I have just finished reading the classic novel ‘Neuromancer ’ by William Gibson, written way back around 1983.

The story follows our anti-hero Case, a cyber hustler, who as been left damaged (by a mycotoxin) after he tried ripping off his employers and spends his days looking for a cure (as well as looking for the next fix). He is offered a second chance by Armitage, a mysterious character, who fixes his ailments as long as he utilises his hacking and cracking skills for Armitages projects. He has Molly, a razorgirl to take care of him (in many ways), and a time bomb implanted inside him (Snake Plisskin style) to keep him focused on the job at hand. There are a number of twists and turns to the story as the gravity of the situation makes itself apparent to Case and he will need to use every available ability to deal with the situations in which he finds himself. The Wintermute plays an integral part of the story, but for good or evil? What is the ultimate intention of Wintermute, what is Wintermute’s relationship to Armitage? And what is the Neuromancer? Only Case, with the help of the recently acquired Dixie Flatline and Mollys special abilities can find out the truth – which might ultimately set him free.

The story is interesting enough once you get your head around the language, there are a swathe of new words to understand, for example ice (intrusion countermeasures electronics) and simstim (a way of sharing another persons senses). There is also a tendency for peoples names to confuse initially, names like Wage, Case, Finn, Lupus, and Aerol don’t always hit you as names when you first read them) and the Rasta language takes some reading and re-reading to understand exactly what is being said (a problem which Case himself jokingly refers to in the story).

Much of the hacking and cracking undertaken by Case is done somewhat ‘between the lines’ and is only really alluded to in odd words and phrases. The virtual world in which Case often finds himself consists of geometric shapes, a throw back to future visions from the 80s where the idea of real world environments in the vein of the Matrix, or even Second Life, would have been considered way too science fiction to be contemplated.

Whilst reading the novel all sorts of other stories jump to mind from images of Johnny Mnemonic (deliberately so as you will find out in the story), Blade Runner, Escape From New York, Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux. Wiki talk about the general storyline being similar to that of the later movie Swordfish and I definitely see the parallel – albeit a different setting.

I did struggle with the first third of the story as I found it difficult to get into – the cyber punk novel is relatively new to me and something I definitely needed to get my head around. However, by about half way through the story the ideas had bedded in and I could follow the rest of the story pretty well.

The end of Neuromancer clearly opens the door for future sequels and spin-offs (why wouldn’t it) but I was left with wanting a little more closure for the Case character, and indeed for the enigmatic Molly, to derive a real sense of satisfaction.

Overall a good read but be prepared to put some work in.

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