Book Review: Neuromancer by William Gibson

 Neuromancer by William Gibson

Case is a "cowboy," that is someone who can jack in to the cyberverse and manipulate that reality, which in turn will have results in actual reality. He's in bad shape when the story starts. A previous employer was unhappy with his work and messed up his central nervous system, essentially ending his talents. He lives in a bad neighborhood in Japan and spends a lot of time with alcohol and drugs. He's recruited by a new employer who has the resources to fix him, including altering his system so he gets no high from drugs. The mysterious employer wants to orchestrate a digital heist against a well-established and presumed impregnable artificial intelligence. Case is teamed up with Molly, a trained and enhanced assassin who is part bodyguard, part lover. They go through a series of adventures as they prepare for the heist and try to find out who is behind the job.

The story is exciting and fast-paced. I thought it was very similar to The Matrix or Inception, but the novel was published in 1984, so it must have inspired the movies. The book does not feel dated even though it's almost 40 years old. A lot of the tech is not developed yet, but we seem to be on our way to immersive virtual reality and convincing augmented reality. I liked the book a lot. There was nothing particularly deep or profound but as a cyberpunk action story, it is fun.

Recommended.