The Dystopian Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller from the Author of the Peripheral
William Gibson, BA: Agency (2021, Penguin Books, Limited)
416 pages
English language
Published May 27, 2021 by Penguin Books, Limited.
THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEUROMANCER 'Dazzling, astoundingly inventive' The Times 'Wild, richly satisfying' Guardian 'Terrific' Spectator __ San Francisco, 2017. Clinton's in the White House, Brexit never happened - and Verity Jane's got herself a new job. They call Verity 'the app-whisperer,' and she's just been hired by a shadowy start-up to evaluate a pair-of-glasses-cum-digital-assistant called Eunice. Only Eunice has other ideas. Pretty soon, Verity knows that Eunice is smarter than anyone she's ever met, conceals some serious capabilities and is profoundly paranoid - which is just as well since suddenly some bad people are after Verity. Meanwhile, in a post-apocalyptic London a century from now, PR fixer Wilf Netherton is tasked by all-seeing policewoman Ainsley Lowbeer with interfering in the alternative past in which Verity and Eunice exist. It appears something nasty is about to happen there - and fixing it will …
THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEUROMANCER 'Dazzling, astoundingly inventive' The Times 'Wild, richly satisfying' Guardian 'Terrific' Spectator __ San Francisco, 2017. Clinton's in the White House, Brexit never happened - and Verity Jane's got herself a new job. They call Verity 'the app-whisperer,' and she's just been hired by a shadowy start-up to evaluate a pair-of-glasses-cum-digital-assistant called Eunice. Only Eunice has other ideas. Pretty soon, Verity knows that Eunice is smarter than anyone she's ever met, conceals some serious capabilities and is profoundly paranoid - which is just as well since suddenly some bad people are after Verity. Meanwhile, in a post-apocalyptic London a century from now, PR fixer Wilf Netherton is tasked by all-seeing policewoman Ainsley Lowbeer with interfering in the alternative past in which Verity and Eunice exist. It appears something nasty is about to happen there - and fixing it will require not only Eunice's unique human-AI skillset but also a little help from the future. A future which Verity soon fears may never be . . . __ 'One of the most influential writers around...with Gibson's trademark panache, the story rattles along with great pace and suspense' Sunday Times 'One of our greatest science-fiction writers' New York Times 'A sensual, remarkably visual ride, vigorous with displays of conceptual imagination and humour' The Guardian 'Among our most fascinating novelists' Daily Telegraph 'Gibson is a prophet and a satirist, a black comedian and an astounding architect of cool' Spectator 'One of the most visionary, original, and quietly influential writers currently working' Boston Globe 'His eye for the eerie in the everyday still lends events an otherworldly sheen' New Yorker 'Engaging, thought-provoking and delightful... [Gibson] can always be counted on to show us our contemporary milieu rendered magical by his unique insights, and a future rendered inhabitable by his wild yet disciplined imagination' The Washington Post 'Gibson blurs the line between real and speculative technology in a fast-paced thriller that will affirm to readers that it was well worth the wait' Booklist 'Typically visionary, yet plausible and thrilling too' I Paper 'If you're one of those who sees Gibson as a visionary, it's time to be scared - the scenarios he's playing with here don't make for comfort reading' SFX magazine
Its interesting to see gibson circle back on his hit - this is very similar to neuromancer, but more grounded, and somehow set last year, or a few years ago even.
There is a minor grandpa vibes developing too. I don't think gibsons politics are bad, they just feel more visibly centrist than they were in the past.
The new William Gibson. Exquisite. Gibson was always going to score highly with me even if I probably didn't 'get' The Peripheral. I felt it was one of his more oblique offerings and probably didn't give it the attention it deserved (it's getting a re-read soon based on how strong this was). This, on the other hand, is probably his most immediate work since Count Zero. His finger on the zeitgeist remains uncanny. This book is staccato, the plot delivered in machine gun bursts of eloquent prose where you may not always be entirely sure what every phrase is alluding to but the general sense of things comes through loud and clear. His view of current events and his way with a name for things is piercingly perceptive. We do live in a kleptocracy and we are approaching a possible dark event that the 'klept' might just view as an …
The new William Gibson. Exquisite. Gibson was always going to score highly with me even if I probably didn't 'get' The Peripheral. I felt it was one of his more oblique offerings and probably didn't give it the attention it deserved (it's getting a re-read soon based on how strong this was). This, on the other hand, is probably his most immediate work since Count Zero. His finger on the zeitgeist remains uncanny. This book is staccato, the plot delivered in machine gun bursts of eloquent prose where you may not always be entirely sure what every phrase is alluding to but the general sense of things comes through loud and clear. His view of current events and his way with a name for things is piercingly perceptive. We do live in a kleptocracy and we are approaching a possible dark event that the 'klept' might just view as an opportunity. He calls this 'The Jackpot', it is a term that haunts me. Obviously recommended. Just go buy it and read it ok?
