I bought "Neuromancer" because I was curious to see if the book carried the
ideas in "True Names" any further. I didn't think that the concept of
cyberspace was at all well developed or described (though it would probably
look all right in a movie, in fact it reminded me of the arcology cityscape
of "Bladerunner"), so I was somewhat disappointed.
Once I got over the disappointment at the book being something other than
what it was hyped up to be, and what I'd hoped it was, though, I found it
generally good reading. Keith Lofstrom is right, it is very gloomy, and
rather anti-climactic, but the subcultures which are shown are
well-visualized and the characters are more than just cardboard (even the AI
is believable, if not comprehensible). Not great, but worth reading.
Incidently, does anyone out there remember a series of short stories
published in Amazing (or maybe Fantastic (great magazine titles, no?)) in the
early '70s, based on a character by the name of Queer Sal? The tone (hi-tech
punk) and the mood (gloom and doom) of "Neuromancer" remind me of them.
Bruce Cohen
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