Red Mosquito

As much as I love Gibson, I don't know that I'd enjoy Neuromancer today as anything other than an artifact of it's time.

Gibson got less overtly cyberpunk somewhere between the Bridge Trilogy and the Blue Ant trilogy, or rather, between the 90s and the early aughts.

His later stuff (and his incredible book of essays) is more relatable in it's near-future dystopia and late stage capitalist critique, and his characters get more and more real along the way.

Not knocking Neuromancer at all, but I encourage anyone interested to check what he's been doing now that the chronically online era has long caught up with his mood.

That being said, I think my favorite novel of his is Virtual Light, which was published in, what, 1993? It's a chase caper with a hell of a setting. I love the idea of working class castaways turning decommissioned infrastructure into a wild west shanty town. Now that I think about it, the McGuffin in that book could perhaps be read in 2026 as an unintentional parallel to some of this Epstein shit. Herein lies the genius of Gibson and why he's heralded as a "prophet" by critics.

I See You’ve Called In Dead

King Sorrow by Joe Hill

dad wrote:I See You’ve Called In Dead

This was good. I can’t recall the last time I read a book where nearly every character was likable.

It was witty and sweet, and it even had a Hartford Whalers reference.

Simple Torture wrote:

Started this today...

I'm barely into it, and I don't want to piss people off or get ahead of myself, but this is so much better than 'Lincoln in the Bardo' it's sickening.

epilogue wrote:

Simple Torture wrote:

Started this today...

I'm barely into it, and I don't want to piss people off or get ahead of myself, but this is so much better than 'Lincoln in the Bardo' it's sickening.

Whoa, I can’t wait to read it!

Recommended by our good friend Reid when I admitted that eighties punk was an embarrassing blind spot for me. I'm really enjoying this, and taking my time with it so I can listen to the bands it discusses as I go along. I wish I had read this book when I was in high school, I think it was exactly what I needed. Very good read

A Spy Among Friends - Ben MacIntyre

The Argonaut wrote:

Recommended by our good friend Reid when I admitted that eighties punk was an embarrassing blind spot for me. I'm really enjoying this, and taking my time with it so I can listen to the bands it discusses as I go along. I wish I had read this book when I was in high school, I think it was exactly what I needed. Very good read

Glad you're enjoying it. Not sure if you're into audiobooks, but this one is great in that format. Stellar celeb cast of narrators for each chapter.

Curious who would be RM's Henry Rollins.

Hey, when is Ernest Cline going to write another novel? I know people didn't love Ready Player Two, but it wasn't horrible.
Time to get back on the horse and write another book.

White Teeth or Circe?

B wrote:Hey, when is Ernest Cline going to write another novel? I know people didn't love Ready Player Two, but it wasn't horrible.
Time to get back on the horse and write another book.

Don’t encourage him.

Just finished Empire of Pain and read Cloud Atlas before that. Next one will be Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami.

blueviper wrote:

epilogue wrote:

Simple Torture wrote:

Started this today...

I'm barely into it, and I don't want to piss people off or get ahead of myself, but this is so much better than 'Lincoln in the Bardo' it's sickening.

Whoa, I can’t wait to read it!

Ok, finished this and I think Bardo is better.

contamination wrote:Just finished Empire of Pain and read Cloud Atlas before that. Next one will be Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami.

I loved Cloud Atlas

blueviper wrote:

blueviper wrote:

epilogue wrote:

Simple Torture wrote:

Started this today...

I'm barely into it, and I don't want to piss people off or get ahead of myself, but this is so much better than 'Lincoln in the Bardo' it's sickening.

Whoa, I can’t wait to read it!

Ok, finished this and I think Bardo is better.

I imagine most people agree with you. No one is talking about this the way they talked (and continue to talk) about Bardo.