Neuromancer is the book where cyberpunk is born, Count Zero is the book where it comes of age and becomes a powerhouse. Monalisa is the book where that powerhouse rewrites all the code and changes the rules of scifi forever.
Go lookup Rudy Rucker. 2 years before Neuromancer he won the PKD award for his cyberpunk novel Software. Also Akira and Blade Runner both preceded Neuromancer.
Yup, and they have one of my favourite choiices Netwatch vs Voodoo boys. Who do you trust ? One of the only corpos in the game who doesn't seem to be lying.
@@ifelse10110 They're lying. Militech, Arasaka and Cynosure all have access to post-blackwall AI advancement. The only reason they want the voodoos to not be able to cross like other companies is because they'd learn the others are already doing it. The only solution is fry the agent, zero the gang and never look back.
The Burning Chrome short story collection has a few stories set in the Sprawl universe. Johnny Mnemonic is one. Burning Chrome (the short story after which the collection is named) is another one. If I remember correctly, "Fragments of a Hologram Rose" (William Gibson's first short story) and "Dogfight" are others. There may be others but those are the ones I remember.
I think the ABSOLUTELY first story is "Fragments of a Hologram Rose" in overlooked masterpiece collection of short stories, Burning Chrome, here "Johnny Mnemonic" is to be found...Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive, the "Sprawk Trilogy" absolutely changed my life in the early Nineties when I discovered them! They also inspire me to learn Japanese :).
I'm reading neuromancer for the first time, and I think what has interested me more than the all the fantastic sci-fi and predicting-the-future, is simply how Gibson writes. There are some paragraphs that make me feel things that I didn't realise a book could make me feel.
@@shaftomite007 My favourite is when he meets Linda - "He'd found her, one rainy night, in an arcade ... mouth touched with hot gold as a gliding cursor struck sparks from the wall of a skyscraper canyon" Its so Cyberpunk, but eons before it was fully realised. Just incredible stuff
Hard Wired by Walter John Williams was also iconic when it was published. Whilst not as elegant as Gibson's writing a lot of people found it a more accessible route into cyberpunk back in the 80s. Nevertheless the opening lines of Neuromancer, and the world therein, have remained stuck in my head in a way only exceeded by Orwell's 1984 (which I would argue could almost be seen as proto cyberpunk).
I always thought of Walter Jon Williams as more on the Action Movie side of Cyberpunk (see also: K.W. Jeter). More cinematic than Gibson's internal monologues. Or internal dialogues, as the case may be.
The preferencing of ideas and world building over characters in sci-fi is the reason why in the Netflix series of Three Body Problem they had to combine and re-write various characters in the story since in Liu Cixin's original there are only a very small number of characters who are really developed at all and even these are not contemporaneous (i.e Luo Ji appears in the second and third books but not the first, Yun Tianming only appears in the third). Most of the characters are introduced, hang around for a bit and then disappear never to be heard from again. This would make for very confusing watch for a TV audience.
George Alec Effinger's "Budayeen" series, Steven Barnes' "Streetlethal/Gorgon Child/etc", Mike Resnick's "Santiago: A Myth Of The Far Future (kind of a Western Frontier Cyberpunk - also a touch of R.A. Lafferty's Space Chantey in there as well, being a series of tall tales with a darkly humorous bent - you'll get that when you get to "What did you cut him with!?!").
Scavengers Reign. It's one of the most magnificent "cyberpunk" TV Shows I have ever seen. It's 12 episodes, so beautiful, the French artist Moebius would have lost his mind seeing it (in the best kind of way). The alien planet they created on it, and the "animals" is from the most gorgeous to the horrifically scary. It has scenes so calming and others beyond terrifying. It is on MAX, but they canceled season 2. Netflix bought it and will release it on 31 May 2024. If it's successful there, it will get a second season. PLEASE watch it. We need to tell studio's that this is what we as cyberpunk fans want and need. #scavengersreign
Thanks for making this video. I LOVED Neuromancer and for some reason Audible recommended Mona Lisa Overdrive afterwards and I didn't realize it was out of order until I was almost done with it. I was pisssssed but decided to just skip out on Count Zero because of how I didn't really enjoy Mona Lisa Overdrive. I'll go back and read Count Zero now!
In the late-ish 1980's I came across and loved a "cyberpunk" quad-"rillogy" called 'Horn', but I don't remember the author's name. All four books were pretty good. The world in them greatly mirrored our own NOW and forecast a lot of what we have in technology. So basically the book was 40-50 years ahead of its time. Cyber-technology wasn't as prevalent in their world, but it was slowly (and subtly) being integrated into the world. 'Horn' was former cop with a cybernetic arm, because he lost his flesh arm on the job. He's a detective now, like Magnum P.I. He's secretly upgraded his low-tech arm for an illegal high-tech arm. One of the things I recall was there was a bounty hunter nicknamed 'The Boogey Man'. All people in the book (in civilized areas) were implanted with a computer chip in their hands at birth, not unlike the tracking chip up in pets, like dogs & cats. The government can track everyone all the time. Large drones with sniper rifles fly overhead in most cities, killing wanted criminals who have arrest warrants out on them. The Boogey Man hunts these criminals down before the drones can find them, and hacks off the criminal's hand (which has the implanted tracking chip) & he turns the hands into the police for a reward. Horn is hired to find a wanted person before the drones or the Boogey Man gets him first.
I remember reading the first issue if neuromancer. After reading it i knew that this is a groundbreaking genre defining masterpiece. I was so looking forward for the release of the other two books of the trilogy.
Well done! I re-read this and Gibson’s subsequent trilogies about every three or four years. My take is that his primary genius is his ability to observe, extrapolate and integrate culture and technology, and build worlds that seem to be inevitable. His characters and plots are secondary.
I agree, his world building is very strong and his ability to integrate culture into his work is really unique. Although he is not the most amazing author at character development, he is for sure a standout in Sci-Fi !
Haha glad we agree it was a masterpiece. I think anyone who is a large fan of the cyberpunk genre would know this book, but as other comments said, from a pop point of view this one is overshadowed quite badly by Neuromancer. I was considering including a metric from Google trends, which shows relevency over time and count-zero under performs compared to cyberpunk (Neuromancer) and sci fi counterparts (Three Body Problem) ! Thanks for the comment :)
Count Zero turned me into a Goth. Well, actually, I kinda already WAS, but--being that I grew up in rural southwestern Pennsylvania--I didn't really have a name to put to it, until I read that novel and said: "Hey, those guys are a gang I would totally run with."
Liking the content! Your intro and breakdown of what count zero is at the beginning, contrasted with the problems of modern sci fi was really solid. I haven't read Neuromancer/Count Zero but the dynamic of the characters and world building makes it seem like so much beyond imagination could happen. Plus that last quote makes me think of Ghost in the Shell plus with idea of Cyberpunk 2077 also sounds like it could've been an AI speaking.
Thank you ! Yea my main focus will always be the writing of the video, I like to think I am getting better. Your intuition is correct about the last quote, I'd strong recommend both books and the conclusion Mona Lisa Overdrive. Yea, thanks for your time and giving my videos a shot :)
Bruce Sterling and his Shaper/Mechanist universe geets you. The final compilation published as Schismatrix Plus is the book that represents the staple of the genre for me, just right to 2nd Gibson. If you haven''t read it yet, definitely check it out.
Schismatrix Plus is a regular re-read for me about once a decade. On a related note, the latest season Love, Death + Robots has an adaptation of the short story "Swarm."
Having recently re-read the whole trilogy, Count Zero is definitely my favorite. You can really see Gibson's maturity as a writer in this one. (And I love the character art in this video!)
I've always liked _Count Zero_ the most and _Neuromancer_ the least of the "Sprawl Trilogy" and I've always been surprised at how little recognition for excellence it gets. But then I'm a guy who thinks that _Return of the Jedi_ is the best-directed Star Wars film to date, surpassing even _The Empire Strikes Back_ for filmmaking acumen. _Monalisa Overdrive_ is also a masterpiece that doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
Mona Lisa overdrive is a really strong final entry to the trilogy for sure, just like Return of the Jedi ! Generally I think conclusions are hard to execute and critized harder than than the rest of the series. So yea !
I'm glad there is some love for ROTJ. I like Empire, don't get me wrong. But ROTJ just is a perfect movie in itself. If you think about it. Someone could pick it up as their first Star Wars film and watch it completely without knowing anything about the first 2. To me, that just shows great writing and direction. And it annoys me that it doesn't get that love. And the Ewoks are not that Bad. pepple act like they are the main protagonists at times. But I do find SW fans to be ironically very trend following sheeple types in their cynicism about everything SW. I love Solo. Sue me.
I’ve read Count Zero several times.. It introduces some more of those ideas humanity has raced to make real, but I always felt it was an “in between” episode.. I like your take, you’ve given me things to consider..👍
I chanced across both Gibson's and Stephenson's first novels at a bookstore one day in September of 1984, a lucky day the likes of which I've never been able to hit again. I'd say that Gibson is an unsurpassed prose stylist when he really goes for it, and he has his own ways of using highly specific details in his scene-setting, and he makes new or unusual concepts the story's centerpiece to an unusual degree. As to his characterization, he plays very close to archetype, yielding up some iconic characters, and they really feel like people who have their own agency and make choices independently of what the plot may require. At the same time, I always felt that he does what a lot of sf writers do, which is tell you the character when he could let you observe it. I don't mean that as a huge complaint, since he's my favorite sf writer for decades, maybe of all time. Just a thing I've noticed.
I have often heard that Gibsons voice is very clear in his books. I agree, the prose and the style of writing he uses is very unique and I think excellent. Admitively, it can be confusing !
5 місяців тому+1
How much do you think that a true to his later books? I am thinking of Pattern Recognition and Spook Country here that I have read, not his latest works.
I struggled with Pattern Recognition and gave up 44 pages in (I still remember that number 10+ years later), as I felt like I was reading a bad pastiche of Gibson's unique style in the Sprawl and Bridge trilogies. It was like how I'd write if I was pretending to have Gibson's earlier edge. Kind of burnt me out of trying Spook Country, though it still sits on a shelf with the rest of Gibson's stuff. In could just be me though, and in particular I'm aware that as I get older I have less patience for the "keep absolutely everything that's going on a mystery" plot style.
I love this book. One of my favorite reads ever. I think it's about time they adapt all three of his books either into three movies or a miniseries over 3 years
I have read all of William Gibson's books. I still have the original Neuromancer computer game that was created for the 286-12Mhz PC on 5.25 floppy. Yeah, I am that old.
Thanks for the reminder. I remember thinking Count Zero was a bit better than Neuromancer. I didn't care for Mono Lisa to much. But Burning Chrome, short story collection, was very good and showed off his character development.
I felt this. Nueromancer is an all time great for me. I played CP 2077 before reading it and realized how mind blowingly foundational Gibson was for the genre. Count zero was kinda tough to read but I'll try again.
Fun fact - I read Count Zero first, because Neuromancer was out of print for some time in my market and copies where hard to find and had to be imported at some expense ... I agree, its a fine book in its own right.
From memory, I personally like Neuromancer more since I connected with Case more than any of the characters in Count Zero or Mona Lisa. I liked the arc of him going from wanting to kill himself to slowly regaining his humanity through all the chaos and Molly’s kindness. Count Zero always had a better plot and world building, in my opinion. I can imagine it working as a TV show or movie more than Neuromancer would. Contrary to the video, I actually found the worldbuilding stronger in Count Zero and the characters much weaker. Though it was so cool how each protagonist had their own subgenre tied to their arcs. And Bobby was funny I don’t remember Mona Lisa Overdrive very much. It felt like a step down in stakes honestly, but I still remember enjoying it especially for the child perspective and Mona Lisa’s plot of becoming a clone of Angie. All around an amazing trilogy that still influences me today. The short stories were great too, especially New Rose Hotel
Im glad someone highlighted it, reading that trilogy Count Zero was a treat from beginning to end in a way that Neuromancer couldn't because of its closed POV and fever dream sexually driven world expansion and Mona Lisa was a bit too disconnected albeit both are still incredibly enjoyable. Count Zero, for me, was just so well written, clean, clear from the start and each plot added so much texture to the world. It's really a masterclass in world building through POVs while making each character compelling and each POV unique through their context. Count Zero is probably my favorite non-modern sci-fi novel, I need to reread it but I came out of every reading of it floored and excited and satisfied. I binged the heck out of it. Im still vibing more with this new wing of Sci-fi in the 'new-weird' movement going on with books like the Area X trilogy...but damn if the Sprawl Trilogy hasn't influenced me greatly.
I have re-read the trilogy every 2 to 3 years and always find new excellence. Count Zero used to be my least favourite, but the last few read throughs have definitely brought me to the side of it being the stronger of the 3 books. Great video!
**SPOILER** I remember this book years later: especially the scene of the AI "building" art stuck with me - and it is incredibly relevant now. Totally agree on the character and world-building issue - a lot of sci-fi was always just someone running with a cool idea (I love Asimov, but his characters were 2D), the really great sci-fi stories have cool ideas, but with real people in them.
I have always thought that Count Zero was equal to Neroumancer, so thank you for giving it some airtime. Several times, I have suggested to other YTubers that I review Count Zero would be welcome, but it always seems to fall on deaf ears. The story is just as compelling but tighter. In Neuromancer, by necessity, he focused more on the world-building. For me, Neuromancer took three to four reads to get it, and Count Zero took about two😀. What makes Count Zero (and Neuromancer) especially interesting is the question of AI and its impact on society. I would love to see a review of The Algebraist by Banks.
@@ifelse10110 Now that I am on a roll, for me, Gibson spoiled SiFi. Because he is such a superb prose stylist. And let's face it, not many SiFi writers are at his level. That is why I mentioned Banks. Keep it up--thanks.
Knew after the first sentence that this was about Count Zero. From first sentence is absolutely breakneck. One of my fav’s certainly; always surprised when folks haven’t read it.
I will review it eventually ! Its certainly not overlooked though, and has amazing characterization. It was actually the series which sent me down the Cyberpunk rabbit hole !
Love the story of Neuromancer, struggled with his prose. I consistently had a difficult time keeping up with what was ACTUALLY happening in the world and feel like a missed critical details even after rereading. Kinda wish I could see how it would read if it was penned by PKD or Clarke
So I read Neuromancer when it was first published in 1986 and was blown away by it. About two months ago I dusted off my paperback copy of it (which it turns out is a first edition btw) and read it again. Once again I was blown way by it. I cannot believe how well it has stood the test of time. An absolute masterpiece that single-handedly started an entire new genre of science fiction. It’s still so contemporary it could’ve been released last week. There was nothing that even came close to it back when it was first released and IMO there’s only been a few other SF novels that have come close since then. Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks being one of them.anyway mate thanks for the vid, will dust off Count Zero (probably also a 1st edition lol ) and v]give it another go. I remember being a little disappointed with it as a sequel back in the day but it truly had some big boots to fill…
I read all three books but the only one I can remember is Mona Lisa Overdrive, it turns out. I had to look up the synopsis for the first two and remember the story but thought all of it happened in the last book.
I'd recommend giving them another try, this was my second read of the trilogy and it's honestly better than I remember. Maybe Im just more experience and matured... able to appreciate it more now.
You might want to check out Burning Chrome as well. It's a collection of short stories by Gibson set in the same universe. Some retroactively as they came out before Neuromancer, but it's clearly the same setting.
Count zero was the first cyberpunk book I've read, in Dutch, called biochips. Besides from some wonky translations I was immediately hooked and got the trioligy in English.
@@ifelse10110 It was more by coincidence, I buy most books at thriftstores and fleamarkets so it can happen I start in the middle of a series. Sometimes that can be anoying but Count Zero works well as a stand alone story.
The bedrock of my reading history I really should return to the well once again. Given your output I do expect a video on GITS, the true heir to Blade Runner.
I read Neuromancer for the first time last month and loved it. Just got done with Count Zero and it kind of blew me away how much more I enjoyed it. Where is the artwork in this video from btw?
I'll for sure get around to it. I think there will be two videos in between as I have not started writing about it yet ! I haven't read it in a while but I remember it being a strong conclusion
You just say: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." And everyone knows it. Everyone. Good job going past Neuromancer and deep into the whole trilogy.
Neuromancer is the book where cyberpunk is born, Count Zero is the book where it comes of age and becomes a powerhouse. Monalisa is the book where that powerhouse rewrites all the code and changes the rules of scifi forever.
This! 🤘🏻💀🤘🏻
You guys aren't even going to mention Dick at all?
Go lookup Rudy Rucker. 2 years before Neuromancer he won the PKD award for his cyberpunk novel Software. Also Akira and Blade Runner both preceded Neuromancer.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep started it nearly 20 yrs earlier.
How can you mention the birth of Cyberpunk and completely forget about Philip K. Dick?
the whole Pacifica area area of the Cyberpunk game and the VooDoo boys are pure Count Zero
Yup, and they have one of my favourite choiices Netwatch vs Voodoo boys. Who do you trust ? One of the only corpos in the game who doesn't seem to be lying.
@@ifelse10110 They're lying. Militech, Arasaka and Cynosure all have access to post-blackwall AI advancement. The only reason they want the voodoos to not be able to cross like other companies is because they'd learn the others are already doing it. The only solution is fry the agent, zero the gang and never look back.
Fun fact prior to the trilogy William Gibson wrote several stories including Johnny Mnemonic which chronologically is the 1st story in the series.
The Burning Chrome short story collection has a few stories set in the Sprawl universe. Johnny Mnemonic is one. Burning Chrome (the short story after which the collection is named) is another one. If I remember correctly, "Fragments of a Hologram Rose" (William Gibson's first short story) and "Dogfight" are others. There may be others but those are the ones I remember.
Sally Shears & Molly Millions are the same person.
@@Leo-sd3jt Yea, i own an old copy pretty worn out^^ Dogfight is ahead of it's time. Reading that as a teen was so mind boggling.
I think the ABSOLUTELY first story is "Fragments of a Hologram Rose" in overlooked masterpiece collection of short stories, Burning Chrome, here "Johnny Mnemonic" is to be found...Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive, the "Sprawk Trilogy" absolutely changed my life in the early Nineties when I discovered them! They also inspire me to learn Japanese :).
Fun fact: Your grandmother _already knows how to suck eggs!_
(Hee-hee! I am _such an asshole!!)_
I'm reading neuromancer for the first time, and I think what has interested me more than the all the fantastic sci-fi and predicting-the-future, is simply how Gibson writes. There are some paragraphs that make me feel things that I didn't realise a book could make me feel.
He is very stylized, and very unique in his writing.
The sky above the port was the color of television tuned to a dead channel
@@shaftomite007 My favourite is when he meets Linda - "He'd found her, one rainy night, in an arcade ... mouth touched with hot gold as a gliding cursor struck sparks from the wall of a skyscraper canyon"
Its so Cyberpunk, but eons before it was fully realised. Just incredible stuff
I like how you told me a story without having hit the plot details specifically. Makes me able to consider reading it now
Thanks man ! I try to be vague so I dont give too much away :)
For many years, my handle was Wintermute.
And I've pulled many a "Wilson" in my time.
Count Zero is absolutely a masterpiece. Nice to see someone saying it.
Nice to see some agreement !
It is absolutely stunning, and it's always amazed me how it isn't more widely championed
Hard Wired by Walter John Williams was also iconic when it was published. Whilst not as elegant as Gibson's writing a lot of people found it a more accessible route into cyberpunk back in the 80s. Nevertheless the opening lines of Neuromancer, and the world therein, have remained stuck in my head in a way only exceeded by Orwell's 1984 (which I would argue could almost be seen as proto cyberpunk).
That description of the sky is so powerful, and to think there are two generations now that can never comtextualize it
I always thought of Walter Jon Williams as more on the Action Movie side of Cyberpunk (see also: K.W. Jeter). More cinematic than Gibson's internal monologues. Or internal dialogues, as the case may be.
@@polish2x91 they believe the sky is completely blue, a lovely sunny day.
@AxeMan808 Dr Adder is cyberpunk's father
Yes hardwired and voice of whirlwind, are real forgotten ones. Not Gibson, never Gibson.
Count Zero is not only my favorite book by William Gibson, it may be my favorite book, period.
The preferencing of ideas and world building over characters in sci-fi is the reason why in the Netflix series of Three Body Problem they had to combine and re-write various characters in the story since in Liu Cixin's original there are only a very small number of characters who are really developed at all and even these are not contemporaneous (i.e Luo Ji appears in the second and third books but not the first, Yun Tianming only appears in the third). Most of the characters are introduced, hang around for a bit and then disappear never to be heard from again. This would make for very confusing watch for a TV audience.
Count Zero laid the foundation of Cyberpunk’s (the tabletop game and 2077) solo. Turner is a solo.
I never thought of it that way ! That's actually really cool, yea turner is the original solo
Big time. Similarly John Shirley's Eclipse trilogy is clearly the genesis of the Rockerboy role.
George Alec Effinger's "Budayeen" series, Steven Barnes' "Streetlethal/Gorgon Child/etc", Mike Resnick's "Santiago: A Myth Of The Far Future (kind of a Western Frontier Cyberpunk - also a touch of R.A. Lafferty's Space Chantey in there as well, being a series of tall tales with a darkly humorous bent - you'll get that when you get to "What did you cut him with!?!").
Scavengers Reign. It's one of the most magnificent "cyberpunk" TV Shows I have ever seen. It's 12 episodes, so beautiful, the French artist Moebius would have lost his mind seeing it (in the best kind of way). The alien planet they created on it, and the "animals" is from the most gorgeous to the horrifically scary. It has scenes so calming and others beyond terrifying. It is on MAX, but they canceled season 2. Netflix bought it and will release it on 31 May 2024. If it's successful there, it will get a second season. PLEASE watch it. We need to tell studio's that this is what we as cyberpunk fans want and need. #scavengersreign
Ok I will add it to the queue of recommendations :) Looks good !
It really is a remarkable show and I highly recommend it but I didn't think of it as cyberpunk in the slightest.
It's Fantastical Hard Sci-Fi. Not a touch of cyberpunk other than keeping secrets and....spoilers avoided.
I watched it, great show, very thought provoking and foreign
Thanks for making this video. I LOVED Neuromancer and for some reason Audible recommended Mona Lisa Overdrive afterwards and I didn't realize it was out of order until I was almost done with it. I was pisssssed but decided to just skip out on Count Zero because of how I didn't really enjoy Mona Lisa Overdrive. I'll go back and read Count Zero now!
It's excellent and posibbly the best of the three !
In the late-ish 1980's I came across and loved a "cyberpunk" quad-"rillogy" called 'Horn', but I don't remember the author's name. All four books were pretty good.
The world in them greatly mirrored our own NOW and forecast a lot of what we have in technology. So basically the book was 40-50 years ahead of its time.
Cyber-technology wasn't as prevalent in their world, but it was slowly (and subtly) being integrated into the world.
'Horn' was former cop with a cybernetic arm, because he lost his flesh arm on the job. He's a detective now, like Magnum P.I. He's secretly upgraded his low-tech arm for an illegal high-tech arm.
One of the things I recall was there was a bounty hunter nicknamed 'The Boogey Man'.
All people in the book (in civilized areas) were implanted with a computer chip in their hands at birth, not unlike the tracking chip up in pets, like dogs & cats.
The government can track everyone all the time.
Large drones with sniper rifles fly overhead in most cities, killing wanted criminals who have arrest warrants out on them.
The Boogey Man hunts these criminals down before the drones can find them, and hacks off the criminal's hand (which has the implanted tracking chip) & he turns the hands into the police for a reward.
Horn is hired to find a wanted person before the drones or the Boogey Man gets him first.
Author: Ben Sloane, Titles:
1 Horn: Hot Zone Mar-1990,
2 Blown Dead
3 Outland Strip
4 Ultimate Weapon
@@LifeAtLandsEndThank you.
I remember reading the first issue if neuromancer. After reading it i knew that this is a groundbreaking genre defining masterpiece. I was so looking forward for the release of the other two books of the trilogy.
Well done! I re-read this and Gibson’s subsequent trilogies about every three or four years. My take is that his primary genius is his ability to observe, extrapolate and integrate culture and technology, and build worlds that seem to be inevitable. His characters and plots are secondary.
I agree, his world building is very strong and his ability to integrate culture into his work is really unique. Although he is not the most amazing author at character development, he is for sure a standout in Sci-Fi !
I dont think this is forgotten, but yes is a masterpiece
Far from it. I'm not sure how anyone could say that it's not talked about.
@@pythonxz it comes from people that aren’t that into cyberpunk jajaja the whole trilogy is TALKED ABOUT but this is just a Pop take.
Haha glad we agree it was a masterpiece.
I think anyone who is a large fan of the cyberpunk genre would know this book, but as other comments said, from a pop point of view this one is overshadowed quite badly by Neuromancer.
I was considering including a metric from Google trends, which shows relevency over time and count-zero under performs compared to cyberpunk (Neuromancer) and sci fi counterparts (Three Body Problem) ! Thanks for the comment :)
Count Zero turned me into a Goth. Well, actually, I kinda already WAS, but--being that I grew up in rural southwestern Pennsylvania--I didn't really have a name to put to it, until I read that novel and said: "Hey, those guys are a gang I would totally run with."
Haha, i love a good origin story: 'So I read this book once...'
Totally agree that Count Zero is the best of the trilogy! I've always said that, and stand by it. Glad to see someone else agrees.
Liking the content! Your intro and breakdown of what count zero is at the beginning, contrasted with the problems of modern sci fi was really solid. I haven't read Neuromancer/Count Zero but the dynamic of the characters and world building makes it seem like so much beyond imagination could happen. Plus that last quote makes me think of Ghost in the Shell plus with idea of Cyberpunk 2077 also sounds like it could've been an AI speaking.
Thank you ! Yea my main focus will always be the writing of the video, I like to think I am getting better. Your intuition is correct about the last quote, I'd strong recommend both books and the conclusion Mona Lisa Overdrive. Yea, thanks for your time and giving my videos a shot :)
Bruce Sterling and his Shaper/Mechanist universe geets you. The final compilation published as Schismatrix Plus is the book that represents the staple of the genre for me, just right to 2nd Gibson. If you haven''t read it yet, definitely check it out.
Added to my list :) Thank you
Schismatrix Plus is a regular re-read for me about once a decade. On a related note, the latest season Love, Death + Robots has an adaptation of the short story "Swarm."
Having recently re-read the whole trilogy, Count Zero is definitely my favorite. You can really see Gibson's maturity as a writer in this one. (And I love the character art in this video!)
Agreed, I think the first book he had to devote too much time to world building and here we get to better see how characters interact with this world.
Excellent style, man. Love it. Gonna bust open these books again soon and get back to the roots.
I've always liked _Count Zero_ the most and _Neuromancer_ the least of the "Sprawl Trilogy" and I've always been surprised at how little recognition for excellence it gets. But then I'm a guy who thinks that _Return of the Jedi_ is the best-directed Star Wars film to date, surpassing even _The Empire Strikes Back_ for filmmaking acumen.
_Monalisa Overdrive_ is also a masterpiece that doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
Mona Lisa overdrive is a really strong final entry to the trilogy for sure, just like Return of the Jedi ! Generally I think conclusions are hard to execute and critized harder than than the rest of the series. So yea !
I'm glad there is some love for ROTJ. I like Empire, don't get me wrong. But ROTJ just is a perfect movie in itself. If you think about it. Someone could pick it up as their first Star Wars film and watch it completely without knowing anything about the first 2.
To me, that just shows great writing and direction. And it annoys me that it doesn't get that love. And the Ewoks are not that Bad. pepple act like they are the main protagonists at times.
But I do find SW fans to be ironically very trend following sheeple types in their cynicism about everything SW.
I love Solo. Sue me.
I’ve read Count Zero several times.. It introduces some more of those ideas humanity has raced to make real, but I always felt it was an “in between” episode..
I like your take, you’ve given me things to consider..👍
I'm adding this books to my tbr. I'll comeback and comment on it when I've read it.
Well done vid - thank you. I read these books many moons ago and had forgotten how good they are.
The first chapter of Count Zero is perfect
I chanced across both Gibson's and Stephenson's first novels at a bookstore one day in September of 1984, a lucky day the likes of which I've never been able to hit again. I'd say that Gibson is an unsurpassed prose stylist when he really goes for it, and he has his own ways of using highly specific details in his scene-setting, and he makes new or unusual concepts the story's centerpiece to an unusual degree. As to his characterization, he plays very close to archetype, yielding up some iconic characters, and they really feel like people who have their own agency and make choices independently of what the plot may require. At the same time, I always felt that he does what a lot of sf writers do, which is tell you the character when he could let you observe it. I don't mean that as a huge complaint, since he's my favorite sf writer for decades, maybe of all time. Just a thing I've noticed.
I have often heard that Gibsons voice is very clear in his books. I agree, the prose and the style of writing he uses is very unique and I think excellent. Admitively, it can be confusing !
How much do you think that a true to his later books? I am thinking of Pattern Recognition and Spook Country here that I have read, not his latest works.
I haven't read any of his later works, but from what I gathered while doing furhter research for this video it remains true.
I struggled with Pattern Recognition and gave up 44 pages in (I still remember that number 10+ years later), as I felt like I was reading a bad pastiche of Gibson's unique style in the Sprawl and Bridge trilogies. It was like how I'd write if I was pretending to have Gibson's earlier edge. Kind of burnt me out of trying Spook Country, though it still sits on a shelf with the rest of Gibson's stuff. In could just be me though, and in particular I'm aware that as I get older I have less patience for the "keep absolutely everything that's going on a mystery" plot style.
I'll have to look at those later books again.
Really well made video!!! Keep up the great work!!!!
Absolutely agreed! I love the whole trilogy, but "Count Zero" really is "the jewel in the crown". 🤗
Count Zero is the best book in the trilogy - I was lucky enough to read it after Burning Chrome but before Neuromancer
Great presentation, thank you for that. I look forward to reading Count Zero in the summer.
thanks :)
Not really forgotten.. Apple is making a series
Yes! I love Count Zero and have been developing visual material for it for a few years. Trying to feel out the right vibe for some of its key scenes.
I love this book. One of my favorite reads ever. I think it's about time they adapt all three of his books either into three movies or a miniseries over 3 years
Great to see this. CZ has always been my favorite book in the trilogy.
Thanks !
I have read all of William Gibson's books. I still have the original Neuromancer computer game that was created for the 286-12Mhz PC on 5.25 floppy. Yeah, I am that old.
I sure AF haven't forgotten reading it in the 90's
Thanks for the reminder. I remember thinking Count Zero was a bit better than Neuromancer. I didn't care for Mono Lisa to much. But Burning Chrome, short story collection, was very good and showed off his character development.
I felt this. Nueromancer is an all time great for me. I played CP 2077 before reading it and realized how mind blowingly foundational Gibson was for the genre. Count zero was kinda tough to read but I'll try again.
Definitly a book which becomes better on second pass
I've actually read Neuromancer multiple times, but I never got around to Count Zero. Been meaning too for a while now, I'll take this as a sign!
Fun fact - I read Count Zero first, because Neuromancer was out of print for some time in my market and copies where hard to find and had to be imported at some expense ... I agree, its a fine book in its own right.
Count Zero is supremely well written. Honestly, it’s my favorite of all Gibson’s books.
From memory, I personally like Neuromancer more since I connected with Case more than any of the characters in Count Zero or Mona Lisa. I liked the arc of him going from wanting to kill himself to slowly regaining his humanity through all the chaos and Molly’s kindness.
Count Zero always had a better plot and world building, in my opinion. I can imagine it working as a TV show or movie more than Neuromancer would. Contrary to the video, I actually found the worldbuilding stronger in Count Zero and the characters much weaker. Though it was so cool how each protagonist had their own subgenre tied to their arcs. And Bobby was funny
I don’t remember Mona Lisa Overdrive very much. It felt like a step down in stakes honestly, but I still remember enjoying it especially for the child perspective and Mona Lisa’s plot of becoming a clone of Angie.
All around an amazing trilogy that still influences me today. The short stories were great too, especially New Rose Hotel
i loved neuromancer, so when i seen its a trilogy i paused the video and ordered the other two books
Im sure GIbson is happy :) Glad I helped in some way and I hope you enjoy them !
Good Job! Well Done! It's been too long since I've the trilogy, or any subsequent gibson, so I have nothing to add besides I like what you just did!
Thank you :)
I recently read the trilogy and completely agree.
Damn I bought the sprawl trilogy, read Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive and never got around to Count-Zero.
Guess I will and get back to this one
Im glad someone highlighted it, reading that trilogy Count Zero was a treat from beginning to end in a way that Neuromancer couldn't because of its closed POV and fever dream sexually driven world expansion and Mona Lisa was a bit too disconnected albeit both are still incredibly enjoyable. Count Zero, for me, was just so well written, clean, clear from the start and each plot added so much texture to the world. It's really a masterclass in world building through POVs while making each character compelling and each POV unique through their context.
Count Zero is probably my favorite non-modern sci-fi novel, I need to reread it but I came out of every reading of it floored and excited and satisfied. I binged the heck out of it. Im still vibing more with this new wing of Sci-fi in the 'new-weird' movement going on with books like the Area X trilogy...but damn if the Sprawl Trilogy hasn't influenced me greatly.
Love the deathburger cover art.
Neuromancer was instrumental in my development of onosendai and the cyberspace protocol
Another book of Gibsons I don’t hear talked about enough is Idoru. The second in the bridge trilogy which is also a very very good read.
I have re-read the trilogy every 2 to 3 years and always find new excellence. Count Zero used to be my least favourite, but the last few read throughs have definitely brought me to the side of it being the stronger of the 3 books. Great video!
Thank you so much for watching the video ! Yea its my favorite of the three for sure.
I got gooosebumps reading it. Myth in the making. I read it late and saw the future being createed.
**SPOILER**
I remember this book years later: especially the scene of the AI "building" art stuck with me - and it is incredibly relevant now.
Totally agree on the character and world-building issue - a lot of sci-fi was always just someone running with a cool idea (I love Asimov, but his characters were 2D), the really great sci-fi stories have cool ideas, but with real people in them.
I realised I don't remember enough from Count Zero. Oh well, I guess I will have to read it again 😁
Neuromancer ain't forgotten mate I had to studied it in school only a couple years ago.
Its, provocative - It gets the people going !
Lucky, had i read scfi in school years ago, i would of been more engaged. Instead I got Mice and men. 😑
@DrumToTheBassWoop damn, my prescribed texts were neuromancer, dune, & bladerunner for sci fi. It was great.
I have always thought that Count Zero was equal to Neroumancer, so thank you for giving it some airtime. Several times, I have suggested to other YTubers that I review Count Zero would be welcome, but it always seems to fall on deaf ears. The story is just as compelling but tighter. In Neuromancer, by necessity, he focused more on the world-building. For me, Neuromancer took three to four reads to get it, and Count Zero took about two😀.
What makes Count Zero (and Neuromancer) especially interesting is the question of AI and its impact on society.
I would love to see a review of The Algebraist by Banks.
I will for sure check it out, I have a very long list at the moment but I'll add it to the queue :)
@@ifelse10110 Now that I am on a roll, for me, Gibson spoiled SiFi. Because he is such a superb prose stylist. And let's face it, not many SiFi writers are at his level. That is why I mentioned Banks. Keep it up--thanks.
thank you, i did not know about these books. just watched my nephew play cyber punk.
Knew after the first sentence that this was about Count Zero. From first sentence is absolutely breakneck. One of my fav’s certainly; always surprised when folks haven’t read it.
I re-read all of Wm Gibsons books every couple of years. My favorite version though is Neuromancer on tape read by Gibson.
I love your story telling.
Robert Heinlein's Friday is a harbinger of Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners slowly creeps out of the room and into the shadows, notes in hand....
I will review it eventually ! Its certainly not overlooked though, and has amazing characterization. It was actually the series which sent me down the Cyberpunk rabbit hole !
@@ifelse10110 Welcome to the shadows, chumski. Wherever you go, always shoot straight, conserve ammo and never ever cut a deal with a dragon. o7
@@danyael777 Yes! That! And geek the mage first!
The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner
i been wanting to read these for a while
Love the story of Neuromancer, struggled with his prose. I consistently had a difficult time keeping up with what was ACTUALLY happening in the world and feel like a missed critical details even after rereading. Kinda wish I could see how it would read if it was penned by PKD or Clarke
So I read Neuromancer when it was first published in 1986 and was blown away by it. About two months ago I dusted off my paperback copy of it (which it turns out is a first edition btw) and read it again. Once again I was blown way by it. I cannot believe how well it has stood the test of time. An absolute masterpiece that single-handedly started an entire new genre of science fiction. It’s still so contemporary it could’ve been released last week. There was nothing that even came close to it back when it was first released and IMO there’s only been a few other SF novels that have come close since then. Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks being one of them.anyway mate thanks for the vid, will dust off Count Zero (probably also a 1st edition lol ) and v]give it another go. I remember being a little disappointed with it as a sequel back in the day but it truly had some big boots to fill…
There was a fantastic version of Neuromancer on Commodore 64!
Not even heard of Count Zero. I’ll have to track it down.
I read all three books but the only one I can remember is Mona Lisa Overdrive, it turns out. I had to look up the synopsis for the first two and remember the story but thought all of it happened in the last book.
I'd recommend giving them another try, this was my second read of the trilogy and it's honestly better than I remember. Maybe Im just more experience and matured... able to appreciate it more now.
As far as I remember (it's been a long time), when I read the Neuromancer trilogy, I liked Count Zero most. Really need to read it again
The killer line from Count Zero Interrupt is a bit further in: "It's not that cash was illegal, it was just that no-one did anything legal with it."
I have read Neuromancer but not Count Zero or Mona Lisa Overdrive. I will have to add it to my read list. Great video.
I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for the comment :)
Both his trilogies are pretty good and recommended
You might want to check out Burning Chrome as well. It's a collection of short stories by Gibson set in the same universe. Some retroactively as they came out before Neuromancer, but it's clearly the same setting.
Random trivia: Warcraft 1 game has a cheat code to reveal the entire map: Sally Shears
Those Deathburger covers go hard.
I agree with you. Count Zero was the best book of the trilogy.
Count zero was the first cyberpunk book I've read, in Dutch, called biochips. Besides from some wonky translations I was immediately hooked and got the trioligy in English.
It was my second - wish I started with it. Neuromancer is a little bit difficult in comparison..
@@ifelse10110 It was more by coincidence, I buy most books at thriftstores and fleamarkets so it can happen I start in the middle of a series. Sometimes that can be anoying but Count Zero works well as a stand alone story.
6:30 Subterranean Howl - Elphnt
In case anyone might want to listen to it.
please, after doing mona lisa overdrive, do gibsons bridge trilogy.
It's on the queue :) I'll finish off the series soon !
The bedrock of my reading history I really should return to the well once again.
Given your output I do expect a video on GITS, the true heir to Blade Runner.
One day, I'll review GITs for sure :) I might actually use that as the title 'True heir to Blade Runner' !
Count zero was my fav of the series
Who in their right mind calls Cyberpunk 2077 light on character building?!!?! It's greatest strength is likely just that!
It’s definitely not.
I want to buy that trilogy, those specific books (with those specific covers), does anyone knows where can I get them? Or the ISBN?
We are all entitled to our own opinions. "Burning Chrome is one of Gibson's most overlooked works.
For sure, many dont agree with me, but thats fine and encouraged as this video is purely a review/opinion.
Where is the artwork in your video from? Looks great.
I discovered the artist and the author from a Thumbnail on a QOTSA remix of "Make It wit Chu"
Very nice content, I was just wondering where do you get the artwork from?
I was wondering the same thing. I'd buy books with this kind of cover art.
@@kevingriffin3628 Yeah, I was thinking how cool a cyberpunk comic series with this art style would be.
AI generated, unfortunately.
yeah, Count Zero was my fav too 👍
Шикарный визуал, как и сама подача
I read Neuromancer for the first time last month and loved it. Just got done with Count Zero and it kind of blew me away how much more I enjoyed it.
Where is the artwork in this video from btw?
Excellent video! What's your source for the images, though? looked as if they're from a graphic novel, but I couldn't find anything
Do Mona Lisa! Do Mona Lisa!
Yea haha he might as well complete the trilogy at this stage
I'll for sure get around to it. I think there will be two videos in between as I have not started writing about it yet ! I haven't read it in a while but I remember it being a strong conclusion
Big fan of this series!! Is the art in this video from a graphic novel adaptation?
You just say: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
And everyone knows it. Everyone.
Good job going past Neuromancer and deep into the whole trilogy.
Wow I thought it was common knowledge that count zero is a masterwork. Crazy.
I think his Virtual Light series was a bit* overlooked.
Definitely think the Sprawl trilogy is popular Canon
Man, Ill have to check it out now, I have a terribly long queue of rrecommendations...
Absolutly agree