Interested in Reading Some William Gibson

[UberGnome]

After seeing the aforementioned individual repeatedly at an experimental music night here in Vancouver, and realising how truly odd he was, I finally came to the conclusion that I need to read some of his works. Now, science fiction and these genres have never been my focus (I'm big on Borges, Kafka, Melville, Unamuno, Bukowski, etc.), so I was wondering what his most accessible book for me to read would be.

Neuromancer is definitely up there, given the recognition it has received, but I'm wondering if some of his short stories or other novels would be a better introduction to his writing. Anybody have any alternative suggestions, or should I just jump into Neuromancer?

[Seroster]

I would just go straight to the start with Neuromancer. I don't think I've enjoyed his later books as much as Neuromancer and the two books he wrote after it.

[Brad Ellison]

I also recommend Neuromancer as the place to start. It's fantastic, and it's a pretty quick read.

[Elizabeth Brooks]

Start with Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Also get Burning Chrome. That's an anthology of fiction set in the same world as the Neuromancer trilogy - it has the original Johnny Mnemonic, for example.

[The Last Conformist]

Neuromancer is a good place to start. :)

Virtual Light may be another - 'twas the first Gibson I read, and I like it a lot.

[O'Borg]

I'd start with Burning Chrome.
In terms of chronology, BC comes before Neuromancer and an early Molly/Sally appears in Johnny Mnemonic.

[The23SidedDie]

I'd start with Burning Chrome as well. It has one of my favorite short stories of all time, "The Winter Market", but on top of that, it gives you a good idea of what it's all about.

Neuromancer is charmingly outdated, but it's still an extremely expressive book. If you're interested in his later stuff, I recommend Pattern Recognition.

[Per Andersson]

I'd start with Neuromancer, then maybe continue with Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive.
IMO, Neuromancer is the best of that lot, and the following books are mostly more of the same.

[heronymus]

Gibson, in my opinion, has the same problem as Stephen King: he's an excellent writer when he's working with limitations, but he tends to go off the rails with his longer works.

I would recommend Burning Chrome, as it contains one of the sweetest love stories ever written: "Fragments of a Hologram Rose".

When you get a chance, though, switch over to Bruce Sterling and Cory Doctorow, both SF writers, both from Canada, both better all-around writers than Gibson. Plus, Doctorow was a founding member of the EFF, and so knows what technology is when he writes about it.

[The23SidedDie]

When you get a chance, though, switch over to Bruce Sterling and Cory Doctorow, both SF writers, both from Canada, both better all-around writers than Gibson. Plus, Doctorow was a founding member of the EFF, and so knows what technology is when he writes about it.

Eh, Sterling's a Texan. :)

Sterling's stuff, especially his novels, tend to get a bit dry and perfunctory. His short stories are also uneven, but when they're good, they're amazing, imho. "20 Evocations" is a brilliant short story.

[heronymus]

Eh, Sterling's a Texan. :)

Whoops!

Well, at least he's from a different country...

[UberGnome]

When you get a chance, though, switch over to Bruce Sterling and Cory Doctorow, both SF writers, both from Canada, both better all-around writers than Gibson. Plus, Doctorow was a founding member of the EFF, and so knows what technology is when he writes about it.
I found a good copy of Neuromancer for $7, so I decided to go with that. If I enjoy it enough I'll switch over to some other authors when I get the chance, but I mostly just wanted to read some of his works because he seems like such a strange character from the times I've run into him.

Hopefully I enjoy it, and thanks for the recommendations all.

[heronymus]

I found a good copy of Neuromancer for $7, so I decided to go with that. If I enjoy it enough I'll switch over to some other authors when I get the chance, but I mostly just wanted to read some of his works because he seems like such a strange character from the times I've run into him.

Hopefully I enjoy it, and thanks for the recommendations all.

Acellerando, by Charles Stross, and all of Cory Doctorow's works, are available for free. Acellerando is available via www.antipope.com, and Mr. Doctorow's works are published (under the Creative Commons License!) via www.craphound.com.

[Turbo]

If the crazy density of Gibson doesn't exactly fit with you, it might be worth it to check out Pattern Recognition. I read Neuromancer and wasn't a huge fan of his style, but Pattern Recognition went over much better with me. Smart writing without as much focus on overloading the page.

I'll also ditto the Stross and Doctorow recs. Also, you might try out Paul Di Filippo's Ribofunk (i.e. Cyberpunk but with bio-tech instead of cyber-tech and a funk feel instead of punk)