King's Chronicles

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

This line opens William Gibson's cyberpunk classic Neuromancer. In one line it sums up Gibson's vision of the future and is considered by many to be one of the great opening lines of science fiction literature.

Neuromancer is the story of Case, a computer hacker who makes his living breaking into computer systems for his employers. In Neuromancer, Case is coerced by a mysterious employer into participating in the ultimate computer crime; hacking an artificial intelligence. As time goes by, however, Case begins to learn that not everything is what is seems as well as the shocking truth of who is really pulling the strings.

While Case is the main character, there is little argument that the most interesting character in Neuromancer is Molly. Molly is a former prostitute who has paid to have herself re-engineered to be a bodyguard. Razor-sharp blades extend from beneath her fingernails and she has mirrored lenses permanently grafted over her eye sockets. In a wonderful bit of imagery we learn that her tear ducts have been routed into her mouth, forcing her to spit instead of cry. It is the development of Molly's character that we watch as Case remains rather one dimensional. To prove my point I cite the fact that Molly is the only character in the book to have her own Wikipedia page.

Neuromancer, along the with other books in Gibson's Sprawl trilogy (Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), are considered THE definitive examples of cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is a genre of science fiction that usually combines the high-tech world of computers combined with the hardships of poverty and destitution. The other books in the Sprawl trilogy are not as action-packed as Neuromancer, but instead focus more on the philosophical issues with artificial intelligence and what it means to be an intelligent being. While not as popular as Neuromancer, they are good reads.

Along with Starship Troopers, Neuromancer is one of the books I read repeatedly (probably about once a year). It is a quick read and is always entertaining. I pick it up whenever I am not sure what I am in the mood to read and need something to tide me over for a couple of days. Obviously this puts toward the top of my list of favorite books and means I cannot recommend it enough for science fiction fans.