Neuromancer

By: William Gibson

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Twenty years ago, it was as if someone turned on a light. The future blazed into existence with each deliberate word that William Gibson laid down. The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer didn't just explode onto the science fiction scene - it permeated into the collective consciousness, culture, science, and technology.Today, there is only one science fiction masterpiece to thank for the term "cyberpunk," for easing the way into the information age and Internet society. Neuromancer's virtual reality has become real. And yet, William Gibson's gritty, sophisticated vision still manages to inspire the minds that lead mankind ever further into the future.

©1984 William Gibson (P)2011 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Unforgettable ... The richness of Gibson’s world is incredible.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

“Freshly imagined, compellingly detailed, and chilling in its implications.” (The New York Times)

"Serious science fiction and fantasy readers cannot resist the classics.... That’s what makes the Penguin Galaxy series so appealing.... Each of the novels here has earned their place in the halls of literary history.... Their small form factor and minimalist covers call out to readers and make them fun to read all over again.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Neuromancer For President

I love William Gibson's style and Neuromancer may be my favorite sci-fi novel. I've read it several times but this was the first time listening. It's a good reading performance, with Gibson's attention to detail coming through strong, and a good attempt at giving all characters a unique voice which makes the dialog more enjoyable.

as good as I remember

loved this book as a kid. listening to it again was pure nostalgia! still completely relevant and thoroughly entertaining!

Great Book, Terrible Performance

Neuromancer is a really good book. There's a ton of foundational work done here that defines a lot of our modern science fiction in a lot of subtle and not so subtle ways. Beyond that, there's a lot of work here that defines even our modern everyday lexicon. The story itself is engaging, the characters interesting and the concepts are unique, though they may seem cliched by modern standards if you don't realize that most of the modern standards started with this book.

On the other hand, this is one of the worst performances I have ever suffered through in an audiobook. The only thing worse I can think of was Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov and performed by Larry McKeever. Robertson Dean probably has a wonderful everyday speaking voice, but as he reads, he tones his voice down a bit to be extremely low. Then, when reading the main character, he tries to town it down more while whispering and then trying to do what I presume to be a subtle southern accent? Except he just sounds like Christopher Nolan's Batman with a sore throat. Anyways., the performance was painful and almost put me off of the book, but the story was engaging enough that I stuck through it and I'm glad I did.

Ultimately, I think this work is good enough that you should power through the reading of it because it's worth it, but I would encourage Audible to find a different recording by a different performer or to create their own.

Great listen, narrator's not as bad as some say

I'm not sure why so many folks take issue with the narrator. He animated each character well and his voice matched the gritty overtones of the book. The book is excellent. Unbelievable to see all the things that Gibson has inspired over the following 35 years. A piece that was truly ahead of its time

Sci Fi as cautious an angry hornet.

Science fiction for virgin minds and obese hoarders. Amazing shit. Legacy scripture from a relentless creative.

A true classic

Any additional comments?

Very well written and with a good performer. Have read this book several times, and was not disappointed by my first listen to it. A book any science fiction fan should have read.

A suggestion by a friend…

The story is rich and descriptively well written. The cyber punk genre is not my taste. I enjoyed the movie "blade Runner" but I would not enjoy reading it. This is certainly a breakthrough story for the genre, but I don't want audible recommending more like it so it gets fewer stars.

Predictive sci-fi

Brilliant. Sexy, Adult, Mystery. Right on. How did Gibsen see this 35 years ago?

I know it's a classic, but...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, because it's a classic.

If you’ve listened to books by William Gibson before, how does this one compare?

I'd never read/heard Gibson before, but I love sci-fi and am currently reading all the classics so that I can become a "REAL" sci-fi fan.

Could you see Neuromancer being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

NO.

An interesting book; Required reading for geeks

The impact of Neuromancer is hard to overstate. Few other modern works can claim to have altered the public lexicon, let alone society's expectations of what a future with technology should look like. Neuromancer has done both. But despite this level of impact, many will find this book a difficult read, and one with some very clear flaws.

Perhaps the most difficult (yet rewarding) part of Neuromancer is its writing style. Gibson's prose is jagged but poetic, confusing but evocative. On paper, without the assistance of tone, it is often hard to tell where the metaphor ends and reality begins. Luckily, the narrator (Dean), helps to untie the tangle of words with his delivery. Moreover, the adoption of many words used in Neuromancer by the general public in the last 25 years has made this book much more accessible to the modern audience. Thus, with the hard work done for you, you can really appreciate how Gibson's style helps to characterize the protagonist (Case). We learn that Case is curt, even in his own thoughts, and how he interfaces with the world experientially rather than intellectually. It helps to explain some of Case's flaws, like his fixation on drugs and sex, without having to beat the reader over the head with it.

That brings me to the single biggest problem in this book: sex. Gibson's use of sex often feels cheap. He throws in sexual encounters with too little pretense and goes into too much detail too often. I don't consider myself a prude, and I recognize that sex often has a literary purpose, but the portrayal of sex in Neuromancer is something of a distraction throughout the book. That said, the distraction is not great enough to ruin the experience, but it does seem like a stain on what would otherwise be a flawless novel.

Dean's performance in Neuromancer is impressive. He flies through Gibson's difficult prose, and really brings the character of Case alive. He makes occasional use of character voices, which is a very welcome addition to the reading. However, his female voices feel out place, too breathy and sometimes coming across as dreamy air-heads. While this fits for a few characters, it's unfortunate that a character like Molly, who should come across as a no-nonsense action girl, feels more like an aloof ninja.

Ultimately, in spite of its flaws, it's hard not to recommend Neuromancer. The role this book has played in both modern culture and sci-fi literature is just too great to pass up. To top it off, the book is fairly short and the audio format untangles Gibson's difficult prose, making this a surprisingly breezy read.