William Gibson

Neuromancer, Gibson’s 1984 novel, became one of the most influential works of the cyberpunk genre, putting forward the concept of a gritty and threatening sub-world ruled not by governments but by global corporations and computer networks. In Gibson’s world, the only way characters can escape the bleakness of reality is through complex plots which weave their way through parallel realities.

Neuromancer was a hugely important novel. In it, Gibson introduced both the concept and terminology of ‘cyberspace’ – now a part of our everyday lives and language. The book sold over six million copies worldwide and was the first to win all of the three most important awards in science fiction: the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award and the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award. Its sequels, Count Zero (1986) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988) completed his Sprawl Trilogy.

Perhaps influenced by his apocalyptic view of technology, Gibson claims to have little love for computers and wrote much of his early work on a manual typewriter. According to the author, his subject matter is less important to his work than creating atmosphere and developing his characters.

Two of Gibson’s short stories have been made into movies: Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and New Rose Hotel (1998). Gibson wrote and appeared in an episode of The X Files and continues to write a web log.