Happy birthday, Neuromancer!

[jeffreyab]

William Gibson's groundbreaking novel was published 24 years ago, in paperback original no less.

It coined the word "cyberspace" and spawned the Cyberpunk science fiction movement.

It won the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel and Philip K. Dick award for best original paperback science fiction novel. I found it a mix of conventional structures and archetypes in a very unconventional setting. I found it oddly optimistic in that Earth in the future still supports high technology and a space program with orbital habitats. There are more notes on it here:

http://wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/neuromancer.html

It is also in production as a movie:

http://www.neuromancer.org/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1037220/

Comments

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I found it oddly optimistic in that Earth in the future

Is Neuromancer's set in a year we would think of as the future?

still supports high technology and a space program with orbital habitats.

Well, the case for orbital habitats in the short run was very overstated back then but isn't a more sensible way of looking at things to say that books where Earth doesn't still support high technology are pessimistic rather than the default?

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

When I first read it, it was set in my future, now not so much.

Some low tech books are considered utopian in the humanity living in harmony with nature sort of sense. Biotech and/or psychic powers dominate.

[unclewillie.livejournal.com]

Just got done re-reading that, and finally picked up "Burning Chrome"