Pattern Recognition was my entry point into the world of William Gibson and seeing as he has received much love from Will and Wes I figured I would start with Burning Chrome and then move on to Neuromancer. I just finished Burning Chrome and it was awesome. Historical significance for coining the term "cyberspace" aside, the story is written very well, it has a very steady pace, and isn't predictable at all. I hope Neuromancer is just as entertaining. Anyone else feel the love for Gibson or have any advice on seriously getting into his other works?
I love Johnny Mnemonic as an example of his early work--it's a quick read and you can even find it for free on the net pretty easily. Unless you read the whole Burning Chrome short story collection, in which case you've already read Johnny!
Gibson and Stephenson are extremely different authors. Gibson writes very tight, focused novels in the 300 page territory. If you enjoy Neuromancer, you might as well read all three novels in the Sprawl trilogy. Otherwise, try Virtual Light.
@WesleyFenlon: I havn't read the collection just Burning Chrome itself. I'm moving to Neuromancer next then Virtual Light. Have you read The Crying of Lot 49? I've heard that its incredibly similar to Pattern Recognition. Also fun fact-- a friend of mine wrote a literary companion to Gibson and has been dying for me to dig into his other works.
@Cody_Osterman: Nice, I actually read some of that while working on my article. It reads like a very long, detailed essay on his books--which is totally cool.
I haven't read The Crying of Lot 49--the only Pynchon novel I've read is Vineland, and frankly I think he's kinda above my head.
Pattern Recognition was my entry point into the world of William Gibson and seeing as he has received much love from Will and Wes I figured I would start with Burning Chrome and then move on to Neuromancer. I just finished Burning Chrome and it was awesome. Historical significance for coining the term "cyberspace" aside, the story is written very well, it has a very steady pace, and isn't predictable at all. I hope Neuromancer is just as entertaining. Anyone else feel the love for Gibson or have any advice on seriously getting into his other works?
Gibson's okay, but I like Neal Stephenson better. You should definitely read Snow Crash after you're done with Neuromancer.
I love Johnny Mnemonic as an example of his early work--it's a quick read and you can even find it for free on the net pretty easily. Unless you read the whole Burning Chrome short story collection, in which case you've already read Johnny!
Gibson and Stephenson are extremely different authors. Gibson writes very tight, focused novels in the 300 page territory. If you enjoy Neuromancer, you might as well read all three novels in the Sprawl trilogy. Otherwise, try Virtual Light.
@WesleyFenlon: I havn't read the collection just Burning Chrome itself. I'm moving to Neuromancer next then Virtual Light. Have you read The Crying of Lot 49? I've heard that its incredibly similar to Pattern Recognition. Also fun fact-- a friend of mine wrote a literary companion to Gibson and has been dying for me to dig into his other works.
http://www.amazon.com/William-Gibson-Literary-Companion-McFarland/dp/0786461519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332206209&sr=8-1
@Cody_Osterman: Nice, I actually read some of that while working on my article. It reads like a very long, detailed essay on his books--which is totally cool.
I haven't read The Crying of Lot 49--the only Pynchon novel I've read is Vineland, and frankly I think he's kinda above my head.