William Gibson
William Gibson is an American and Canadian novelist widely credited with founding cyberpunk, a label he has spent decades distancing himself from. He began publishing in the late 1970s with noir, near-future stories about technology, cybernetics and computer networks, a mix of lowlife and high tech that gave the information age its imagery before most people had used the internet. He coined the term cyberspace in the short story "Burning Chrome" and built a novel around it. His later books moved steadily closer to the present day until they arrived in it. He has won both the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
TV (2)
Books (12)
Where to start with William Gibson
Neuromancer is the one to read first, not because it is his best sentence for sentence but because everything after it, in fiction and in the culture, argues with it. Burning Chrome is the better introduction to his prose, short and cold and where the vocabulary was invented. Then jump forward: Pattern Recognition proves he did not need the future at all, and The Peripheral splices both modes together. The Difference Engine, written with Bruce Sterling, is the odd one out and worth it.
William Gibson on CrossBinge
- For fans of: For fans of William Gibson: what to watch, read and play next
- Companion guide: Cyberpunk: The Complete Guide to the Wired World