Paperback, 512 pages
English language
Published Nov. 6, 2015 by Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley.
The Peripheral is a 2014 science fiction mystery-thriller novel by William Gibson, set in near- and post-apocalyptic versions of the future. A television series adaptation of the book, produced by Amazon, began streaming on October 21, 2022.
A wonderful world to visit, a classic Gibson story that leaves you gasping "that escalated quickly"
This had been on the list for a re-read for a while. However, the news that a TV adaptation was about to land in October moved it to the top of the list.
I read this on release and my recollection of my impressions of this book were not positive. Yet again more evidence that past me was very different from now me. Maybe I was distracted or just not in a place to get this but it definitely resonated now.
Gibson is using the device of a future, parallel timeline that can interact with his primary timeline (in a very limited fashion) as a lens to explore the upcoming androgenic climate apocalypse. He calls it the 'jackpot' and posits that only the very rich, 'the klept' will survive.
As is usual with Gibson there is a lot going on here, too much to summarise in a small review. There …
This had been on the list for a re-read for a while. However, the news that a TV adaptation was about to land in October moved it to the top of the list.
I read this on release and my recollection of my impressions of this book were not positive. Yet again more evidence that past me was very different from now me. Maybe I was distracted or just not in a place to get this but it definitely resonated now.
Gibson is using the device of a future, parallel timeline that can interact with his primary timeline (in a very limited fashion) as a lens to explore the upcoming androgenic climate apocalypse. He calls it the 'jackpot' and posits that only the very rich, 'the klept' will survive.
As is usual with Gibson there is a lot going on here, too much to summarise in a small review. There is also that sense he always conveys of being about 5 minutes ahead of the zeitgeist.
A total banger of a book that set me up quite nicely for the upcoming TV show.
Read about 2/3s of the way, at which point I just got... bored of the whole thing? I dunno what I was expecting, I was never that big a Gibson fan in the first place.
EDIT: ok, powered through. If you like getting into an alt-future with no introduction to the world or terminology, William Gibson does it twice.
features all the Gibson favorites: messy bedrooms, custom-made tech, fancy clothing/body mods, reality show stars AND corporate takeovers.
