. It's one of the few works where digging into the actual complications and details reveals more and more, amazing insights and layers. I actually find the characters of Neuromancer to be amazing and endlessly fascinating. Like real creatures plucked from that deep. They're dark, but they live in a cold age. "They told us we wouldn’t dream, in that cold. They told us we’d never feel cold, either. Madness, Molly. Lies. Of course I dreamed."

Oh I'm so hyped for this review! I read Neuromancer in September and recently came to the conclusion that it's definitely my favourite book of the year. Can't believe the things that Gibson got in the eighties!!

The inspiration for Cyberpunk 2077 was the Cyberpunk TTRPG - not this book. Granted, Neuromancer probably influenced the genre as a whole before Pondsmith created the TTRPG, but still. The book you're reviewing is not the direct inspiration for the game that you seem to think it is.

Blew my mind in the 80s. Gibson's collection 'Burning Chrome' is worth a read through as well. Rest of the Sprawl trilogy is ... more polarizing.

Thank you for talking about some of the character and pacing issues with sci-fi as a whole, because I've always had a hard time getting into it for those exact reasons. I feel validated!

Neuromancer is the first book in the Sprawl series. The others are Count Zero (book 2) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (book 3), which are also very good. He also wrote Johnny Neumonic which was turned into a movie and The Difference Engine (with Bruce Sterling). I enjoy Gibson's work quite a bit and am glad you have found him.

I love the balance you add to your reviews; I think it's also important when grading older novels to make a note regarding the context in which they were written. I'm a long time fan of Gibson and I still remember how unique the books were at the time. What made Cyberpunk really pop was the choice to explore the darker tones of Tech instead of the usual default positive outlook. TRON (1982) had just come out and most people didn't have access to a computer; meanwhile Gibson was hanging out at UBC giving him a unique view into the potential of this tech. Gibson helped shape the foundation of Cyberpunk just as Asminov shaped Sci-fi and influenced Neal Stephenson. His 'Snow Crash' (1992) was published pre-internet (1995) and shaped a new meaning for the term 'Avatar'... For a book that's ~35 years old; it's surprisingly relevant when you look at how virtual communities have evolved (Second Life; VR Chat; vTubers etc) Makes me wonder what contemporary authors are envisioning for the 2050s

I love Neuromancer! Glad you enjoyed it! It's definitely one to re-read if you couldn't get the full immersion in the first go. I know there were times during the read where I couldn't see the scene very well. Overall, I would still highly recommend it. If you like BladeRunner (personal fave as well), have you tried to read PKD's "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep"? I'd also recommend watching Akira, if you haven't seen it. I prefer the sub, but dubbed isn't too bad.

I look forward to you doing a deeper dive into Gibson's work. I am older than you, but Gibson had a huge impact on me. I particularly love the Bridge Trilogy. Also a nice guy, and interesting to chat with - I met him once at the record store I used to work at in Vancouver.

Pondsmith actually cited hardwired and Bladerunner as the biggest inspirations for cyberpunk 2013. But Hardwired was only trying to be an actionpacked Neruomancer

Gibson also wrote a great short story collection called Burning Chrome (where the world Cyberspace was first used). Some of the stories are set in the Neuromancer/Sprawl setting too.

Im glad you finally got to read Neuromancer. The Opening Line is one of my favorite Opening lines in book History. The Cyberpunk genre was a HUGE thing around the time I was graduating High school with William Gibson, Walter Willams, And Neal Stephenson being very read amongst my peers, and Billy Idol even releasing an album called Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk 2077 lineage may reach back to Neuromancer at its roots but its direct influence was the Tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020 by Michael Pondsmith which isnt irrelevant in that Pondsmith was a breakthrough Black Voice working in a very White industry. Me and my friends played Cyberpunk 2020 regularly, like any D&D group except we were in Night City instead of Faerun . Good times.

Read this book back when i was in high school in 2005. This book is so significant for the sci fi genre. The way you are explaining the influence of this book over Cyberpunk 2077 is the same way I introduced the book to my friends in 2005, talking about its influence on The Matrix.

Hey Daniel, I think you'll enjoy Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson. For me it feels like a younger cousin to Neuromancer. Similar tropes, themes, and vibes, but done some years later.

Amazed no-one's mentioned it before now, but William GIBSON* famously wrote Neuromancer on a traditional typewriter as he was unfamiliar with computers.

good stuff bro! good balance between informative/hyping review

If you wanna look more into (somewhat) more modern cyberpunk Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson is definitely worth a look. It's still almost 30 years old but a lot of it feels worryingly close to where we are now.

Best of the year review is going to be wild!

"The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel" is still my favorite opening sentence.

I have seen a lot of non-80ies kids not getting the appeal of and the praise for the novel and it's interesting that a young hopper like Daniel loved it so much. I still remember how the story straddled right between "serious" scifi" and hip, cool swagger. How the lyrical prose was used to describe cold hard chrome, circuit boards, technological wonders in service of status and decaying cities.

I'm reading this right now and I can not possibly comprehend what's going on, what the characters are doing and why, but I can vividly imagine what their world looks like. It is the very essence of cyberpunk.

Dude I love your videos. Thanks for what you do. You keep my TBR growing! Haha 😂😭 Now my TBR is never ending.

One of my favorite cyberpunk books for sure. Would love for you to do more Sci-Fi on the channel in general. I think there's a big overlap with readers who enjoy both Fantasy and Sci-fi, so perhaps mix up the content a bit? Anyways, I found your channel this year, and love the content! Big thumbs up, and looking forwards to the new year with more excellent content. Stay safe and stay productive.

I can't believe you hadn't read this before! It's so good!! I've read it a few times, which is not something I do with many books.

I crush the audio book of this pretty regularly. Hands down one of my favorites.

THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY I LOVE THIS BOOK / I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL UUUUH I AM SO HYPED TO WATCH THIS VIDEO !!!!

Great review. Does anyone know where to get a hardcopy with that amazing cover art??

Check out Snow Crash, it is on the fun side of cyberpunk.

You should check out the next two books in the trilogy. Count Zero Mona Lisa Overdrive Mona Lisa is the most accessible of the three books. But all the books are great and have a cool progression and evolution of the world/plot/ideas. It's insane these were written in the 80s.

Nice! I just finished Neuromancer and I 100 % agree with you. I liked it so much halfway through that I also had to get the rest of the Sprawl books. After finishing Future by Gluchovsky I felt that I needed more Cyberpunk so I started with Neuromancer, but it was SO difficult to get into. But once I got it, it became one hell of a ride. Awesome!

Also the inspiration for The Matrix (and where 'the matrix' was invented)! The first fantasy Sci-fi i ever read and what made me realise fantasy could be the best books ever.

Great review of an AWESOME book!

Thank you for this review! I probably wouldn't have found (and subsequently enjoyed) Neuromancer without it.

I think you'd really like Ian McDonald's books like River of Gods, The Dervish House, Necroville or Desolation Road. They are similar to Neuromancer in a sense that they have cyberpunk setting, but it's a cyberpunk with the flavour! It's a cyberpunk but bent by the shape of the culture it emerged in. I won't say more than that to avoid spoilers, but I hope you'll find time one day to check them out! Cheers!

Absofreakinlutely loved this book!! Totally sent me down the Gibson rabbit hole and really got me into Neal Stephenson (via Snow Crash). Daniel, if you haven't read Snow Crash I think you'll really like it!

Awzum rev! Happy New Year!!! 😎👏👏👏👏👏

Oh that's nuts, my dad bought me a copy of Neuromancer for christmas and I'm taking a break from WoT to read it (the slog is real - Crossroads of Twilight is dragging). Absolutely loving Willie Gibbus and his work so far - can't wait to finish it!

I personally think the camera angles should get even more crazy! More avant garde youtube reviews please

This was perfect timing I read this about 10 years ago and I'm currently re-reading it now

I feel like the second camera angle would work better if you used it when you looked at that camera - but that's just me. Love the channel, love the experimenting and noodling, keep doing you.

Hey Daniel, if you use the second camera, you need to use it with purpose. Think of it like a late night show with multiple cameras during the desk segment sans guest. Yes, they use multiple cameras, but the hosts always knows which camera is shooting the shot. When there is a mix up, it's very noticeable and jarring. One suggestion, use it as an aside enhancer. From tonal shifts, personal opinions (just go with it), "footnotes", "appendices", source sighting, or *emphasis.* Yes, that wasn't a sentence, enhance me.

Neuromancer is in my scifi top 5, so thanks for giving this classic some love. If you want to continue your cyberpunk journey then I recommend reading Bruce Sterling's shaper/mech stories (also in my top 5 all-time) that can be found in Schismatrix Plus.

Glad you finally got around to reading it and enjoying it. Was surprised you hadn't read it before. I personally found the next 2 books easier to read. Regarding cyberpunk Keanu plays Johnny Silverhand a dude trapped on a chip stuck in someone's head. He also played one of Gibson's characters Johnny Mnemonic who is an information courier who carries chips in his head. I thought that was interesting

Starting this now, pumped to get my feet wet in a new genre (: Thanks for the push I needed!

Got his latest book at Christmas. Oh boy does he still got it.

I quite enjoyed the atmosphere and the story of the book. But, it was a difficult to read due to the nature of the writing. I normally understand fantasy and science-fiction books, but Neuromancer felt slightly complex! Also, I know there's been Cyberpunk-like books, but I believe this was the main book which kickstarted the Cyberpunk genre into the wider audience.

My Uncle gave me this book shortly after The Matrix came out and it's been one of my favourites since. I would recommend Diamond Age and Snow Crash (both by Neil Stephenson) if you wanting some more great cyberpunk classics,

I know and love cyberpunk from GitS and this is the first I'm hearing of an establishing book for the genre. Really looking forward to digging into this.

Post new wave stuff is amazing, but there's this era of sci-fi right before Sputnik launched that has some hidden treasures. Some of it feels dated, but there's one specifically that hasn't that even Gaiman acknowledges, that being "The Stars My Destination". It's worth a shot

Any thoughts on Philip K. Dick? Prob read about a dozen or so. Don't always love them - but at his best, they're great. Top 3 recommendations: The Man in the High Castle, The 3 stigmata of Palmer Eldrige, and Valis.