“The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
Written in 1984 by William Gibson, ‘Neuromancer‘ is a cyberpunk sci-fi novel about a hacker recruited to infiltrate one of the world’s largest mega corps. The novel invented the idea of the ‘Matrix,’ created the term ‘cyberspace,’ and won the Hugo, Nebula and Phillip K. Dick Awards. You get the picture – it’s a big deal.
The book lives up to the hype. I went in with huge expectations, but also thought ‘hey, this book was written 33 years ago – it won’t really understand technology. They didn’t even have the internet then!’
I was wrong. The story feels like it could’ve been published this year. With his presentation of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the corporation-dominated society of the novel, Gibson’s prediction of the future is spot-on.
I love this novel. This masterwork creates suspense from the first sentence, and keeps it up all the way through.
My rating:
9/10 – an excellent novel!
If you haven’t read ‘Neuromancer,’ read it! Not only will you get a great read, but you’ll learn a bunch about the writing craft. Here are 6 things writers should learn from ‘Neuromancer’:
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If you use a 1-word title, make it unique
90% of the time, one-word titles suck. ‘Room,’ and ‘Gone’ are both great books, but they have horrible titles that:
- Don’t create interest
- Don’t show the author’s creativity
- Don’t make readers intrigued.
Continue reading “6 Things Writers Should Learn from ‘Neuromancer’ by William Gibson”
Jed Herne: Writer 