Neuromancer: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1984 science fiction novel by William Gibson}} | {{Short description|1984 science fiction novel by William Gibson}} | ||
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{{Other uses}} | {{Other uses}} | ||
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| author = [[William Gibson]] | | author = [[William Gibson]] | ||
| language = English | | language = English | ||
| series = [[Sprawl trilogy]] | | series = [[Sprawl trilogy]] | ||
| genre = [[Science fiction]] ([[cyberpunk]]) | | genre = [[Science fiction]] ([[cyberpunk]]) | ||
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}} | }} | ||
'''''Neuromancer''''' is a 1984 [[science fiction]] novel by American-Canadian author [[William Gibson]]. Set in a near-future [[dystopia]], the narrative follows Case, a computer [[hacker]] enlisted into a crew by a powerful [[artificial intelligence]] and a traumatised former soldier to complete a high-stakes heist. It was Gibson's debut novel and, | '''''Neuromancer''''' is a 1984 [[science fiction]] novel by American-Canadian author [[William Gibson]]. Set in a near-future [[dystopia]], the narrative follows Case, a computer [[hacker]] enlisted into a crew by a powerful [[artificial intelligence]] and a traumatised former soldier to complete a high-stakes heist. It was Gibson's debut novel and, after its success, served as the first entry in the [[Sprawl trilogy]], followed by ''[[Count Zero]]'' (1986) and ''[[Mona Lisa Overdrive]]'' (1988). | ||
Gibson had primarily written [[countercultural]] short stories for science-fiction periodicals before ''Neuromancer''. Influences on the novel include the detective stories of [[Raymond Chandler]], the comic art of [[Jean Giraud]], and [[William S. Burroughs]]'s ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' (1959). ''Neuromancer'' expanded and popularised the setting and concepts of an earlier Gibson story, "[[Burning Chrome]]" (1981), which introduced [[cyberspace]]—a digital space traversable by humans—and "jacking in", a bio-mechanical method of interfacing with computers. | Gibson had primarily written [[countercultural]] short stories for science-fiction periodicals before ''Neuromancer''. Influences on the novel include the detective stories of [[Raymond Chandler]], the comic art of [[Jean Giraud]], and [[William S. Burroughs]]'s ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' (1959). ''Neuromancer'' expanded and popularised the setting and concepts of an earlier Gibson story, "[[Burning Chrome]]" (1981), which introduced [[cyberspace]]—a digital space traversable by humans—and "jacking in", a bio-mechanical method of interfacing with computers. | ||
''Neuromancer'' is | ''Neuromancer'' is a foundational work of early [[cyberpunk]], although critics differ on whether the novel ignited the genre or if it was lifted by its inevitable rise. They agree it highlighted the genre's key features, like the placement of technological advancement against societal decay and criminality. Gibson's novel also defined the major conventions and terminology of the genre—cyberspace, jacking in, and [[Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics|Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics]] (ICE). Critics discuss the novel in the historical context of the 1970s and 1980s, a period marked by [[conservatism]], [[deregulation]], and [[free-market economics]]. | ||
''Neuromancer'' was released without significant hype but became an underground hit through [[word of mouth]]. Following release, it received critical acclaim and transformed the science-fiction genre. Mainstream recognition raised Gibson from relative obscurity. It remains the first and only novel to win the [[Hugo Award for Best Novel|Hugo Award]] | ''Neuromancer'' was released without significant hype but became an underground hit through [[word of mouth]]. Following release, it received critical acclaim and transformed the science-fiction genre. Mainstream recognition raised Gibson from relative obscurity. It remains the first and only novel to win all three of the [[Hugo Award for Best Novel|Hugo Award]], the [[Nebula Award for Best Novel|Nebula Award]] for Best Novel, and the [[Philip K. Dick Award]]. It has been regarded as a classic work of the cyberpunk genre and, in 2005, was named one of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'s}} All-Time 100 Novels. | ||
== Background == | == Background == | ||
=== Author and composition === | === Author and composition === | ||
[[File:Uncle_Gibby.jpg|thumb| | [[File:Uncle_Gibby.jpg|thumb|upright|Gibson in 2007 ]] | ||
In 1981, | In 1981, [[William Gibson]] worked as a teaching assistant at his alma mater, the [[University of British Columbia]]. In the same year, his [[Nebula Award]]-nominated short story "[[Johnny Mnemonic]]" introduced one of ''Neuromancer''{{'s}} main characters, [[Molly Millions|Molly]].{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=11}} "Johnny Mnemonic" infused elements of crime fiction, like marginalised communities and criminal society, with technology, blurring the boundary of human and machine.{{Sfn|Miller|2016|p=41}} The setting of the Sprawl and the concept of [[cyberspace]] first appeared in [[Omni (magazine)|''Omni'']] the following year in his short story "[[Burning Chrome]]",{{Sfn|Miller|2016|p=4}} and were popularised by ''Neuromancer''.{{Sfn|McFarlane|Murphy|Schmeink|2020|p=1}} Later in 1981, Gibson was commissioned to write a novel by science-fiction editor [[Terry Carr]] for his second series of [[Ace Science Fiction Specials]]; he submitted an outline later that year with the working title ''Jacked In'', eventually renaming it ''Neuromancer''.{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=12}}{{Efn|This change was at his publisher's suggestion, hoping to avoid the sexual connotation of the phrase "jacking off".{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=12}}}} Gibson did not understand computing or networking in much detail, primarily wanting the shared vocabulary surrounding the topics.{{Sfn|Cavallaro |2000|p=70}} | ||
The novel underwent considerable revision, with Gibson saying he rewrote the first two-thirds twelve times to ensure there was both stylistic consistency and a "vaguely plausible" plot.{{Sfn|McCaffery|1991|p=271}} Gibson's sought to eliminate "clunk", contracting his prose to ensure "individual parts carry more weight". He did not write the novel with a concrete outline, or initially know how it would end,{{Sfn|McCaffery|1991|p=272}} writing the novel in "blind animal panic" because he thought it would fail if he did not hold the reader's attention.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=2}} Gibson added the novel's final sentence ("He never saw Molly again.") to prevent himself from writing a sequel.{{Sfn|Gibson|2003}}{{Efn|Molly appears in the ''Sprawl'' trilogy's third entry, ''[[Mona Lisa Overdrive]]'', reporting that Case retired and married.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=9}}}} | The novel underwent considerable revision, with Gibson saying he rewrote the first two-thirds twelve times to ensure there was both stylistic consistency and a "vaguely plausible" plot.{{Sfn|McCaffery|1991|p=271}} Gibson's sought to eliminate "clunk", contracting his prose to ensure "individual parts carry more weight". He did not write the novel with a concrete outline, or initially know how it would end,{{Sfn|McCaffery|1991|p=272}} writing the novel in "blind animal panic" because he thought it would fail if he did not hold the reader's attention.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=2}} Gibson added the novel's final sentence ("He never saw Molly again.") to prevent himself from writing a sequel.{{Sfn|Gibson|2003}}{{Efn|Molly appears in the ''Sprawl'' trilogy's third entry, ''[[Mona Lisa Overdrive]]'', reporting that Case retired and married.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=9}}}} | ||
=== Inspiration === | === Inspiration === | ||
''Neuromancer'' has many literary progenitors. Detective fiction, like the work of [[Raymond Chandler]], is frequently cited as an influence on ''Neuromancer.'' For example, critics note similarities between Gibson's Case and Chandler's [[Philip Marlowe]]: Case is described as a "cowboy" and a "detective" and is involved in a heist;{{Sfn|Nazare|2003|p=386}} Molly, the novel's primary female character, has connections to the "molls" of 1940s [[film noir]].{{Sfn|McCaffery|1991|pp=14–15}} Case's illegal practices, like theft and murder, situate him within a wider tradition of transgressive detectives, like the [[opiate]] addiction of [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s [[Sherlock Holmes]].{{Sfn|Myers|2001|p=889}} Gibson stated that the [[pulp noir]] core of the novel was key to engaging his readers, and cited the works of [[Dashiell Hammett]] and [[Robert Stone (novelist)|Robert Stone]] as major influences on its style.{{Sfn|Wallace-Wells|2014|p=215}}{{Efn|Robert Stone's work is associated with settings that included great social turbulence, most famously the Vietnam War.{{Sfn|Weber|2015}}}} For dialogue, the author incorporated late 1960s [[Toronto]] drug dealer and [[Motorcycle club|biker]] [[slang]] into the novel.{{Sfn|Whalen|1992|p=86}} | ''Neuromancer'' has many literary progenitors. Detective fiction, like the work of [[Raymond Chandler]], is frequently cited as an influence on ''Neuromancer.'' For example, critics note similarities between Gibson's Case and Chandler's [[Philip Marlowe]]: Case is described as a "cowboy" and a "detective" and is involved in a heist;{{Sfn|Nazare|2003|p=386}} Molly, the novel's primary female character, has connections to the "[[Gun moll#In fiction|molls]]" of 1940s [[film noir]].{{Sfn|McCaffery|1991|pp=14–15}} Case's illegal practices, like theft and murder, situate him within a wider tradition of transgressive detectives, like the [[opiate]] addiction of [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s [[Sherlock Holmes]].{{Sfn|Myers|2001|p=889}} Gibson stated that the [[pulp noir]] core of the novel was key to engaging his readers, and cited the works of [[Dashiell Hammett]] and [[Robert Stone (novelist)|Robert Stone]] as major influences on its style.{{Sfn|Wallace-Wells|2014|p=215}}{{Efn|Robert Stone's work is associated with settings that included great social turbulence, most famously the Vietnam War.{{Sfn|Weber|2015}}}} For dialogue, the author incorporated late 1960s [[Toronto]] drug dealer and [[Motorcycle club|biker]] [[slang]] into the novel.{{Sfn|Whalen|1992|p=86}} Gibson imagined the novel's time frame as the 2030s but purposefully omitted explicit dates; he said the novel, and its sequels, were written to reflect the 1980s.{{Sfn|Gibson|2012|p=45}} | ||
Gibson's prose style—fast-paced, fragmented imagery—resembles the styles of [[William S. Burroughs]] and [[J. G. Ballard]].{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=12}} Burroughs's ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' (1959) is frequently cited by critics as an influence on ''Neuromancer'',{{Sfn|Wood|1996|p=11}} including by one as its "principal source", as a literary predecessor of Gibson's "cyberspace".{{Sfn|Wood|1996|p=11}} Gibson's conception of cyberspace was compared by [[Samuel R. Delany]] to [[Roger Zelazny]]'s early short stories; Delany and other critics have explored the character of Molly as a development on the cyborg assassin of [[Joanna Russ]]'s ''[[The Female Man]]'' (1975).{{Sfn|Latham|2020|p=8}}{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|pp=10–11}}{{Efn|According to Latham, Delany comments that Gibson appeared "blind to any mention" of discussions on the matter.}} | Gibson's prose style—fast-paced, fragmented imagery—resembles the styles of [[William S. Burroughs]] and [[J. G. Ballard]].{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=12}} Burroughs's ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' (1959) is frequently cited by critics as an influence on ''Neuromancer'',{{Sfn|Wood|1996|p=11}} including by one as its "principal source", as a literary predecessor of Gibson's "cyberspace".{{Sfn|Wood|1996|p=11}} Gibson's conception of cyberspace was compared by [[Samuel R. Delany]] to [[Roger Zelazny]]'s early short stories; Delany and other critics have explored the character of Molly as a development on the cyborg assassin of [[Joanna Russ]]'s ''[[The Female Man]]'' (1975).{{Sfn|Latham|2020|p=8}}{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|pp=10–11}}{{Efn|According to Latham, Delany comments that Gibson appeared "blind to any mention" of discussions on the matter.{{Sfn|Latham|2020|p=8}}}} | ||
Visual media likewise impacted the style of ''Neuromancer''. Gibson has repeatedly mentioned the artwork of the 1970s French magazine [[Métal hurlant|''Métal Hurlant'']],{{Sfn|Gibson|De Haven|Jensen|1989}} with critics noting the proto-cyberpunk aesthetic of [[Jean Giraud|Jean "Moebius" Giraud]]'s "The Long Tomorrow" (1976), republished in the American ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' magazine in 1977.{{Sfn|Higgins|Iung|2020|p=91}} [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[Escape from New York]]'' (1981) influenced Gibson's approach to world-building, pointing to throwaway lines that suggested much about the film's world and its history beyond the narrative itself.{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=42}} Upon seeing [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982), Gibson worried readers would think he had copied the film's "fine visual texture".{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=42}} Gibson wrote in his introduction to the graphic novel of ''Neuromancer'' that ''Blade Runner'' was not a conscious influence;{{Sfn|Gibson|De Haven|Jensen|1989}} in a later interview, he recounted a lunch with Scott where they both acknowledged a shared debt to Moebius's work in ''Métal Hurlant''.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=16}} | Visual media likewise impacted the style of ''Neuromancer''. Gibson has repeatedly mentioned the artwork of the 1970s French magazine [[Métal hurlant|''Métal Hurlant'']],{{Sfn|Gibson|De Haven|Jensen|1989}} with critics noting the proto-cyberpunk aesthetic of [[Jean Giraud|Jean "Moebius" Giraud]]'s "[[The Long Tomorrow (comics)|The Long Tomorrow]]" (1976), republished in the American ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' magazine in 1977.{{Sfn|Higgins|Iung|2020|p=91}} [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[Escape from New York]]'' (1981) influenced Gibson's approach to world-building, pointing to throwaway lines that suggested much about the film's world and its history beyond the narrative itself.{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=42}} Upon seeing [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982), Gibson worried readers would think he had copied the film's "fine visual texture".{{Sfn|Smith|2014|p=42}} Gibson wrote in his introduction to the graphic novel of ''Neuromancer'' that ''Blade Runner'' was not a conscious influence;{{Sfn|Gibson|De Haven|Jensen|1989}} in a later interview, he recounted a lunch with Scott where they both acknowledged a shared debt to Moebius's work in ''Métal Hurlant''.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=16}} | ||
==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
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In [[Istanbul]], the team recruits Peter Riviera, a [[Psychopathy|sociopathic]] thief and drug addict. The trail leads Case to Wintermute, an artificial intelligence created by the eccentric Tessier-Ashpool family. The Tessier-Ashpools spend their time in rotating [[cryonic]] preservation in their home, the Villa Straylight. The Villa is located on Freeside, a [[O'Neill cylinder|cylindrical space habitat]] which functions as a [[Las Vegas Strip|Las Vegas]]-style space resort for the wealthy. | In [[Istanbul]], the team recruits Peter Riviera, a [[Psychopathy|sociopathic]] thief and drug addict. The trail leads Case to Wintermute, an artificial intelligence created by the eccentric Tessier-Ashpool family. The Tessier-Ashpools spend their time in rotating [[cryonic]] preservation in their home, the Villa Straylight. The Villa is located on Freeside, a [[O'Neill cylinder|cylindrical space habitat]] which functions as a [[Las Vegas Strip|Las Vegas]]-style space resort for the wealthy. | ||
Wintermute reveals itself to Case and explains that it is one half of a super-[[Artificial intelligence|AI]] entity planned by the family. It is programmed with a need to merge with its other half, Neuromancer, but because of the severe restrictions placed on AI programs by the Turing Registry, it cannot achieve this on its own. It has manipulated and recruited Armitage and his team to bring it into contact with Neuromancer, access to which is physically secured within the Villa Straylight. Case is tasked with entering cyberspace to pierce the software barriers around Neuromancer with an [[Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics|icebreaker]] program. Riviera is to obtain the password to the physical terminal from Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool, the only member of the family awake and at the Villa. | Wintermute reveals itself to Case and explains that it is one half of a super-[[Artificial intelligence|AI]] entity planned by the family. It is programmed with a need to merge with its other half, Neuromancer, but because of the severe restrictions placed on AI programs by the Turing Registry, it cannot achieve this on its own. It has manipulated and recruited Armitage and his team to bring it into contact with Neuromancer, access to which is physically secured within the Villa Straylight. Case is tasked with entering cyberspace to pierce the software barriers around Neuromancer with an [[Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics|icebreaker]] program. Riviera is to obtain the password to the physical terminal from Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool, the only member of the family awake and at the Villa. The group solicits help from a rastafarian cluster on board Freeside, living in a separate area they call Zion. | ||
Armitage's personality starts to disintegrate and he begins to believe he is back in Screaming Fist. It is revealed that Wintermute had originally contacted Corto through a computer during his psychotherapy, during which time he manipulated Corto to create the Armitage persona. As Corto breaks through, he becomes violently unstable and Wintermute ejects him into space. | Armitage's personality starts to disintegrate and he begins to believe he is back in Screaming Fist. It is revealed that Wintermute had originally contacted Corto through a computer during his psychotherapy, during which time he manipulated Corto to create the Armitage persona. As Corto breaks through, he becomes violently unstable and Wintermute ejects him into space. | ||
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While logged into cyberspace, Case glimpses Neuromancer standing in the distance with Linda Lee, and himself. He also hears inhuman laughter, which suggests that Pauley still lives. The sighting implies that Neuromancer created a copy of Case's consciousness, which now exists in cyberspace with those of Linda and Pauley. | While logged into cyberspace, Case glimpses Neuromancer standing in the distance with Linda Lee, and himself. He also hears inhuman laughter, which suggests that Pauley still lives. The sighting implies that Neuromancer created a copy of Case's consciousness, which now exists in cyberspace with those of Linda and Pauley. | ||
== | == Context and interpretation == | ||
=== Political and economic === | === Political and economic === | ||
''Neuromancer'', its sequels and other cyberpunk stories are often discussed within the socio-economic context of the 1980s, a period of economic restructuring,{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|pp=90–91}}{{Sfn|Rieder|2020|p=338}} corporate globalization,{{Sfn|O'Connell|2020|p=287-286}} and government deregulation.{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=82-83}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=89}} In the 1990s, a particularly influential view was that the novel reflected the "dilemmas of [[Post-Fordism|post-Fordist]] work and life",{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=94}} with Gibson reflecting or recreating the societal change brought on by the economic and industrial changes of the 1970s and 1980s.{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|pp=93–94}} Cyberspace's reliance on the circulation of data can be understood as a metaphor for the global circulation of [[financial capital]],{{Sfn|O'Connell|2020|p=287-286}}{{Sfn|Bould|2010|p=120}} and its [[addictiveness]] parodies the culture of [[Workaholic|workaholism]] among [[Silicon Valley]] developers.{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}} His protagonists have been identified as resembling contract workers,{{Sfn|Rieder|2020|p=338}} with Case dependent on [[diazepam]] to cope with the barrage of "relentless and fragmented data [and] get through the workday".{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=90}} The novel's characters represent the [[professional–managerial class]] and the novel was popular with the demographic.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=103}}{{Sfn|Strombeck|2010|pp=278–279}} | ''Neuromancer'', its sequels and other cyberpunk stories are often discussed within the socio-economic context of the 1980s, a period of economic restructuring,{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|pp=90–91}}{{Sfn|Rieder|2020|p=338}} corporate globalization,{{Sfn|O'Connell|2020|p=287-286}} and government deregulation.{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=82-83}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=89}} In the 1990s, a particularly influential view was that the novel reflected the "dilemmas of [[Post-Fordism|post-Fordist]] work and life",{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=94}} with Gibson reflecting or recreating the societal change brought on by the economic and industrial changes of the 1970s and 1980s.{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|pp=93–94}} Cyberspace's reliance on the circulation of data can be understood as a metaphor for the global circulation of [[financial capital]],{{Sfn|O'Connell|2020|p=287-286}}{{Sfn|Bould|2010|p=120}} and its [[addictiveness]] parodies the culture of [[Workaholic|workaholism]] among [[Silicon Valley]] developers.{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}} His protagonists have been identified as resembling contract workers,{{Sfn|Rieder|2020|p=338}} with Case dependent on [[diazepam]] to cope with the barrage of "relentless and fragmented data [and] get through the workday".{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=90}} The novel's characters represent the [[professional–managerial class]] and the novel was popular with the demographic.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=103}}{{Sfn|Strombeck|2010|pp=278–279}} | ||
While the novel represents anxiety about societal change, it is not generally viewed as being about resisting it. Gibson's protagonists do not threaten the social order of his worlds.{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|pp=92–93}} Corporations view the novel's freelance criminal protagonists as another tool at their disposal.{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}} Gibson's inexperience as an author led to the novel capturing the essence of 1980s inequality but reinforcing and appealing to the dominant power structure, | While the novel represents anxiety about societal change, it is not generally viewed as being about resisting it. Gibson's protagonists do not threaten the social order of his worlds.{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|pp=92–93}} Corporations view the novel's freelance criminal protagonists as another tool at their disposal.{{Sfn|Rosenthal|1991|p=99}} Gibson's inexperience as an author led to the novel capturing the essence of 1980s inequality but reinforcing and appealing to the dominant power structure, leaving his "dead-cynicism [and] fashionable survival".{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=94}} Caroline Alphin writes that human life is worth whatever it is worth to an employer.{{Sfn|Alphin|2021|p=26}} After his nervous system is damaged and he loses his ability to work as a hacker, Case must murder people for money to replenish his [[human capital]] because of [[Chiba (city)|Chiba City]]'s [[Neoliberalism|neoliberalist]] order; Caroline Alpin describes this death in the novel as "failure to maximise one's human capital".{{Sfn|Alphin|2021|p=27}} The novel shows that human minds can be saved to [[read-only memory]], preserving deceased or unwilling people's technical skills for at-will use by corporations.{{Sfn|Alphin|2021|p=26}} | ||
=== Technological === | === Technological === | ||
Gibson's generation was the first to write science fiction at a time when the genre's concepts were becoming part of daily life.{{Sfn|McCaffery1991|p=12}} Gibson recognised, and benefitted from, the growing public fascination with the evolving technology landscape,{{Sfn|Omry|2022|p=69}} and used these concerns to "create an entire cultural vocabulary",{{Sfn|Omry|2022|p=69}} merging the language of human experience with the electronic.{{Sfn|Csiscery-Ronay, Jr.|1991|p=190}}{{Efn|"drugs and sex [...] turn you on, you get a buzz, you get wired, you space out, you go on automatic."{{Sfn|Csiscery-Ronay, Jr.|1991|p=190}}}} Bruce Sterling relates the cyborg to the increasing use of technology that directly interfaces with the human body, citing [[contact lenses]] and the [[Walkman|Sony Walkman]].{{Sfn|Sterling|1986|p=8}} | Gibson's generation was the first to write science fiction at a time when the genre's concepts were becoming part of daily life.{{Sfn|McCaffery1991|p=12}} Gibson recognised, and benefitted from, the growing public fascination with the evolving technology landscape,{{Sfn|Omry|2022|p=69}} and used these concerns to "create an entire cultural vocabulary",{{Sfn|Omry|2022|p=69}} merging the language of human experience with the electronic.{{Sfn|Csiscery-Ronay, Jr.|1991|p=190}}{{Efn|Csiscery-Ronay, Jr. writes that "drugs and sex [...] turn you on, you get a buzz, you get wired, you space out, you go on automatic."{{Sfn|Csiscery-Ronay, Jr.|1991|p=190}}}} Bruce Sterling relates the cyborg to the increasing use of technology that directly interfaces with the human body, citing [[contact lenses]] and the [[Walkman|Sony Walkman]].{{Sfn|Sterling|1986|p=8}} | ||
=== Racial === | |||
Several critics have explored the in-orbit [[Rastafarianism|Rastafarian]] cluster called Zion. Scholar Andrew Strombeck writes that their vocabulary is distinct from the [[jargon]] used elsewhere, but notes that the portrayal embodies stereotypes about Rastafarians. He highlights both the group's origin as a [[Labour movement|labor protest movement]] and that they are the only group to perform [[Manual labour|manual labor]] in the novel.{{Sfn|Strombeck|2010|p=280}} Their society could provide an alternative to corporate hegemony but ultimately form "another node in the capitalist network".{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=73-74}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=89}} [[Samuel R. Delany]], an [[African Americans|African-American]] writer, criticized the portrayal,{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=74-75}} but described ''Neuromancer'' as "an extraordinary book".{{Sfn|Dery|1993|p=195}} He regarded Zion as a stereotyped and marginalized group with "shrunken hearts", easily manipulated by the AI Wintermute. He describes Gibson's portrayal of their spirituality as reductive and superficial.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=74-75}} [[Tom Moylan]] notes that ''Neuromancer'' loses its "critical edge" in exploring Zion's within the primary narrative,{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=92-93}} and describes a pattern in Gibson's ''Sprawl'' trilogy of including the racial [[Other (philosophy)|Other]] but limiting their role to "happy helper".{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=93-94}} | |||
=== Genre === | |||
{{Main article|Cyberpunk}} | |||
When Gibson was writing ''Neuromancer'', the term "cyberpunk" did not exist. Coined by [[Bruce Bethke]] for a short-story title,{{Sfn|Semley|2019|p=61}} the term "cyberpunk" was popularised by [[Gardner Dozois]] in a 1984 ''[[The Washington Post]]'' article, using the term to describe Gibson, [[Bruce Sterling]], [[Lewis Shiner]], and [[Greg Bear]].{{Sfn|Shiner|1992|p=17}} Gibson exchanged letters with Sterling, Shiner, and [[Rudy Rucker]], sharing ideas, criticism and praise of each other's work.{{Sfn|Murphy|2020|pp=15–16}} This created a kind of shared outlook through recurring themes and motifs.{{Sfn|Sterling|1986|p=xi}} As with the [[New Wave (science fiction)|New Wave]], the term could reflect a desire for the writers to be distinguished from the "old farts" previously eminent in science fiction.{{Sfn|Csiscery-Ronay, Jr.|1991|p=184}} The cyberpunk style contrasted control and communications technologies with the rebellious, countercultural punk aesthetic.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=7}} Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr. writes that Gibson's subtle use of metaphor, in line with the wider cyberpunk style, blurs the boundaries of human and machine intelligence.{{Sfn|Csiscery-Ronay, Jr.|1991|p=190}} | |||
Although frequently cited as the quintessential cyberpunk novel, ''Neuromancer''{{'s}} prototype status has provided wider analytical significance, extending beyond the cyberpunk movement.{{Sfn|Slusser|Shippey|1992|p=13}} Owing to its clear influences, critics have discussed the novel and its structure in relation to pulp literature.{{Sfn|Alkon|1992|p=76}} | |||
== Reception == | == Reception == | ||
Released without any special attention as a [[Paperback|mass-market paperback]], ''Neuromancer''{{'s}} release coincided with the boom in personal computing,{{Sfn|Butler|2004|p=212}} and gained an audience primarily through word of mouth.{{Sfn|Liptak|2014}} ''The Observer'' noted that ''[[The New York Times]]'' did not mention the novel until 10 years after release,{{Sfn|Adams|2007}} but contemporary reviews were largely positive. ''The Observer'' and ''The Evening Sun'' agreed that the novel presented a compelling image of a near-future.{{Sfn|The Evening Sun|1984|p=10}}{{Sfn|Johnston|1984|p=28}} One critic compared Gibson's cyberspace to [[Disney Corporation|Disney]]'s ''[[Tron]]'' (1982).{{Sfn|The Evening Sun|1984|p=10}} It appealed to people who were fans of Gibson's short stories,{{Sfn|Newsday|1984}} and found success with readers who were not previously interested in computer fiction.{{Sfn|The Roanoke Times|1983}} Gibson recorded an abridged version of the novel as cassette-based audiobook in 1995, which a reviewer for [[Wired (magazine)|''Wired'']] found somewhat disappointing but repeated praise for the novel itself.{{Sfn|Pleshaw|1995}} | |||
''Neuromancer'' became the only novel ever to win the "triple crown"—[[Hugo Award for Best Novel]], the [[Nebula Award for Best Novel]] and the [[Philip K. Dick Award]] for original paperback fiction.{{Sfn|McCaffery|1991|p=263}}{{Sfn|Renegar| Dionisopoulos|2011|p=11}}{{Efn|This achievement was described by the ''[[Mail & Guardian]]'' as "the sci-fi writer's version of winning the [[Prix Goncourt|Goncourt]], [[Booker Prize|Booker]] and [[Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer]] prizes in the same year".{{Sfn|Walker|1996}} According to Philip K. Dick Award judge [[Robert J. Sawyer]] on his blog, this award is unfeasible as an achievement due to differences in eligibility criteria.{{Sfn|Sawyer|2016}}}} It was nominated or shortlisted for virtually every other science-fiction prize,{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=2}} including the 1984 [[BSFA Award for Best Novel]].{{Sfn|Omry|2022|p=68}}{{Sfn|Liptak|2014}} | |||
== Impact == | == Impact == | ||
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The novel's immense success, alongside the continuous output work of other early cyberpunk writers—most commonly listed as [[Bruce Sterling]], [[Lewis Shiner]], [[John Shirley]] and [[Rudy Rucker]]—virtually guaranteed the genre's immediate survival.{{Sfn|Murphy|2020|pp=15–16}} In particular, ''Neuromancer'' provided future cyberpunk stories with a basic structure and vocabulary: protagonists who interface with computer hardware using a biological port, circumvent anti-hacking protocols ([[Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics]], or ICE) and navigate a three-dimensional virtual world (cyberspace).{{Sfn|Omry|2022|p=69}} | The novel's immense success, alongside the continuous output work of other early cyberpunk writers—most commonly listed as [[Bruce Sterling]], [[Lewis Shiner]], [[John Shirley]] and [[Rudy Rucker]]—virtually guaranteed the genre's immediate survival.{{Sfn|Murphy|2020|pp=15–16}} In particular, ''Neuromancer'' provided future cyberpunk stories with a basic structure and vocabulary: protagonists who interface with computer hardware using a biological port, circumvent anti-hacking protocols ([[Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics]], or ICE) and navigate a three-dimensional virtual world (cyberspace).{{Sfn|Omry|2022|p=69}} | ||
Motifs and terminology popularised by the novel—the matrix, flatlining, cranial jack, biological microchips and traversal in cyberspace—were replicated or parodied by other authors.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=12}}{{Sfn|Cavallaro|2000|p=69}} Developments anticipated by the novel include reality TV, nanomachines and virtual communities. It inspired early computer programmers in the creation of [[the Internet]] and impacted early computer culture.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=12-13}}{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=8}}{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=41}} Gibson has rejected the novel's characterisation as impactful on real-life technologists, reasoning that the ideas came "from the same place [he] got them".{{Sfn|Perez|2012}} In 1992, [[John Perry Barlow]], co-founder of the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]], introduced the term "cyberspace" to the [[US Intelligence Community]] during a speech in 1992, mentioning ''Neuromancer'' directly.{{Sfn|Streeter|2005|pp=757–758}} To Gibson's dismay,{{Efn|Gibson said "technical people" had missed "several layers of irony".{{Sfn|Cavallaro|2000|pp=66–67}}}} the term provided a name for a product by [[Autodesk]].{{Sfn|Cavallaro|2000|p=66-67}} | Motifs and terminology popularised by the novel—the matrix, flatlining, cranial jack, biological microchips and traversal in cyberspace—were replicated or parodied by other authors.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=12}}{{Sfn|Cavallaro|2000|p=69}} Developments anticipated by the novel include [[Reality television|reality TV]], [[Molecular machine|nanomachines]] and [[Virtual community|virtual communities]]. It inspired early computer programmers in the creation of [[the Internet]] and impacted early computer culture.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=12-13}}{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=8}}{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=41}} Gibson has rejected the novel's characterisation as impactful on real-life technologists, reasoning that the ideas came "from the same place [he] got them".{{Sfn|Perez|2012}} In 1992, [[John Perry Barlow]], co-founder of the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]], introduced the term "cyberspace" to the [[US Intelligence Community]] during a speech in 1992, mentioning ''Neuromancer'' directly.{{Sfn|Streeter|2005|pp=757–758}} To Gibson's dismay,{{Efn|Of the Autodesk product, Gibson said "technical people" had missed "several layers of irony".{{Sfn|Cavallaro|2000|pp=66–67}}}} the term provided a name for a product by [[Autodesk]].{{Sfn|Cavallaro|2000|p=66-67}} | ||
==Adaptations== | ==Adaptations== | ||
[[File:Neuromancer TGN.jpg|thumb|Cover art of volume one of the [[Tom De Haven|Tom de Haven]] and Jensen graphic novel adaptation, published by [[Marvel Comics]] in 1989|261x261px]] | [[File:Neuromancer TGN.jpg|thumb|Cover art of volume one of the [[Tom De Haven|Tom de Haven]] and Jensen graphic novel adaptation, published by [[Marvel Comics]] in 1989|261x261px]] | ||
In 1989, [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]]'s [[Epic Comics]] imprint published a 48-page [[graphic novel]] version by [[Tom De Haven|Tom de Haven]] and [[Bruce Jensen]]. It only covers the first two chapters, "Chiba City Blues" and "The Shopping Expedition", and was never continued.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=16}} | In 1989, [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]]'s [[Epic Comics]] imprint published a 48-page [[graphic novel]] version by [[Tom De Haven|Tom de Haven]] and [[Bruce Jensen]]. It only covers the first two chapters, "Chiba City Blues" and "The Shopping Expedition", and was never continued.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=16}} A loosely based [[Neuromancer (video game)|video game adaptation of the same name]] was published in 1988 by [[Interplay Entertainment]] for the [[Apple II]] and [[Commodore 64]].{{Sfn|Alexander|2014}} | ||
[[Timothy Leary]], who worked on the Interplay video game, had previously worked on a previous video game adaptation. Leary's plans included writing by [[William S. Burroughs]], photography by [[Helmut Newton]], and a score provided by the rock band [[Devo]]. Artist [[Keith Haring]] was intended to provide the physical likeness of Case. The game was planned as a tie-in to an unproduced film adaptation.{{Sfn|Robertson|2013}} | |||
While ''Neuromancer'' has never been adapted into a film, there have been several attempts; several journalists have described the novel as "unfilmable".{{Sfn|Anthony|2008}}{{Sfn|Child|2010}} British director [[Chris Cunningham]] and musician [[Aphex Twin]] were attached to the project, providing the script and soundtrack, respectively.{{Sfn|Kinnear|2013}} While Cunningham's script gained Gibson's blessing, Cunningham ultimately withdrew over not being given [[final cut privilege]].{{Sfn|Child|2010}} Actor [[Hayden Christensen]] was rumoured to be attached.{{Sfn|Anthony|2008}} Other directors with previous connections to aborted film projects include [[Chuck Russell]], [[Vincenzo Natali]] and | While ''Neuromancer'' has never been adapted into a film, there have been several attempts; several journalists have described the novel as "unfilmable".{{Sfn|Anthony|2008}}{{Sfn|Child|2010}} British director [[Chris Cunningham]] and musician [[Aphex Twin]] were attached to the project, providing the script and soundtrack, respectively.{{Sfn|Kinnear|2013}} While Cunningham's script gained Gibson's blessing, Cunningham ultimately withdrew over not being given [[final cut privilege]].{{Sfn|Child|2010}} Actor [[Hayden Christensen]] was rumoured to be attached.{{Sfn|Anthony|2008}} Other directors with previous connections to aborted film projects include [[Chuck Russell]], [[Vincenzo Natali]] and [[Tim Miller (director)|Tim Miller]].{{Sfn|Kinnear|2013}}{{Sfn|Hamman|2025}}{{Sfn|Couch|2017}} Natali, who also had Gibson's blessing, worked for several years on the project; offers were extended to actors [[Liam Neeson]] and [[Mark Wahlberg]] until Natali became unavailable.{{Sfn|Child|2012}} | ||
In February 2024, [[Apple Inc|Apple]] announced that it had greenlit [[Neuromancer (TV series)|a 10-episode series]] for [[Apple TV+]], co-produced by [[Skydance Television]], [[Anonymous Content]], and DreamCrew Entertainment, with [[J. D. Dillard]] joining Roland as co- | In February 2024, [[Apple Inc|Apple]] announced that it had greenlit [[Neuromancer (TV series)|a 10-episode series]] for [[Apple TV+]], co-produced by [[Skydance Television]], [[Anonymous Content]], and DreamCrew Entertainment, with [[J. D. Dillard]] joining [[Graham Roland]] as co-showrunners.{{Sfn|Cordero|2024a}} The announced cast includes [[Callum Turner]] as Case,{{Sfn|Otterman|2024}} [[Briana Middleton]] as Molly,{{Sfn|Andreeva|2024}} [[Joseph Lee (actor)|Joseph Lee]] as Hideo,{{Sfn|Cordero|2024b}} [[Mark Strong]] as Armitage,{{Sfn|Andreeva|2024}} and [[Clémence Poésy]] as Marie-France Tessier.''{{Sfn|Petski|2025}}'' | ||
==Notes and references== | ==Notes and references== | ||
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{{refbegin}} | {{refbegin}} | ||
* {{Cite book |last=Alphin |first=Caroline |title=Neoliberalism and Cyberpunk Science Fiction: Living on the Edge of Burnout |date=2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-367-49099-7 |location=New York}} | * {{Cite book |last=Alphin |first=Caroline |title=Neoliberalism and Cyberpunk Science Fiction: Living on the Edge of Burnout |date=2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-367-49099-7 |location=New York}} | ||
* {{Cite book |last=Cavallaro |first=Dani |title=Cyberpunk and cyberculture: science fiction and the work of William Gibson |date=2000 |publisher=Athlone Press |isbn=978-0-485-00412-0 |location=London}} | * {{Cite book |last=Cavallaro |first=Dani |title=Cyberpunk and cyberculture: science fiction and the work of William Gibson |date=2000 |publisher=Athlone Press |isbn=978-0-485-00412-0 |location=London}} | ||
* {{Cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=William |title=William Gibson's Neuromancer, The Graphic Novel: Volume 1 |last2=De Haven |first2=Tom |last3=Jensen |first3=Bruce |publisher=Epic Comics |year=1989 |chapter=Introduction}} | * {{Cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=William |title=William Gibson's Neuromancer, The Graphic Novel: Volume 1 |last2=De Haven |first2=Tom |last3=Jensen |first3=Bruce |publisher=Epic Comics |year=1989 |chapter=Introduction}} | ||
* {{Cite book |last=Gibson |first=William |title=Distrust That Particular Flavour |publisher=Random House |year=2012 |isbn=9780425252994}} | |||
* {{Cite book |title=Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodern Science fiction |date=1991 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-1158-4 |editor-last=McCaffery |editor-first=Larry |location=Durham}} | * {{Cite book |title=Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodern Science fiction |date=1991 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-1158-4 |editor-last=McCaffery |editor-first=Larry |location=Durham}} | ||
** {{harvc | in=McCaffery | first=Istvan | last=Csiscery-Ronay, Jr. | chapter=Cyberpunk and Neuromanticism | pages=182-193| year=1991}} | ** {{harvc | in=McCaffery | first=Istvan | last=Csiscery-Ronay, Jr. | chapter=Cyberpunk and Neuromanticism | pages=182-193| year=1991}} | ||
** {{harvc | in=McCaffery | first=Hollinger | last=Veronica | chapter=“Cybernetic Deconstructions: Cyberpunk and Postmodernism | pages=203-218| year=1991}} | ** {{harvc | in=McCaffery | first=Hollinger | last=Veronica | chapter=“Cybernetic Deconstructions: Cyberpunk and Postmodernism | pages=203-218| year=1991}} | ||
* {{Cite book |title=The Routledge | |||
* {{Cite book |title=The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-0-8153-5193-1 |editor-last=McFarlane |editor-first=Anna |series=Routledge companions |location=New York London |editor-last2=Murphy |editor-first2=Graham J. |editor-last3=Schmeink |editor-first3=Lars}} | |||
** {{harvc|last1=Latham|first1=Rob|in=McFarlane|in2=Murphy|in3=Schmeink|chapter=Literary Precursors|pages=7–14|year=2020}} | ** {{harvc|last1=Latham|first1=Rob|in=McFarlane|in2=Murphy|in3=Schmeink|chapter=Literary Precursors|pages=7–14|year=2020}} | ||
** {{harvc |last1=Murphy |first1=Graham J. |in=McFarlane |in2= Murphy |in3=Schmeink | chapter=The Mirrorshades Collective |pages=15-23 |year=2020}} | ** {{harvc |last1=Murphy |first1=Graham J. |in=McFarlane |in2= Murphy |in3=Schmeink | chapter=The Mirrorshades Collective |pages=15-23 |year=2020}} | ||
| Line 127: | Line 139: | ||
** {{harvc |last1=O'Connell |first1=Hugh Charles |in=McFarlane |in2= Murphy |in3=Schmeink | chapter=Cyborg Feminism |pages=282-290 |year=2020}} | ** {{harvc |last1=O'Connell |first1=Hugh Charles |in=McFarlane |in2= Murphy |in3=Schmeink | chapter=Cyborg Feminism |pages=282-290 |year=2020}} | ||
** {{harvc |last1=Rieder |first1=John |in=McFarlane |in2= Murphy |in3=Schmeink | chapter=Empire |pages=335-344 |year=2020}} | ** {{harvc |last1=Rieder |first1=John |in=McFarlane |in2= Murphy |in3=Schmeink | chapter=Empire |pages=335-344 |year=2020}} | ||
* {{Cite book |title=Fifty Key Figures in Cyberpunk Culture |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-003-09118-9 |editor-last=McFarlane |editor-first=Anna |location=New York, NY |editor-last2=Murphy |editor-first2=Graham J. |editor-last3=Schmeink |editor-first3=Lars}} | * {{Cite book |title=Fifty Key Figures in Cyberpunk Culture |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-003-09118-9 |editor-last=McFarlane |editor-first=Anna |location=New York, NY |editor-last2=Murphy |editor-first2=Graham J. |editor-last3=Schmeink |editor-first3=Lars}} | ||
** {{harvc |last=Omry |first=Keren |in=McFarlane |in2=Murphy |in3=Schmeink |chapter=William Gibson |pages=68-73 |year=2022}} | ** {{harvc |last=Omry |first=Keren |in=McFarlane |in2=Murphy |in3=Schmeink |chapter=William Gibson |pages=68-73 |year=2022}} | ||
* {{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Gerald Alva |title=Understanding William Gibson |date=2016 |publisher=The University of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-61117-633-9 |series=Understanding contemporary American literature |location=Columbia, South Carolina}} | * {{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Gerald Alva |title=Understanding William Gibson |date=2016 |publisher=The University of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-61117-633-9 |series=Understanding contemporary American literature |location=Columbia, South Carolina}} | ||
* {{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Graham J. |title=William Gibson's "Neuromancer": A Critical Companion |date=2024 |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland |isbn=978-3-031-56626-4 |edition=1st ed. 2024 |series=Palgrave Science Fiction and Fantasy: A New Canon |location=Cham}} | * {{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Graham J. |title=William Gibson's "Neuromancer": A Critical Companion |date=2024 |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland |isbn=978-3-031-56626-4 |edition=1st ed. 2024 |series=Palgrave Science Fiction and Fantasy: A New Canon |location=Cham}} | ||
* {{Cite book |last1=Slusser |first1=George Edgar |last2=Shippey |first2=Thomas Alan |title=Fiction 2000: cyberpunk and the future of narrative |date=1992 |publisher=University of Georgia press |isbn=978-0-8203-1425-9 |location=Athens, (Ga.)}} | * {{Cite book |last1=Slusser |first1=George Edgar |last2=Shippey |first2=Thomas Alan |title=Fiction 2000: cyberpunk and the future of narrative |date=1992 |publisher=University of Georgia press |isbn=978-0-8203-1425-9 |location=Athens, (Ga.)}} | ||
** {{harvc |last=Shiner |first=Lewis | in1=Slusser |in2=Shippey |year=1992 |chapter=Inside the Movement: Past, Presence and Future |pages=17-25}} | ** {{harvc |last=Shiner |first=Lewis | in1=Slusser |in2=Shippey |year=1992 |chapter=Inside the Movement: Past, Presence and Future |pages=17-25}} | ||
** {{harvc |last=Csicsery-Ronay, Jr. |first=Istvan | in1=Slusser |in2=Shippey |year=1992 |chapter=Futuristic Flu, or, the Revenge of the Future |pages=26-45}} | ** {{harvc |last=Csicsery-Ronay, Jr. |first=Istvan | in1=Slusser |in2=Shippey |year=1992 |chapter=Futuristic Flu, or, the Revenge of the Future |pages=26-45}} | ||
** {{harvc |last=Alkon |first=Paul | in1=Slusser |in2=Shippey |year=1992 |chapter=Deus Ex Machina in William Gibson's Neuromancer |pages=75-88}} | ** {{harvc |last=Alkon |first=Paul | in1=Slusser |in2=Shippey |year=1992 |chapter=Deus Ex Machina in William Gibson's Neuromancer |pages=75-88}} | ||
* {{Cite book |title=Beyond Cyberpunk: New Critical Perspectives |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-85196-8 |editor-last1=Murphy |editor-first1=Graham J. |editor-last2=Vint |editor-first2=Sherryl |series=Routledge studies in contemporary literature |location=New York}} | * {{Cite book |title=Beyond Cyberpunk: New Critical Perspectives |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-85196-8 |editor-last1=Murphy |editor-first1=Graham J. |editor-last2=Vint |editor-first2=Sherryl |series=Routledge studies in contemporary literature |location=New York}} | ||
** {{harvc |last=Moylan |first=Tom | in1=Murphy |in2=Vint |year=2010 |chapter=Global Economy, Local Texts: Utopian/Dystopian Tension in William Gibson's Cyberpunk Trilogy |pages=81-94}} | ** {{harvc |last=Moylan |first=Tom | in1=Murphy |in2=Vint |year=2010 |chapter=Global Economy, Local Texts: Utopian/Dystopian Tension in William Gibson's Cyberpunk Trilogy |pages=81-94}} | ||
** {{harvc |last=Bould |first=Mark | in1=Murphy |in2=Vint |year=2010 |chapter=Why Neo Flies, and Why He Shouldn't: The Critique of Cyberpun in Gwyneth Jones' Escape Plans and M. John Harrison's Signs of Life |pages=116-134}} | ** {{harvc |last=Bould |first=Mark | in1=Murphy |in2=Vint |year=2010 |chapter=Why Neo Flies, and Why He Shouldn't: The Critique of Cyberpun in Gwyneth Jones' Escape Plans and M. John Harrison's Signs of Life |pages=116-134}} | ||
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Patrick A. |title=Conversations with William Gibson |date=2014 |publisher=University press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-015-5 |series=Literary conversations series |location=Jackson}} | * {{Cite book |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Patrick A. |title=Conversations with William Gibson |date=2014 |publisher=University press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-015-5 |series=Literary conversations series |location=Jackson}} | ||
** {{harvc|last1=Wallace-Wells |first1=David |in=Smith |chapter=Interview with David Wallace-Wells |pages=198-228 |year=2014 |author-link=David Wallace-Wells}} | ** {{harvc|last1=Wallace-Wells |first1=David |in=Smith |chapter=Interview with David Wallace-Wells |pages=198-228 |year=2014 |author-link=David Wallace-Wells}} | ||
* {{Cite book |title=Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology |publisher=[[Ace Books]] |year=1986 |isbn=0-441-53382-5 |editor-last=Sterling |editor-first=Bruce |edition=1st |location=New York}} | * {{Cite book |title=Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology |publisher=[[Ace Books]] |year=1986 |isbn=0-441-53382-5 |editor-last=Sterling |editor-first=Bruce |edition=1st |location=New York}} | ||
{{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
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{{refbegin}} | {{refbegin}} | ||
* {{Cite journal |last=Butler |first=Andrew M. |date=2004 |title=Between the "Deaths" of Science Fiction: A Skeptical View of the Possibility for Anti-Genres |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43310245 |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |volume=15 |issue=3 (59) |pages=208–216 |jstor=43310245 |issn=0897-0521}} | * {{Cite journal |last=Butler |first=Andrew M. |date=2004 |title=Between the "Deaths" of Science Fiction: A Skeptical View of the Possibility for Anti-Genres |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43310245 |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |volume=15 |issue=3 (59) |pages=208–216 |jstor=43310245 |issn=0897-0521}} | ||
* {{Cite journal |last=Dery |first=Mark |date=1993-10-01 |title=Black to the Future: Interviews with Samuel R. Delany, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose |url=https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-92-4-735 |journal=South Atlantic Quarterly |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=735–778 |doi=10.1215/00382876-92-4-735 |issn=0038-2876|url-access=subscription }} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Myers |first=Tony |date=2001 |title=The Postmodern Imaginary in William Gibson's "Neuromancer" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26286501 |journal=Modern Fiction Studies |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=887–909 |jstor=26286501 |issn=0026-7724}} | * {{Cite journal |last=Myers |first=Tony |date=2001 |title=The Postmodern Imaginary in William Gibson's "Neuromancer" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26286501 |journal=Modern Fiction Studies |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=887–909 |jstor=26286501 |issn=0026-7724}} | ||
* {{Cite journal |last=Nazare |first=Joe |date=2003 |title=Marlowe in Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk (re-) Vision of Chandler |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29533587 |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=383–404 |jstor=29533587 |issn=0039-3827}} | * {{Cite journal |last=Nazare |first=Joe |date=2003 |title=Marlowe in Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk (re-) Vision of Chandler |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29533587 |journal=Studies in the Novel |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=383–404 |jstor=29533587 |issn=0039-3827}} | ||
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* {{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Tim |date=2007-08-12 |title=Space to think |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/aug/12/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.features |access-date=2025-01-14 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}} | * {{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Tim |date=2007-08-12 |title=Space to think |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/aug/12/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.features |access-date=2025-01-14 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}} | ||
* {{cite web |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |title=''Neuromancer'': Briana Middleton Joins Callum Turner In Apple TV+ Series |url=https://deadline.com/2024/06/briana-middleton-neuromancer-apple-tv-1235986115/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=June 28, 2024}} | * {{cite web |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |title=''Neuromancer'': Briana Middleton Joins Callum Turner In Apple TV+ Series |url=https://deadline.com/2024/06/briana-middleton-neuromancer-apple-tv-1235986115/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=June 28, 2024}} | ||
* {{Cite news |last=Child |first=Ben |date=2010-05-14 |title=Is William Gibson's Neuromancer too vast for the big screen? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/may/14/william-gibson-neuromancer-vincenzo-natali |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 }} | |||
* {{Cite news |last=Child |first=Ben |date=2012-08-02 |title=Will Liam Neeson and Mark Wahlberg be plugging into Neuromancer? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/aug/02/liam-neeson-mark-wahlberg-neuromancer |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}} | |||
* {{Cite news |last=Cordero |first=Rosy |date=2024b |title='Beef's Joseph Lee Joins Leading Cast Of Apple TV+ Drama 'Neuromancer' |url=https://deadline.com/2024/12/joseph-lee-apple-tv-drama-neuromancer-1236238370/ |website=Deadline }} | * {{Cite news |last=Cordero |first=Rosy |date=2024b |title='Beef's Joseph Lee Joins Leading Cast Of Apple TV+ Drama 'Neuromancer' |url=https://deadline.com/2024/12/joseph-lee-apple-tv-drama-neuromancer-1236238370/ |website=Deadline }} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Cordero|first=Rosy|title=Apple Greenlights New Sci-Fi Drama Series 'Neuromancer' Based On William Gibson Novel|url=https://deadline.com/2024/02/apple-greenlights-neuromancer-series-1235840840/|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=2024a|access-date=February 28, 2024}} | * {{Cite web |last=Cordero|first=Rosy|title=Apple Greenlights New Sci-Fi Drama Series 'Neuromancer' Based On William Gibson Novel|url=https://deadline.com/2024/02/apple-greenlights-neuromancer-series-1235840840/|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=2024a|access-date=February 28, 2024}} | ||
* {{Cite news |last=Couch |first=Aaron |title='Deadpool' Director Tim Miller to Adapt 'Neuromancer' for Fox |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/deadpool-director-tim-miller-adapt-neuromancer-fox-1028185 |magazine=Hollywood Reporter |date=2017 |accessdate=January 14, 2025}} | |||
* {{Cite web |last=Liptak |first=Andrew |title=30 Years of William Gibson's Neuromancer |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/30-years-william-gibsons-ineuromanceri/ |date=2014 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}} | * {{Cite web |last=Liptak |first=Andrew |title=30 Years of William Gibson's Neuromancer |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/30-years-william-gibsons-ineuromanceri/ |date=2014 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Hugo |date=2012-01-08 |title=Power in This Weird Grey Box: William Gibson's First Technology Memory |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/power-in-this-weird-grey-box-william-gibson-s-first-technology-memory/ |website=VICE }} | * {{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Hugo |date=2012-01-08 |title=Power in This Weird Grey Box: William Gibson's First Technology Memory |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/power-in-this-weird-grey-box-william-gibson-s-first-technology-memory/ |website=VICE }} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Petski |first=Denise |date=2025-03-06 |title=Clémence Poésy Joins 'Neuromancer' Apple TV+ Series |url=https://deadline.com/2025/03/clemence-poesy-neuromancer-apple-tv-series-1236312847/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=Deadline }} | * {{Cite web |last=Petski |first=Denise |date=2025-03-06 |title=Clémence Poésy Joins 'Neuromancer' Apple TV+ Series |url=https://deadline.com/2025/03/clemence-poesy-neuromancer-apple-tv-series-1236312847/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=Deadline }} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Adi |date=2013-10-01 |title=Timothy Leary’s ‘Neuromancer’ video game could have been incredible |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/1/4791566/timothy-learys-neuromancer-video-game-could-have-been-incredible |access-date=2025-06-27 |website=The Verge }} | |||
* {{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Martin |date=1996-09-03 |title=Blade Runner on electro-steroids |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1996-09-03-blade-runner-on-electrosteroids/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Mail & Guardian}} | * {{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Martin |date=1996-09-03 |title=Blade Runner on electro-steroids |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1996-09-03-blade-runner-on-electrosteroids/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Mail & Guardian}} | ||
* {{cite web | url = https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/callum-turner-neuromancer-series-apple-tv-plus-1235979735/ | title = Callum Turner to Star in 'Neuromancer' Series at Apple TV+ | first = Joe | last = Otterman | date = April 23, 2024 | accessdate = April 26, 2024 | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] }} | * {{cite web | url = https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/callum-turner-neuromancer-series-apple-tv-plus-1235979735/ | title = Callum Turner to Star in 'Neuromancer' Series at Apple TV+ | first = Joe | last = Otterman | date = April 23, 2024 | accessdate = April 26, 2024 | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] }} | ||
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{{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
===Reviews=== | ====Reviews==== | ||
{{refbegin}} | {{refbegin}} | ||
* {{Cite news |date=1984-06-29 |title=Novel probes future computers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-sun-novel-probes-future-comp/163142161/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |work=The Evening Sun |pages=10 |ref={{harvid|The Evening Sun|1984}}}} | * {{Cite news |date=1984-06-29 |title=Novel probes future computers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-sun-novel-probes-future-comp/163142161/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |work=The Evening Sun |pages=10 |ref={{harvid|The Evening Sun|1984}}}} | ||
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* {{Cite news |last=Alexander |first=Leigh |date=2014-09-03 |title=Lo-Fi Let's Play: Neuromancer |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/lets-play-neuromancer |work=[[Rock, Paper, Shotgun]] }} | * {{Cite news |last=Alexander |first=Leigh |date=2014-09-03 |title=Lo-Fi Let's Play: Neuromancer |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/lets-play-neuromancer |work=[[Rock, Paper, Shotgun]] }} | ||
* {{Cite news |last=Anthony |first=James |date=2008-01-11 |title=In cyberspace, no one can hear the Neuromancer fans scream |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/jan/11/incyberspacenoonecanheartheneuromancerfansscream |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077}} | * {{Cite news |last=Anthony |first=James |date=2008-01-11 |title=In cyberspace, no one can hear the Neuromancer fans scream |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/jan/11/incyberspacenoonecanheartheneuromancerfansscream |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077}} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Gibson |first=Wiliam |date=January 8, 2003 |title=William Gibson Blog |url=http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2003_01_01_archive.asp#90158337 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926221513/http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2003_01_01_archive.asp#90158337 |archive-date=September 26, 2007 |access-date=January 13, 2025 |website=William Gibson Books}} | * {{Cite web |last=Gibson |first=Wiliam |date=January 8, 2003 |title=William Gibson Blog |url=http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2003_01_01_archive.asp#90158337 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926221513/http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2003_01_01_archive.asp#90158337 |archive-date=September 26, 2007 |access-date=January 13, 2025 |website=William Gibson Books}} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Hamman |first=Cody |date=2025-03-20 |title=Neuromancer: Apple TV's William Gibson adaptation adds Dane DeHaan |url=https://www.joblo.com/neuromancer-dane-dehaan/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=[[JoBlo.com|JoBlo]] }} | * {{Cite web |last=Hamman |first=Cody |date=2025-03-20 |title=Neuromancer: Apple TV's William Gibson adaptation adds Dane DeHaan |url=https://www.joblo.com/neuromancer-dane-dehaan/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=[[JoBlo.com|JoBlo]] }} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Kinnear |first=Simon |date=2013-10-14 |title=50 Amazing Unmade Movies |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/50-unmade-movies/2/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=GamesRadar+ }} | * {{Cite web |last=Kinnear |first=Simon |date=2013-10-14 |title=50 Amazing Unmade Movies |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/50-unmade-movies/2/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=GamesRadar+ }} | ||
* {{Cite magazine |last=Pleshaw |first=Gregory J. |title=Neuromancer Speaks! |url=https://www.wired.com/1995/01/neuromancer-speaks/ |year=1995 |access-date=2025-05-17 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}} | * {{Cite magazine |last=Pleshaw |first=Gregory J. |title=Neuromancer Speaks! |url=https://www.wired.com/1995/01/neuromancer-speaks/ |year=1995 |access-date=2025-05-17 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Sawyer |first=Robert |author-link=Robert J. Sawyer |date=January 13, 2016 |title=Hugo / Nebula / PKDick overlap — and SF's true Triple Crown |url=https://sfwriter.com/blog/?p=4882 |access-date=January 14, 2025 |website=Robert J. Sawyer}} | * {{Cite web |last=Sawyer |first=Robert |author-link=Robert J. Sawyer |date=January 13, 2016 |title=Hugo / Nebula / PKDick overlap — and SF's true Triple Crown |url=https://sfwriter.com/blog/?p=4882 |access-date=January 14, 2025 |website=Robert J. Sawyer}} | ||
* {{Cite web |last=Grossman |first=Lev |title= | * {{Cite web |last=Grossman |first=Lev |title=All-Time 100 Novels |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/slide/all/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |magazine=Time |year=2005|issn=0040-781X}} | ||
{{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
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{{Portal|Internet|Speculative fiction}} | {{Portal|Internet|Speculative fiction}} | ||
* {{ISFDB title|1475}} | * {{ISFDB title|1475}} | ||
<references group="lower-alpha" /> | <references group="lower-alpha" /> | ||
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[[Category:American crime novels]] | [[Category:American crime novels]] | ||
[[Category:Debut science fiction novels]] | [[Category:Debut science fiction novels]] | ||
[[Category:Cyberpunk novels]] | [[Category:Cyberpunk novels]] | ||
[[Category:Neo-noir novels]] | [[Category:Neo-noir novels]] | ||
[[Category:Speculative crime and thriller fiction novels]] | [[Category:Speculative crime and thriller fiction novels]] | ||
[[Category:Heist fiction]] | [[Category:Heist fiction]] | ||
[[Category:Novels about artificial intelligence]] | [[Category:Novels about artificial intelligence]] | ||
[[Category:Novels about virtual reality]] | [[Category:Novels about virtual reality]] | ||
[[Category:Books about computer hacking]] | [[Category:Books about computer hacking]] | ||
[[Category:Texts related to the history of the Internet]] | [[Category:Texts related to the history of the Internet]] | ||
[[Category:Philip K. Dick Award–winning works]] | [[Category:Philip K. Dick Award–winning works]] | ||
[[Category:Hugo Award for Best Novel–winning works]] | [[Category:Hugo Award for Best Novel–winning works]] | ||
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[[Category:Novels by William Gibson]] | [[Category:Novels by William Gibson]] | ||
[[Category:Ace Books books]] | [[Category:Ace Books books]] | ||
Revision as of 12:02, 30 June 2025
Template:Short description Template:Good article Script error: No such module "other uses". Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Wikidata image
Neuromancer is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian author William Gibson. Set in a near-future dystopia, the narrative follows Case, a computer hacker enlisted into a crew by a powerful artificial intelligence and a traumatised former soldier to complete a high-stakes heist. It was Gibson's debut novel and, after its success, served as the first entry in the Sprawl trilogy, followed by Count Zero (1986) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988).
Gibson had primarily written countercultural short stories for science-fiction periodicals before Neuromancer. Influences on the novel include the detective stories of Raymond Chandler, the comic art of Jean Giraud, and William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch (1959). Neuromancer expanded and popularised the setting and concepts of an earlier Gibson story, "Burning Chrome" (1981), which introduced cyberspace—a digital space traversable by humans—and "jacking in", a bio-mechanical method of interfacing with computers.
Neuromancer is a foundational work of early cyberpunk, although critics differ on whether the novel ignited the genre or if it was lifted by its inevitable rise. They agree it highlighted the genre's key features, like the placement of technological advancement against societal decay and criminality. Gibson's novel also defined the major conventions and terminology of the genre—cyberspace, jacking in, and Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics (ICE). Critics discuss the novel in the historical context of the 1970s and 1980s, a period marked by conservatism, deregulation, and free-market economics.
Neuromancer was released without significant hype but became an underground hit through word of mouth. Following release, it received critical acclaim and transformed the science-fiction genre. Mainstream recognition raised Gibson from relative obscurity. It remains the first and only novel to win all three of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the Philip K. Dick Award. It has been regarded as a classic work of the cyberpunk genre and, in 2005, was named one of TimeTemplate:'s All-Time 100 Novels.
Background
Author and composition
In 1981, William Gibson worked as a teaching assistant at his alma mater, the University of British Columbia. In the same year, his Nebula Award-nominated short story "Johnny Mnemonic" introduced one of NeuromancerTemplate:'s main characters, Molly.Template:Sfn "Johnny Mnemonic" infused elements of crime fiction, like marginalised communities and criminal society, with technology, blurring the boundary of human and machine.Template:Sfn The setting of the Sprawl and the concept of cyberspace first appeared in Omni the following year in his short story "Burning Chrome",Template:Sfn and were popularised by Neuromancer.Template:Sfn Later in 1981, Gibson was commissioned to write a novel by science-fiction editor Terry Carr for his second series of Ace Science Fiction Specials; he submitted an outline later that year with the working title Jacked In, eventually renaming it Neuromancer.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Gibson did not understand computing or networking in much detail, primarily wanting the shared vocabulary surrounding the topics.Template:Sfn
The novel underwent considerable revision, with Gibson saying he rewrote the first two-thirds twelve times to ensure there was both stylistic consistency and a "vaguely plausible" plot.Template:Sfn Gibson's sought to eliminate "clunk", contracting his prose to ensure "individual parts carry more weight". He did not write the novel with a concrete outline, or initially know how it would end,Template:Sfn writing the novel in "blind animal panic" because he thought it would fail if he did not hold the reader's attention.Template:Sfn Gibson added the novel's final sentence ("He never saw Molly again.") to prevent himself from writing a sequel.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn
Inspiration
Neuromancer has many literary progenitors. Detective fiction, like the work of Raymond Chandler, is frequently cited as an influence on Neuromancer. For example, critics note similarities between Gibson's Case and Chandler's Philip Marlowe: Case is described as a "cowboy" and a "detective" and is involved in a heist;Template:Sfn Molly, the novel's primary female character, has connections to the "molls" of 1940s film noir.Template:Sfn Case's illegal practices, like theft and murder, situate him within a wider tradition of transgressive detectives, like the opiate addiction of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.Template:Sfn Gibson stated that the pulp noir core of the novel was key to engaging his readers, and cited the works of Dashiell Hammett and Robert Stone as major influences on its style.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn For dialogue, the author incorporated late 1960s Toronto drug dealer and biker slang into the novel.Template:Sfn Gibson imagined the novel's time frame as the 2030s but purposefully omitted explicit dates; he said the novel, and its sequels, were written to reflect the 1980s.Template:Sfn
Gibson's prose style—fast-paced, fragmented imagery—resembles the styles of William S. Burroughs and J. G. Ballard.Template:Sfn Burroughs's Naked Lunch (1959) is frequently cited by critics as an influence on Neuromancer,Template:Sfn including by one as its "principal source", as a literary predecessor of Gibson's "cyberspace".Template:Sfn Gibson's conception of cyberspace was compared by Samuel R. Delany to Roger Zelazny's early short stories; Delany and other critics have explored the character of Molly as a development on the cyborg assassin of Joanna Russ's The Female Man (1975).Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn
Visual media likewise impacted the style of Neuromancer. Gibson has repeatedly mentioned the artwork of the 1970s French magazine Métal Hurlant,Template:Sfn with critics noting the proto-cyberpunk aesthetic of Jean "Moebius" Giraud's "The Long Tomorrow" (1976), republished in the American Heavy Metal magazine in 1977.Template:Sfn John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981) influenced Gibson's approach to world-building, pointing to throwaway lines that suggested much about the film's world and its history beyond the narrative itself.Template:Sfn Upon seeing Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), Gibson worried readers would think he had copied the film's "fine visual texture".Template:Sfn Gibson wrote in his introduction to the graphic novel of Neuromancer that Blade Runner was not a conscious influence;Template:Sfn in a later interview, he recounted a lunch with Scott where they both acknowledged a shared debt to Moebius's work in Métal Hurlant.Template:Sfn
Plot
Case is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City, Japan. Once a talented computer hacker and "console cowboy", Case was caught stealing from his employer, who retaliated by damaging Case's central nervous system, leaving him unable to access the virtual reality dataspace called the "matrix". Case is approached by Molly, an augmented "razorgirl" and mercenary on behalf of a shadowy US ex-military officer named Armitage, who offers to cure Case in exchange for his services as a hacker. Case undergoes the cure, but discovers that Armitage has sabotaged him with a time-delayed poison. If Case completes the job, Armitage will disarm the poison; if not, he will find himself crippled again.
Armitage has Case and Molly steal a ROM module that contains the saved consciousness of one of Case's mentors, legendary hacker McCoy Pauley. Suspicious of his motives and the unusual nature of the job, Molly and Case begin to investigate Armitage on the side. They discover that Armitage is actually Colonel Willis Corto, the only survivor of the failed anti-Soviet mission "Screaming Fist". He was returned to the United States for extensive psychotherapy and reconstructive surgery, but snapped after learning that the government had been aware the mission would likely fail and went ahead with it regardless. He killed his handler and disappeared into the criminal underworld, eventually resurfacing under the name Armitage.
In Istanbul, the team recruits Peter Riviera, a sociopathic thief and drug addict. The trail leads Case to Wintermute, an artificial intelligence created by the eccentric Tessier-Ashpool family. The Tessier-Ashpools spend their time in rotating cryonic preservation in their home, the Villa Straylight. The Villa is located on Freeside, a cylindrical space habitat which functions as a Las Vegas-style space resort for the wealthy.
Wintermute reveals itself to Case and explains that it is one half of a super-AI entity planned by the family. It is programmed with a need to merge with its other half, Neuromancer, but because of the severe restrictions placed on AI programs by the Turing Registry, it cannot achieve this on its own. It has manipulated and recruited Armitage and his team to bring it into contact with Neuromancer, access to which is physically secured within the Villa Straylight. Case is tasked with entering cyberspace to pierce the software barriers around Neuromancer with an icebreaker program. Riviera is to obtain the password to the physical terminal from Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool, the only member of the family awake and at the Villa. The group solicits help from a rastafarian cluster on board Freeside, living in a separate area they call Zion.
Armitage's personality starts to disintegrate and he begins to believe he is back in Screaming Fist. It is revealed that Wintermute had originally contacted Corto through a computer during his psychotherapy, during which time he manipulated Corto to create the Armitage persona. As Corto breaks through, he becomes violently unstable and Wintermute ejects him into space.
Riviera meets Lady 3Jane and betrays the team, helping Lady 3Jane and Hideo, her ninja bodyguard, capture Molly. Under orders from Wintermute, Case tracks Molly down. Neuromancer traps Case within a simulated reality after he enters cyberspace. He finds the consciousness of Linda Lee, his girlfriend from Chiba City, who was murdered by one of his underworld contacts. He also meets Neuromancer, who takes the form of a young boy. Neuromancer tries to convince Case to remain in the virtual world with Linda, but Case refuses.
With Wintermute guiding them, Case goes to confront Lady 3Jane, Riviera, and Hideo. Riviera tries to kill Case, but Lady 3Jane is sympathetic towards Case and Molly, and Hideo protects him. Riviera flees, and Molly explains that he is doomed anyway, as she had spiked his drugs with a lethal toxin. The team makes it to the computer terminal. Case enters cyberspace to guide the icebreaker; Lady 3Jane gives her password, and the lock opens. Wintermute unites with Neuromancer, becoming a superconsciousness. The poison in Case's bloodstream is washed out and he and Molly are profusely paid, while Pauley's ROM construct is apparently erased at his own request.
Molly leaves Case, who finds a new girlfriend and resumes his hacking work. Wintermute/Neuromancer contacts him, claiming it has become "the sum total of the works, the whole show" and is looking for others like itself. Scanning recorded transmissions, the super-AI finds a transmission from the Alpha Centauri star system, not being decoded or interpreted before. This implies that the counterpart in the Centauri system is another, alien super-AI, so first contact is being made between AI-s, instead of humankind and alien lifeforms.
While logged into cyberspace, Case glimpses Neuromancer standing in the distance with Linda Lee, and himself. He also hears inhuman laughter, which suggests that Pauley still lives. The sighting implies that Neuromancer created a copy of Case's consciousness, which now exists in cyberspace with those of Linda and Pauley.
Context and interpretation
Political and economic
Neuromancer, its sequels and other cyberpunk stories are often discussed within the socio-economic context of the 1980s, a period of economic restructuring,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn corporate globalization,Template:Sfn and government deregulation.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In the 1990s, a particularly influential view was that the novel reflected the "dilemmas of post-Fordist work and life",Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn with Gibson reflecting or recreating the societal change brought on by the economic and industrial changes of the 1970s and 1980s.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cyberspace's reliance on the circulation of data can be understood as a metaphor for the global circulation of financial capital,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and its addictiveness parodies the culture of workaholism among Silicon Valley developers.Template:Sfn His protagonists have been identified as resembling contract workers,Template:Sfn with Case dependent on diazepam to cope with the barrage of "relentless and fragmented data [and] get through the workday".Template:Sfn The novel's characters represent the professional–managerial class and the novel was popular with the demographic.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
While the novel represents anxiety about societal change, it is not generally viewed as being about resisting it. Gibson's protagonists do not threaten the social order of his worlds.Template:Sfn Corporations view the novel's freelance criminal protagonists as another tool at their disposal.Template:Sfn Gibson's inexperience as an author led to the novel capturing the essence of 1980s inequality but reinforcing and appealing to the dominant power structure, leaving his "dead-cynicism [and] fashionable survival".Template:Sfn Caroline Alphin writes that human life is worth whatever it is worth to an employer.Template:Sfn After his nervous system is damaged and he loses his ability to work as a hacker, Case must murder people for money to replenish his human capital because of Chiba City's neoliberalist order; Caroline Alpin describes this death in the novel as "failure to maximise one's human capital".Template:Sfn The novel shows that human minds can be saved to read-only memory, preserving deceased or unwilling people's technical skills for at-will use by corporations.Template:Sfn
Technological
Gibson's generation was the first to write science fiction at a time when the genre's concepts were becoming part of daily life.Template:Sfn Gibson recognised, and benefitted from, the growing public fascination with the evolving technology landscape,Template:Sfn and used these concerns to "create an entire cultural vocabulary",Template:Sfn merging the language of human experience with the electronic.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Bruce Sterling relates the cyborg to the increasing use of technology that directly interfaces with the human body, citing contact lenses and the Sony Walkman.Template:Sfn
Racial
Several critics have explored the in-orbit Rastafarian cluster called Zion. Scholar Andrew Strombeck writes that their vocabulary is distinct from the jargon used elsewhere, but notes that the portrayal embodies stereotypes about Rastafarians. He highlights both the group's origin as a labor protest movement and that they are the only group to perform manual labor in the novel.Template:Sfn Their society could provide an alternative to corporate hegemony but ultimately form "another node in the capitalist network".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Samuel R. Delany, an African-American writer, criticized the portrayal,Template:Sfn but described Neuromancer as "an extraordinary book".Template:Sfn He regarded Zion as a stereotyped and marginalized group with "shrunken hearts", easily manipulated by the AI Wintermute. He describes Gibson's portrayal of their spirituality as reductive and superficial.Template:Sfn Tom Moylan notes that Neuromancer loses its "critical edge" in exploring Zion's within the primary narrative,Template:Sfn and describes a pattern in Gibson's Sprawl trilogy of including the racial Other but limiting their role to "happy helper".Template:Sfn
Genre
When Gibson was writing Neuromancer, the term "cyberpunk" did not exist. Coined by Bruce Bethke for a short-story title,Template:Sfn the term "cyberpunk" was popularised by Gardner Dozois in a 1984 The Washington Post article, using the term to describe Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Lewis Shiner, and Greg Bear.Template:Sfn Gibson exchanged letters with Sterling, Shiner, and Rudy Rucker, sharing ideas, criticism and praise of each other's work.Template:Sfn This created a kind of shared outlook through recurring themes and motifs.Template:Sfn As with the New Wave, the term could reflect a desire for the writers to be distinguished from the "old farts" previously eminent in science fiction.Template:Sfn The cyberpunk style contrasted control and communications technologies with the rebellious, countercultural punk aesthetic.Template:Sfn Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr. writes that Gibson's subtle use of metaphor, in line with the wider cyberpunk style, blurs the boundaries of human and machine intelligence.Template:Sfn
Although frequently cited as the quintessential cyberpunk novel, NeuromancerTemplate:'s prototype status has provided wider analytical significance, extending beyond the cyberpunk movement.Template:Sfn Owing to its clear influences, critics have discussed the novel and its structure in relation to pulp literature.Template:Sfn
Reception
Released without any special attention as a mass-market paperback, NeuromancerTemplate:'s release coincided with the boom in personal computing,Template:Sfn and gained an audience primarily through word of mouth.Template:Sfn The Observer noted that The New York Times did not mention the novel until 10 years after release,Template:Sfn but contemporary reviews were largely positive. The Observer and The Evening Sun agreed that the novel presented a compelling image of a near-future.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn One critic compared Gibson's cyberspace to Disney's Tron (1982).Template:Sfn It appealed to people who were fans of Gibson's short stories,Template:Sfn and found success with readers who were not previously interested in computer fiction.Template:Sfn Gibson recorded an abridged version of the novel as cassette-based audiobook in 1995, which a reviewer for Wired found somewhat disappointing but repeated praise for the novel itself.Template:Sfn
Neuromancer became the only novel ever to win the "triple crown"—Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Philip K. Dick Award for original paperback fiction.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn It was nominated or shortlisted for virtually every other science-fiction prize,Template:Sfn including the 1984 BSFA Award for Best Novel.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Impact
The novel catalysed the cyberpunk movement, influencing artists across virtually all forms of media, including film, literature, visual art, fashion and video gaming.Template:Sfn It has been described as "the quintessential cyberpunk novel",Template:Sfn and the "archetypal cyberpunk work",Template:Sfn and the most notable 1980s science-fiction novel.Template:Sfn Edward Bryant sarcastically referred to subsequent cyberpunk works as NOGS—novels of Gibsonian sensibility.Template:Sfn In 2005, Time named Neuromancer one of its All-Time 100 Novels.Template:Sfn
The novel's immense success, alongside the continuous output work of other early cyberpunk writers—most commonly listed as Bruce Sterling, Lewis Shiner, John Shirley and Rudy Rucker—virtually guaranteed the genre's immediate survival.Template:Sfn In particular, Neuromancer provided future cyberpunk stories with a basic structure and vocabulary: protagonists who interface with computer hardware using a biological port, circumvent anti-hacking protocols (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics, or ICE) and navigate a three-dimensional virtual world (cyberspace).Template:Sfn
Motifs and terminology popularised by the novel—the matrix, flatlining, cranial jack, biological microchips and traversal in cyberspace—were replicated or parodied by other authors.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Developments anticipated by the novel include reality TV, nanomachines and virtual communities. It inspired early computer programmers in the creation of the Internet and impacted early computer culture.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Gibson has rejected the novel's characterisation as impactful on real-life technologists, reasoning that the ideas came "from the same place [he] got them".Template:Sfn In 1992, John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, introduced the term "cyberspace" to the US Intelligence Community during a speech in 1992, mentioning Neuromancer directly.Template:Sfn To Gibson's dismay,Template:Efn the term provided a name for a product by Autodesk.Template:Sfn
Adaptations
In 1989, Marvel's Epic Comics imprint published a 48-page graphic novel version by Tom de Haven and Bruce Jensen. It only covers the first two chapters, "Chiba City Blues" and "The Shopping Expedition", and was never continued.Template:Sfn A loosely based video game adaptation of the same name was published in 1988 by Interplay Entertainment for the Apple II and Commodore 64.Template:Sfn
Timothy Leary, who worked on the Interplay video game, had previously worked on a previous video game adaptation. Leary's plans included writing by William S. Burroughs, photography by Helmut Newton, and a score provided by the rock band Devo. Artist Keith Haring was intended to provide the physical likeness of Case. The game was planned as a tie-in to an unproduced film adaptation.Template:Sfn
While Neuromancer has never been adapted into a film, there have been several attempts; several journalists have described the novel as "unfilmable".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn British director Chris Cunningham and musician Aphex Twin were attached to the project, providing the script and soundtrack, respectively.Template:Sfn While Cunningham's script gained Gibson's blessing, Cunningham ultimately withdrew over not being given final cut privilege.Template:Sfn Actor Hayden Christensen was rumoured to be attached.Template:Sfn Other directors with previous connections to aborted film projects include Chuck Russell, Vincenzo Natali and Tim Miller.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Natali, who also had Gibson's blessing, worked for several years on the project; offers were extended to actors Liam Neeson and Mark Wahlberg until Natali became unavailable.Template:Sfn
In February 2024, Apple announced that it had greenlit a 10-episode series for Apple TV+, co-produced by Skydance Television, Anonymous Content, and DreamCrew Entertainment, with J. D. Dillard joining Graham Roland as co-showrunners.Template:Sfn The announced cast includes Callum Turner as Case,Template:Sfn Briana Middleton as Molly,Template:Sfn Joseph Lee as Hideo,Template:Sfn Mark Strong as Armitage,Template:Sfn and Clémence Poésy as Marie-France Tessier.Template:Sfn
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books
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Articles
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News
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Reviews
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Websites
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Further reading
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External links
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- Template:Trim Template:PAGENAMEBASE title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Template:William Gibson
Template:Hugo Award Best Novel 1981–1990
Template:Nebula Award Best Novel
Template:Philip K. Dick Award
Template:Authority control
- Pages with script errors
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- 1984 American novels
- 1984 debut novels
- 1984 science fiction novels
- American science fiction novels
- American crime novels
- Debut science fiction novels
- Cyberpunk novels
- Neo-noir novels
- Speculative crime and thriller fiction novels
- Heist fiction
- Novels about artificial intelligence
- Novels about virtual reality
- Books about computer hacking
- Texts related to the history of the Internet
- Philip K. Dick Award–winning works
- Hugo Award for Best Novel–winning works
- Nebula Award for Best Novel–winning works
- Sprawl trilogy
- Novels by William Gibson
- Ace Books books