This was not a typical Gibson novel. Even though the themes and plot involved the Net and computing, it is set in the present day, and the style and content are a departure for Gibson. I had trouble getting into the story not because of these things, but because it felt too close to the World Trade Center tragedy and the writing felt almost forced. Despite the almost constant attempts to do so on television news, I think it is still too soon to examine 9/11 in a historical context, yet that is what I feel Gibson is trying to do here. His themes of pattern recognition and the human condition in the 21st century are almost – but not quite – realized. The results are both tantalizing and disappointing, as if this could have been a really good book if he had only waited a few more years to write it. (Note: This review was originally written in February 2004.)

This is the first book I decided to quit reading. I had reached page 150, and the book had simply failed to become relevant.

Update 2008-12-09: I read the Wikipedia summary) today and don’t regret my decision at all. Even if one is not aware of the concepts in the novel (mainly, apophenia), they can be explained much more succinctly.

If you can only hope to read 4,000 books in your lifetime and there are 100,000 published each year in the US alone, being selective suddenly gets a much more powerful meaning.

This was an engaging and quick read, set in a futuristic kind of present, as befits WG. It has everything you need for a classic Gibson sort of media-mob-espionage-psychological … thing… and that clipped phrasing that makes pages go by quickly.

Imagine being allergic to brand names, though!

something i definitely wouldn’t read normally, but this is our book club selection this month. so we’ll see!

One of my favourites.