NEUROMANCER - RAVE REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- My review of the book that inspired Cyberpunk 2077, NEUROMANCER! This was written by William Gibson and boy did I like it. Let me know what you think of this science fiction classic and monolith of the Cyberpunk subgenre.
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Gibson*
Lol
Does this mean you'll do an author interview with him in the future?
I kept thinking of the guitarist Billy Gibbons.
we knew what you meant lol
Gibbons*
Take a shot every time Daniel says gibbons
Cool, I'm dead!
you could be arrested for this suggestion.
he sayed biggons? gibbons? That was a gubbins, yep he sayd it. yep. drink
Try a shot everytime he says nuisance in most of his videos its brutal how drunk u can get
Saw your comment, so I took a toke off the bowl each time instead. And then had to pause as I coughed my ass off, before starting the video back up. Took WAYYYY too long to watch this video LOL, but I feel great!
I saw a show where they interviewed Gibson and he talked about how he wrote Neuromancer and the next book on a typewriter. He had never used a computer and assumed them to be far more advanced and magical. So when he did get his first computer and turned it on, he heard a strange noise from it and took it back to the store. There he was told the noise was from the fan. "They use fans? They need to cool? Don't they use like spinning crystals and cold fusion etc?". But he said it was good that he did not know more about computers when he started writing, as that would just have limited his visions.
He also mentioned how fans of his books assumed that he was some super cool mega hacker, so once he was in a mall to sign his book and he saw this big biker like dude walk towards him with a very well read and worn copy of Neuromancer. For each step he got closer to William, the man looked more and more disappointed until he was finally there. With a sigh he handed Gibson the book and with sadness in his voice said "I guess you can sign it anyway..."
Never meet your heroes, biker dude.
That's hilarious. I guess you really don't need to know what you're writing it just has to sound plausible enough.
I was going to tell that story but you got there first. Still pretty cool.
You're remembering the 1990 (the year, not the decade) documentary called "Cyberpunk" that can be found here on UA-cam. Gibson got a computer, plugged it in, and heard a grinding, chunking sound so he called tech support and found out the sound was from the disk drive. He realized that the technology functioned like Victorian-era phonograph and the illusion was shattered for him. Funnily enough, with flash memory, we're now closer to what he was envisioning originally. Also it's not that unusual that Neuromancer was written on a typewriter since word processors only became a thing only a few years before so typewriters were what most people had and used.
@@Leo-sd3jt Could be, even if I do not recognize the content of that documentary. But it was early 90:s that I saw the interview I mention on Swedish television about hackers, computers and the cultures around it, so hard to remember all details almost 30 years later. It is highly likely he told this story more than once back then, or maybe just that part from the Cyberpunk interview was added to this one (not impossible if both were made by BBC).
"The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead station" - Such perfect imagery. I can see it in my head immediately.
Imagine being born only 20 years ago. All you see in you imagination is a black sky with white clouds forming the word "no signal".
Do you read
@@michaelguth4007 i was born in 2001 and immediately understood what it was getting at, in fact my childhood tv went to static when it was tuned to a dead channel. That being said the sickly purple-blue of modern no signal screens would give a similar impression.
Chemtrails
@@intermonkey88 I envisioned a greyish-black colored sky when I read that line. My first thought was static, but that didn't make sense.
Didn't realise Whallian Gibber finally got that new name he was talking about. Good for him.
Daniel corrected it
😎
Who is William Gibbons? Does he play Guitar?
Inspiration for Cyberpunk 2077? It's the effing inspiration for EVERY cyberpunk story.
Except the ones that came before... unless??
@@doppelrutsch9540 what came before? Sterling maybe?
Not so much. If you look into the history of how cyberpunk began, it dates quite a while back, even within pieces of Phillip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", which was the inspiration for Blade Runner.
Now if you were to ask whether Gibson work influenced a lot of cyberpunk writers after it was written, then heck yes. Also it would be interesting to look into the history of the role-playing game of Cyberpunk 2020/Red to see how it influenced Cyberpunk 2077.
@@t.a.summers Cyberpunk 2077 is literally the same setting as cyberpunk 2020
. Not just inspired, it's the same franchise.
@@MLHunt Bruce Bethke for one, coined the term Cyberpunk even
'William Gibbons"
I know 😭
Had to rewind to see if my mind glitched out
@@DanielGreeneReviews Better fix it in the description before someone blows an artery.
I did flat line for 5 seconds.
One of the best opening lines in literary history, even if it's a little outdated now.
harsh ultraviolet blue works just as well as grainy gray.
Agreed. It's up there with "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and The Gunslinger followed."
Still for me, my money goes to “It was a pleasure to burn”
I think the line was outdated when the book was published. Which...might be why it's great?
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
I haven't read this and I was curious. That's beautiful and terrifying at the same time. I love it. Thank you. I think I'm actually going to make myself read this.
Neuromancer was one of those novels one finds themselves liking while having absolutely no idea what the hell it is about.
I duno. I found it kind of a slog to get through because so much of it was going over my head. I found it incredibly difficult to understand what was going on most of the time. I enjoyed the atmosphere near the beginning of the book but once he got to the space station and all the jacking in and out of the matrix just confused the hell out of me. I am happy to of read it but also happy I am done with it lol.
@@jthomas420 I am not done with it and I was just watching videos about it to find out what it's actually about.
Gibson throws you into the deep end and expects you to swim. It’s a book that really rewards additional readings but yeah it’s rather disorienting the first time through!
Haha yeah I was confused on what was happening because it’s in such a break neck speed of plot. After I had to just read the wiki plot summary and character bios to get a little better idea on what it all came to be. Still a good read, definitely checking out the rest of the Sprawl series and his other books
I loved it the first time. Then I found the BBC radio play, and it's very good for a radio play.
aw man, my hair looked TERRIBLE in that photo
HAHAHAHA
Oh tim😂
F
Lol Tim
Yeah. Yeah it does.
Hey so that camera angle where we are constantly seeing the side of your face --- I know u r experimenting on the channel but I wasn’t a huge fan of it (Just some feedback). Broke immersion kinda, so that’s just my feelings, but u do what u wanna do
I guess is a setup he is getting used to, I do appreciate having two cameras it could make things more dynamic, but the problem is that he switchs camera at odd times and it shows the side of his face wich is weird.
I guess it should be used with some definite purpose, like clarifying something or putting empashis to a word or phrase, or when he is quoting, I don't know, and when he switches he should look to the other camera, and not just shows the side of his face.
I SECOND THIS
I too found the 2 camera set-up, in this implementation, quite distracting and made me a bit dizzy. I could see it working better in more goofy or more action type videos, like the ones with the green screen maybe, or some skits. In the sit down and talk to the camera ones I don't feel it's necessary, but I would like to be proven wrong
I also found it jarring, but can see what it was going for. I haven't noticed it being used but feel like I may have seen it used befoe so maybe the problem is how it is used rather than whether it is. Dunno.
That angle wouldn't be so immersion breaking if you could have the same or similar background, lighting and colors from the main camera angle so your white balance and quality doesn't change.
'Burning Chrome' is an anthology of some of Gibson's short stories that build up to The Sprawl. If you dig Neuromancer you should track it down.
The one about the lone astronaut floating through a particular space, waiting for the 1 in 1000 chance to get pulled into a mysterious dimension (and probably not live to tell the tale) was particularly haunting
@@user-ut9ln4vd5m Hinterlands, just literally read that story.
This is one of the most confusing books I've ever read. I felt like there were pages on pages where I didn't even know what tf was happening.😅
Ditto that. Regardless, I respected the writing style and the concepts I could understand. Like Dune, I think Neuromancer warrants at least a second read in order to fully absorb things.
Same confusing as hell.
I thought it was just me, dude. Thank you for voicing our thoughts!
Really? I had the exact opposite experience. The only thing holding the book down for me was hope simple and straight forward I found the plot.
Hahaha......come back to me when you put forth the effort to read the Illuminatus trilogy.
Dear. God. My brain hurt so much.
Good review Daniel. However, I find the new camera angle jarring which ruins the flow of the video.
Unexquistely presentered :( (jk Daniel ily)
Same
You hadn't read it?? Honestly I'm kinda jealous because I'd love to discover that universe for the first time again :D It may be cliché for some but the first sentence is etched in my mind as one of the greatest opening in sci-fi, ever. What a great, great book. Gibson is a master.
Not only in Sci-fi.
Yeah, I won't fault him for it. I was probably about his age when I picked it up. Was sitting on the shelf of paperbacks and I needed a break from sci-fi. "Eh, this is marked as a classic of sci-fi. I could use the change."
I read it again about a year back after reading it in the '90s. Still as good as ever as are all the Sprawl novels
I loved the experience of reading Neuromancer (he writes so darn pretty) but enjoyed the story of Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive even more.
The inspiration for Cyberpunk 2077 was the Cyberpunk TTRPG - not this book. Granted, Neuromancer probably influenced the genre as a whole before Pondsmith created the TTRPG, but still. The book you're reviewing is not the direct inspiration for the game that you seem to think it is.
Multiple angled shots: meh tbh
Generally when filming an "interview" or speaking down camera you want to keep your second camera between 30 and 45 degrees.
Otherwise it looks more like a jump cut and pulls the viewer out of the experience.
Hope this helps man, love your work
I dislike the side angle. Front angle is appropriate for the shape of his face.
I've never seen a channel, that isn't dedicated to filmmaking in some form, where people comment on the camera work so much...
Welcome to the cyberpunk world, chummer.
Bar none, one of the best cyberpunk novels ever published.
I think this choomba has been spending too much time in Seattle.
@@darksean99 There two types of metahumans. Ones who know to never deal with a dragon... and everyone else. ;)
@@darksean99 if you read LotR and Neuromancer in a really long night on drugs and your brain got a stack overflow...
@@logansrun1980 But is it? I mean, I could list three books that I prefer to it that I think have both better stories, characters, and commentary on what cyberpunk is trying to say. A city comes a walkin, Trouble and her Friends, Snow Crash.
Note: this was also William Gibson's first full length novel, he'd only done short stories before this
William Gibson was one of the greatest forces in changing Sci-fi "after" the new wave
The story kinda reminded me of Nolan's Inception. At the heart of Neuromancer is an elaborate heist but, there's a sci-fi twist. At the beginning the prose was kinda jarring but, by the end I fell in love with it.
P. S: "The sky was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel." That one remains as one of the best openers in the sci-fi genre
100% i thought exactly the same. All that connecting to a console and jacking in and out etc .... so many parallels!
I also was reminded of Inception near the end of the book. I gotta say it was super challenging for me to understand what was going on most of the time. I didnt enjoy it as much as I thought I would but I respect why it is lauded as such an influential novel
You've convinced me, I'll have to check it out.
If you want more cyberpunk I'd recommend "Akira" (the iconic manga) and some of Moebius' work like "The Long Tomorrow" with author Dan O'Bannon, which supposedly had a big influence on the Blade Runner movie (that said, the later one has better art than story, as is usually the case with Moebius comics).
Akira is not cyberpunk. I'll fight it till i die. Japanese cyberpunk started with apple seed and ghost in the shell.
Akira is just aesthetically close at best. Half of manga is raw Mad Max postapocalyptic setting.
@@jormungandthemidgardserpen1845 I'm not saying it's the best manga cyberpunk or the first one but just a popular (and quite good imo) read
@@sam.s.g and I'm saying it's not cyberpunk genre at all. Aesthetic at best.
@@jormungandthemidgardserpen1845 Well, I'm not a cyberpunk expert but I've seen it referenced as such in lots of places. I'm not trying to impose a label on the work, just what I've seen it called.
@@sam.s.g i mean there are only visual references. Iconic shots is all there is.
Neuromancer is heavily referenced in cyberpunk genre. From terms to plot details and certain details of the world, tech and stuff.
Since you liked Neuromancer, will you reveiw the other two Books in the Sprawl Trilogy as well?
Maybe he could do a comparison between Neuromancer and Snow Crash since they're tied together so tightly in cyberpunk history.
@@bmoneybby Neuromancer is genius, snow crash is shite. No need to thank me.
Hi Daniel, I would just like to say thank you. Given the state of the world at the moment I've been quite down and suffering from mental illness but your videos never fail to cheer me up so thanks :) keep up the great work buddy!👍
I love Neuromancer and I usually reread it once a year. It was one of the novels that inspired me to be a sci-fi writer. It definitely isn't a perfect book, but so much of it did work for me.
This genre is very much my jam. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and hope you'll check out the rest of the Sprawl trilogy and other books of his and the genre.
Cyberpunk 2077 was actually based on Cyberpunk role playing D&D type book
Which based a lot on Neuromancer
@@grayscribe1342 Just a point of order, the original TTRPG Cyberpubk 2013 was primarily inspired by the book Hardwired. Mike Pondsmith read it and based much of cyberpunk off of it. However, Neuromamcer was still a great influence on the game, and the book was influential on the book Hardwired as well. So its more removed, being more of an influence than a direct inspiration.
@@gam8859 :-)
As far as books that are somewhat foundational to the genre, I would also check out Snowcrash, by Neil Stephenson. And if you like that, I would also check out Diamond Age from Neil Stephenson, then just read Cryptonomicon, also by Neil Stephenson. Then, moving to a more modern take on Cyberpunk going into post singularity stuff, maybe go to Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge and Accelerado by Charles Stross. And now that you are sick of cyberpunk / sci fi, but want something with some fantasy in it, I recommend the Laundry series by Charles Stross.
The funny thing is that Snowcrash was already a parody of overdone cyberpunk tropes as the genre was no longer considered fresh. And the best part about Diamond Age is how the stereotypical cyberpunk protagonist just straight up dies after the first act and then it's the story of a little girl growing up.
The post-cyberpunk recs are good though.
Good choices Jesse Covner - As someone working in Computer graphics in the 90's - Snow Crash was our bible for what we wanted to create. But interestingly enough. Google Earth (also inspired by Snow Crash) may be more influential
I was just going to recommend Snowcrash. Really, all of Stephenson's books are great whether you'd consider them "cyberpunk" or not. But Snowcrash is just my absolute favorite in the genre. Big respect to Neuromancer though, obviously.
All excellent recommendations. However, _UBIK_ by PK Dick was the true foundation of cyberpunk, along with _Clans of the Alphane Moon_ and _The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch_ and a few more. Also, no love for Bruce Sterling and George Alec Effinger?
My favourite Gibson was Pattern Recognition. And Snow crash was just sheer unadulterated fun!
This book has been on my to-read list since Adam Savage has described it as one of his favorite SciFi books.
I’ve been waiting for this for a looong time
Reading it when it came out was amazing. There was not really anything like it. One thing, Gibson knew next to nothing about the nuts and bolts of technology. Just wow. This book and Snow Crash seriously rocked my world. And I have read it many times... still great.
Yes, same.
Absolutely loved Neuromancer when I read it, and it was so exciting seeing Matrix come to cinema and playing Shadowrun with this book at the back of my mind.
Don't forget to read his short story collection "Burning Chrome", those are also very nice
Thanks, i'll check it out.
I would say anyone claiming to like sci-fi should read it, if only for its cultural significance. There was before Neuromancer and after.
Yes 👍 I'm so glad you did this review
After the Sprawl Trilogy and Burning Chrome from Gibson last year, I've read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Great (post)cyberpunk, and a big influence for Cyberpunk 2077.
Seriously, Cyberpunk 2077 is heavily books-influenced, more than any other media with cyberpunk themes or aesthetics.
I have tried three, maybe four, times to read Neuromancer. For some reason, I'm just having trouble getting into it.
Snow Crash, on the other hand, I had no problems with getting into. As several others have already mentioned, it's a great book that you should add to your list. Really, anything by Stephenson is pretty good.
I think it would be more accurate to say Neuromancer inspired Mike Pondsmith when he created the Cyberpunk 2013 TTRPG and CDPR was inspired by that to make Cyberpunk 2077.
yep.
I believe it’s Cyberpunk 2020 not 2013
@@bendevin3012 The first edition was Cyberpunk 2013, second edition was 2020.
The third edition... we don't talk about the third edition (alternate timeline).
And the latest edition is Cyberpunk Red.
@@7TonyMontana7 Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Thank you!
@@7TonyMontana7 I see I’ve found the cultured chombattas. All these joeboys out here not down with the knowledge. But we’re missing classics like Phillip K. Dick novels too. Rekall just seems like the basis behind Braindances or Space Adventure Cobra which is basically the same story as We Can Remember it For You Wholesale.
Over the years there have been two books given to me by a close friend who just said "Here read this." Both made me reply "Holy shit! Why didn't I read this before now? Thank you." The first was Neuromancer. I immediately bought all of Gibson's other books and have been making my way through them. They haven't disappointed. And what's the second book you ask? Snow Crash.
Snow Crash! That made SUCH a big impression on me!
I love Neuromancer! Glad you enjoyed it! It's definitely one to re-read if you couldn't get the full immersion in the first go. I know there were times during the read where I couldn't see the scene very well. Overall, I would still highly recommend it. If you like BladeRunner (personal fave as well), have you tried to read PKD's "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep"? I'd also recommend watching Akira, if you haven't seen it. I prefer the sub, but dubbed isn't too bad.
Fun fact: William Gibbons also used to moonlight as a kick-ass guitarist for some Texan band, IIRC...
hahahahaha every band member has a beard, except drummer Frank Beard, who does not.
Watching this makes me excited about the book all over again. Maybe I'll reread it!
Neuromancer is amazing! Every page I read wanted to know what would happen next! Now one thing ... This is the cover of the Brazilian edition, so are you reading this edition? Because if it is she is incredible! From the cover art to the details of the pages.
The copy of neuromancer that i bought 2 days ago had been in the store for 21 years, so when I first saw this i was like, wait what? Then i remembered 2077, but for a little while the coincidence was wild
The first line something along the lines of "the sky was the color of a dead channels static on tv" perfectly sets the entire time for the whole book. Such an amazing freaking book. I was hoping you'd cover this!!!
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
Classic.
It's a bit of a shame that description won't mean much to newer generations.
@@elanthys one of myfavorite opening lines of a novel, in all honesty. It captures a lot for the tone of the work in so few words.
Hopefully you do a postmortem on the whole Sprawl series. They're all so good.
A year ago I studied in Akita and my professor recommended us to read this book (he even let us borrow it from him) and I somehow managed to miss this opportunity! Now it seems the world is sending me signs to read it (playing Cyberpunk 2077, watching Daniel's video), so I will start it today! *turns on CP2077 soundtrack in the background for atmosphere"
I know this is probably a little late for you, but for anyone else I'd go with the original Bladerunner soundtrack instead. Cyberpunk 2077 is to Neuromancer what the Fast and Furious franchise is to a movie like Driver. Gibson's vision is more cyber-dystopia and less punk-rocker looking for legend status, so I feel like Bladerunner music sets the tone better.
I like Neuromancer, but Snow Crash is probably my favorite cyberpunk novel. I’m a sucker for chapter long explanations of Sumerian myths, I guess
And the rat thing POV chapter is brilliant as well as hilarious.
Check out Snow Crash, it is on the fun side of cyberpunk.
YES
Just a little feedback, I'm not a huge fan of the new camera angle. It's not a huge thing, but I thought I'd share my thoughts. Good review though, I love the depth you put into the reviews.
Considering doing my PhD thesis on Gibsons trilogy alongside Atwood’s work from an eco-feminist perspective. Thanks for the review!
If you wanna look more into (somewhat) more modern cyberpunk Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson is definitely worth a look.
It's still almost 30 years old but a lot of it feels worryingly close to where we are now.
Hey Daniel, I think you'll enjoy Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson. For me it feels like a younger cousin to Neuromancer. Similar tropes, themes, and vibes, but done some years later.
Snowcrash is one of my favorite books of all time. But it almost feels like it's poking fun at cyberpunk.
I loved snow crash. Neuromancer took me a while. FIT 2B READ had a " how to read Neuromancer" type video that helped me immensely. Now I love them both. For different reasons
Neuromancer is the first book in the Sprawl series. The others are Count Zero (book 2) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (book 3), which are also very good. He also wrote Johnny Neumonic which was turned into a movie and The Difference Engine (with Bruce Sterling). I enjoy Gibson's work quite a bit and am glad you have found him.
Mnemonic*
Yeah, Gibson wrote the entire collection of short stories with various authors, called "burning chrome" and Jonny is a part of it. Plus it takes place in the same universe. Molly actually mentioned working with Jonny in the past.
@@jormungandthemidgardserpen1845 My bad! I have this book in my digital library and for some reason it is spelled wrong. I should have mentioned Burning Chrome as well as the Bridge trilogy (Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties).
I love that you emphasized William Gibson's prose. It's easy to focus on his world-building and genre-defining influence, but I remember reading his books for the first time and being so impressed by his skill with words. The opening phrase in Neuromancer is probably one of the most famous quotes in sci-fi/fantasy writing because it represents how Gibson's writing drips with atmosphere.
I crush the audio book of this pretty regularly. Hands down one of my favorites.
Love your enthusiasm. For someone who read it some 25 years ago, I'm happy that new generations appreciate what is undoubtedly a classic. Try also "The Peripheral", which is pretty much as jaw-dropping in its ideas as Neuromancer was.
Thanks for the vid DG!
Neuromancer is my favorite book. I've explored it to pretty extreme degrees. It's one of the few works where digging into the actual complications and details reveals more and more, amazing insights and layers.
I actually find the characters of Neuromancer to be amazing and endlessly fascinating. Like real creatures plucked from that deep. They're dark, but they live in a cold age.
"They told us we wouldn’t dream, in that cold. They told us we’d never feel cold, either. Madness, Molly. Lies. Of course I dreamed."
You should check out the next two books in the trilogy.
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Mona Lisa is the most accessible of the three books. But all the books are great and have a cool progression and evolution of the world/plot/ideas. It's insane these were written in the 80s.
these two books are even better than Neuromancer
Pondsmith actually cited hardwired and Bladerunner as the biggest inspirations for cyberpunk 2013. But Hardwired was only trying to be an actionpacked Neruomancer
have you red do androids dream of electric sheep? you mention being a bladerunner fan but i've never heard you talk about the book before, it's a short read and my absolute favorite book of all time
It's such a good book, read it this year, instant favourite. Especially after the "parallel" police station scene, that blew my mind completely
the book is nothing like the film.
I am so happy you reviewed Neuromancer! This is, by far, my favorite book of all time. I read it the first time when I was 13, just a young hacker, and it highly impacted my life. I still read it about once a year. The other two books (Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive) are equally as good IMHO.
Any thoughts on Philip K. Dick? Prob read about a dozen or so. Don't always love them - but at his best, they're great. Top 3 recommendations: The Man in the High Castle, The 3 stigmata of Palmer Eldrige, and Valis.
Gibson also wrote a great short story collection called Burning Chrome (where the world Cyberspace was first used). Some of the stories are set in the Neuromancer/Sprawl setting too.
Great review of an AWESOME book!
Got his latest book at Christmas. Oh boy does he still got it.
I was eyeballing that. It's pretty good?
Agency, yeah?
"The sky above the port
was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel" is still my favorite opening sentence.
Hey Daniel, if you use the second camera, you need to use it with purpose.
Think of it like a late night show with multiple cameras during the desk segment sans guest.
Yes, they use multiple cameras, but the hosts always knows which camera is shooting the shot. When there is a mix up, it's very noticeable and jarring.
One suggestion, use it as an aside enhancer. From tonal shifts, personal opinions (just go with it), "footnotes", "appendices", source sighting, or *emphasis.* Yes, that wasn't a sentence, enhance me.
Absofreakinlutely loved this book!! Totally sent me down the Gibson rabbit hole and really got me into Neal Stephenson (via Snow Crash). Daniel, if you haven't read Snow Crash I think you'll really like it!
I have seen a lot of non-80ies kids not getting the appeal of and the praise for the novel and it's interesting that a young hopper like Daniel loved it so much. I still remember how the story straddled right between "serious" scifi" and hip, cool swagger. How the lyrical prose was used to describe cold hard chrome, circuit boards, technological wonders in service of status and decaying cities.
Also the inspiration for The Matrix (and where 'the matrix' was invented)! The first fantasy Sci-fi i ever read and what made me realise fantasy could be the best books ever.
I think you'd really like Ian McDonald's books like River of Gods, The Dervish House, Necroville or Desolation Road.
They are similar to Neuromancer in a sense that they have cyberpunk setting, but it's a cyberpunk with the flavour! It's a cyberpunk but bent by the shape of the culture it emerged in. I won't say more than that to avoid spoilers, but I hope you'll find time one day to check them out! Cheers!
Blew my mind in the 80s. Gibson's collection 'Burning Chrome' is worth a read through as well. Rest of the Sprawl trilogy is ... more polarizing.
What was polarizing? I enjoyed them a lot but I could see the change to different characters being jarring.
Neuromancer is the best one no doubt but the other two are eminently readable. Count Zero is actually my favorite of the trilogy but Mona Lisa Overdrive has so much Molly that I usually can’t stop reading once I’ve started it! They’re all great fun to varying degrees and taste.
Im glad you finally got to read Neuromancer. The Opening Line is one of my favorite Opening lines in book History. The Cyberpunk genre was a HUGE thing around the time I was graduating High school with William Gibson, Walter Willams, And Neal Stephenson being very read amongst my peers, and Billy Idol even releasing an album called Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk 2077 lineage may reach back to Neuromancer at its roots but its direct influence was the Tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020 by Michael Pondsmith which isnt irrelevant in that Pondsmith was a breakthrough Black Voice working in a very White industry. Me and my friends played Cyberpunk 2020 regularly, like any D&D group except we were in Night City instead of Faerun . Good times.
I started reading it earlier but I decided to stop since school got crazy busy. I’m even more excited to start it over again. Thanks for the review Daniel.
I quite enjoyed the atmosphere and the story of the book. But, it was a difficult to read due to the nature of the writing. I normally understand fantasy and science-fiction books, but Neuromancer felt slightly complex! Also, I know there's been Cyberpunk-like books, but I believe this was the main book which kickstarted the Cyberpunk genre into the wider audience.
Transmetropolitin is a great cyberpunkish comic. If you enjoy comics and graphic novels I recommend it.
Love that series.
I see a number of recommendations here for Stephenson's Snow Crash which is good but based on what I've seen in your reviews I recommend The Diamond Age for you even more.
Best of the year review is going to be wild!
Nice!
I just finished Neuromancer and I 100 % agree with you. I liked it so much halfway through that I also had to get the rest of the Sprawl books.
After finishing Future by Gluchovsky I felt that I needed more Cyberpunk so I started with Neuromancer, but it was SO difficult to get into. But once I got it, it became one hell of a ride.
Awesome!
About your two-camera setup? I saw a similar setup with another youtuber, but he not only changed the camera, but he also turned to look at it. Usually when he had finished a point and went to the next. Worked quite well for me, like a chapter break.
Just changing the angle is a bit distracting though.
The new camera angle was a little jarring but I'd say keep experimenting. I am going to start reading neuromancer soon so thanks for the review! I love cyberpunk and would really love to see more reviews of cyberpunk literature.
I'm sure you've heard it already, either from my tweet or other comments. But CP2077 is actually a sequel/adaptation of the TTRPG Cyberpunk 2020. Which itself was primarily inspired by the book Hardwired, but was also influenced by Neuromancer.
I hope that doesn't come off as petty or annoying, but I think it's an important note. Its hard to know where all the cyberounk influences come from since most of the primarily influenced works in terms of modern cyberpunk all kinda came out at the same time. Regardless, great vid!
waiting for it to arrive right now 🤩
good stuff bro! good balance between informative/hyping review
I'm reading this right now and I can not possibly comprehend what's going on, what the characters are doing and why, but I can vividly imagine what their world looks like. It is the very essence of cyberpunk.
Welcome to the world of William Gibson
Gibbons now
My Uncle gave me this book shortly after The Matrix came out and it's been one of my favourites since. I would recommend Diamond Age and Snow Crash (both by Neil Stephenson) if you wanting some more great cyberpunk classics,
Snow Crash was SO. MUCH. FUN.
@@KeacePeeper That book made pizza delivery into a high-octane thrill ride.
@@Raedan23 True. Since this summer, when I read this I'm chomping at the bit to play a bit of shadowrun to make a rigger that's basicly the Deliverator x)
Who names their main character Hiro Protagonist! Gotta be Neal Stephenson.
I love the balance you add to your reviews; I think it's also important when grading older novels to make a note regarding the context in which they were written. I'm a long time fan of Gibson and I still remember how unique the books were at the time. What made Cyberpunk really pop was the choice to explore the darker tones of Tech instead of the usual default positive outlook. TRON (1982) had just come out and most people didn't have access to a computer; meanwhile Gibson was hanging out at UBC giving him a unique view into the potential of this tech.
Gibson helped shape the foundation of Cyberpunk just as Asminov shaped Sci-fi and influenced Neal Stephenson. His 'Snow Crash' (1992) was published pre-internet (1995) and shaped a new meaning for the term 'Avatar'...
For a book that's ~35 years old; it's surprisingly relevant when you look at how virtual communities have evolved (Second Life; VR Chat; vTubers etc) Makes me wonder what contemporary authors are envisioning for the 2050s
Post new wave stuff is amazing, but there's this era of sci-fi right before Sputnik launched that has some hidden treasures. Some of it feels dated, but there's one specifically that hasn't that even Gaiman acknowledges, that being "The Stars My Destination". It's worth a shot
Don't forget Neuromancer also spawned inspiration for The Matrix trilogy 🎥
For readers who enjoyed Neuromancer the next logical step is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
The Sumerian chapters add intellectual weight to the book, the hero protagonist isn't as comical
as his name implies and the rat thing is the MVP of the whole audacious endeavor.
I know it's a little late (sorry, RL is crazy right now) but I loved the video. The different angles were a shock, but mostly because they're new --rather than anything shocking inherent in the new style. Maybe it'd be a bit different if you alternated looking at the cameras? Perhaps different takes, or recording it twice and then splicing which camera view works best? I'll be honest, I have no background I'm videography, so my feedback in this manner is likely to be of middling quality.
Still, you've convinced me to try out a book in a genre I normally don't vibe with. May your days be bright and your weather warm. Happy new year :)
I can't believe you hadn't read this before! It's so good!! I've read it a few times, which is not something I do with many books.
Amazed no-one's mentioned it before now, but William GIBSON* famously wrote Neuromancer on a traditional typewriter as he was unfamiliar with computers.
Not that many were around at the time or that their compatibility was easily achieved in many cases
Hey Daniel! A little bit of input for your new camera setup, I find it a bit distracting. I think the two cameras could work if the angle wasn’t as jarring. You break the 180° rule with the current setup, so it would be better if the second camera didn’t cross your eye line. I love your channel and please don’t take this as trashing your channel or anything. I graduated Film School this year and learned a bunch about cinematography, so I just wanted to give you a little bit of advice. Feel free to take it or leave it, but whatever you do, keep up the great work!
I feel like the second camera angle would work better if you used it when you looked at that camera - but that's just me. Love the channel, love the experimenting and noodling, keep doing you.
Oh I'm so hyped for this review! I read Neuromancer in September and recently came to the conclusion that it's definitely my favourite book of the year. Can't believe the things that Gibson got in the eighties!!
I absolutely DEVOURED Neuromancer when I was in highschool some... Ten, twelve years ago now, and I'm really glad to see you like it, too. I read cyberpunk stuff before Neuromancer, but Neuromancer is what REALLY got me into it.
So idk if it was just my headphones, but the little bloop bloop noise at 4:55 when you popped cyber punk 2077 on screen was so loud I almost soiled myself snapping out of my stupor. Loved the review though!
I honestly love that everything isn't explained in painful detail like in most pop genre novels. Neuromancer expects it's reader to be intelligent and I respect it for that. Not everything needs to be dumbed down for mass consumption. Sometimes I want something dense and mysterious.
I've been waiting for a reason to get this book. We always seem to have the same opinions on books. Thanks for your reviews
#goblinclan