Status
Available
Call number
Description
Former rock singer Hollis Henry and ex-addict Milgrim, an accomplished linguist, are at the front line of a sinister proprietor's attempts to get a slice of the military budget. When a Department of Defense contract for combat-wear turns out to be the gateway drug for arms dealers, they gradually realize their employer has some very dangerous competitors--including Garreth, a ruthless ex-military officer with lots of friends. Set largely in London after our post-Crash times.
Pages
404
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |
Language
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2011)
SF Site Editor's Choice (1 — 2010)
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Finalist — 2011)
CBC Bookie Awards (Nominee — 2011)
Locus Recommended Reading (2010)
Series
User reviews
LibraryThing member Penforhire
I am a long-time Gibson fan but I think his style is finally wearing badly on me. I still enjoy the stories but he goes about telling this tale like the blind men describe an elephant, to use an aphorism. Another way of putting it is I felt like I was seated backward on a tour bus, getting
He seems to take perverse delight in keeping our heads pointed away from the meat of the story. If we start getting close to the plot, well, then it must be time to describe the intricate pattern of a china tea cup. I never met a group of people so obsessed with the fashion details of everything around them. How do they get anything done? Oh right, they generally don't, lol.
I like his bizarre characters and situations. Milgrim, Fiona, Bigend, Inchmale, Garreth, Ajay, Heidi etcetera are all so outrageous in different ways. He builds a lot of sympathy for Milgrim along the way. And he wraps things up quite nicely at the very end. His foreshadowing is done with an extremely light touch but still feels fair at the end.
One aspect he does very badly are the "action" scenes. Holy murky fish tank Batman! His communicates such scenes by throwing a giant blanket over the scene and describing the outlines. Yeah, I'm being vague because I don't want to spoiler anything but that's the sense of it. Mr. Gibson, put on your big-boy author pants and write your action scenes more frickin' clearly. You won't have to work TOO hard because there are only two or three such scenes in your whole book. Don't be so afraid to cast a little light onto what is actually happening as it happens. Yeah, I am over-raging a little here but I was put out by the whole texture of the narrative.
I like Gibson's take on trends, marketing, and such so... sigh... I am likely to read his next book as well.
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information from the sides and behind as we drove by, never getting the forward view.He seems to take perverse delight in keeping our heads pointed away from the meat of the story. If we start getting close to the plot, well, then it must be time to describe the intricate pattern of a china tea cup. I never met a group of people so obsessed with the fashion details of everything around them. How do they get anything done? Oh right, they generally don't, lol.
I like his bizarre characters and situations. Milgrim, Fiona, Bigend, Inchmale, Garreth, Ajay, Heidi etcetera are all so outrageous in different ways. He builds a lot of sympathy for Milgrim along the way. And he wraps things up quite nicely at the very end. His foreshadowing is done with an extremely light touch but still feels fair at the end.
One aspect he does very badly are the "action" scenes. Holy murky fish tank Batman! His communicates such scenes by throwing a giant blanket over the scene and describing the outlines. Yeah, I'm being vague because I don't want to spoiler anything but that's the sense of it. Mr. Gibson, put on your big-boy author pants and write your action scenes more frickin' clearly. You won't have to work TOO hard because there are only two or three such scenes in your whole book. Don't be so afraid to cast a little light onto what is actually happening as it happens. Yeah, I am over-raging a little here but I was put out by the whole texture of the narrative.
I like Gibson's take on trends, marketing, and such so... sigh... I am likely to read his next book as well.
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LibraryThing member LisaLynne
Zero History by William Gibson was one of the emergency books I picked up on my trip to Amsterdam and what a lifesaver! It kept me from going crazy on the flight over, although it almost kept me from getting any sleep! It’s a wild ride through secret territory that kept my attention every
Zero History is about fashion…sort of. It’s about underground fashion — so secret that there are no stores, no catalogs, no websites. There is only a mailing list and if you’re lucky enough to be on it, maybe there’s a cryptic message. The meet might be in Tokyo. Or London. Or Perth. Bring cash.
It’s also about technology. In Gibson’s worlds, there is technology under the surface of things, behind the scenes, hidden from most people. Those flashes of light in the sky aren’t UFOs — someone knows exactly what they are, but they aren’t going to tell you. There may very well be a sinister purpose behind those traffic cameras on every corner, a purpose so secret that even the people who designed them don’t fully understand how they can be used.
And then there are the people. There are some amazing characters in this book. There’s Hubertus Bigend, a man as big as his name. He’s got the sort of power that you don’t see, that moves behind the scenes and makes anything possible. There’s Milgrim — a former drug addict with a subtle but powerful gift. He sees things in ways that normal people do not. Bigend’s money and influence got him cleaned up and now Bigend uses his special talents. And then there’s Hollis, who worked for Bigend once and swore she’d never do it again. Now she’s in financial trouble and her former boss is taking advantage.
I loved this book. It’s fast-paced, it’s well written, the vocabulary is terrific and the story does not go any of the places you expect it to go. The characters are unusual, like Fiona the bike messenger who is so much more than a bike messenger and Garreth, extreme-sport enthusiast, who may have connections that go even higher than Bigend’s. I am fascinated by the hotel Hollis is living in, Cabinet, full of curiosities and strange artwork. (When I read this piece on the Los Angeles hotel, Petit Ermitage, I immediately thought of Cabinet.) I want to rent an apartment there and sleep under the big bird cage.
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second.Zero History is about fashion…sort of. It’s about underground fashion — so secret that there are no stores, no catalogs, no websites. There is only a mailing list and if you’re lucky enough to be on it, maybe there’s a cryptic message. The meet might be in Tokyo. Or London. Or Perth. Bring cash.
It’s also about technology. In Gibson’s worlds, there is technology under the surface of things, behind the scenes, hidden from most people. Those flashes of light in the sky aren’t UFOs — someone knows exactly what they are, but they aren’t going to tell you. There may very well be a sinister purpose behind those traffic cameras on every corner, a purpose so secret that even the people who designed them don’t fully understand how they can be used.
And then there are the people. There are some amazing characters in this book. There’s Hubertus Bigend, a man as big as his name. He’s got the sort of power that you don’t see, that moves behind the scenes and makes anything possible. There’s Milgrim — a former drug addict with a subtle but powerful gift. He sees things in ways that normal people do not. Bigend’s money and influence got him cleaned up and now Bigend uses his special talents. And then there’s Hollis, who worked for Bigend once and swore she’d never do it again. Now she’s in financial trouble and her former boss is taking advantage.
I loved this book. It’s fast-paced, it’s well written, the vocabulary is terrific and the story does not go any of the places you expect it to go. The characters are unusual, like Fiona the bike messenger who is so much more than a bike messenger and Garreth, extreme-sport enthusiast, who may have connections that go even higher than Bigend’s. I am fascinated by the hotel Hollis is living in, Cabinet, full of curiosities and strange artwork. (When I read this piece on the Los Angeles hotel, Petit Ermitage, I immediately thought of Cabinet.) I want to rent an apartment there and sleep under the big bird cage.
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LibraryThing member RobertDay
Gibson's last three books have just got better and better. In 'Zero History' we are back with Hollis Henry, former lead singer with The Curfew; Milgrim, the damaged shady operative; and Hubertus Bigend, who is beginning to look ever more like someone bigger than just a media and marketing guru.
Gibson has fallen in love with London, but he still sees it through the eyes of an outsider; speaking through Milgrim, he constantly expresses surprise at how London differs from daily life in the USA. And there is some sort of resolution for his characters; even, perhaps, some happy endings, not something you'd normally associate with Gibson.
This is now a novel of Today; for one thing, since reading it, I've done a double-take whenever I've encountered a Toyota Hilux pickup on the road. My one question is this: where does Gibson go from here?
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Indeed, part-way through this novel, there is an incident which made me think "What IS a marketing guru doing with hardware like THIS?". By the end of the book, some of Bigend's motivation is coming clear, and the words "Bond villain" are attached to him, only partly in jest. And parts of it I found laugh-out-loud funny.Gibson has fallen in love with London, but he still sees it through the eyes of an outsider; speaking through Milgrim, he constantly expresses surprise at how London differs from daily life in the USA. And there is some sort of resolution for his characters; even, perhaps, some happy endings, not something you'd normally associate with Gibson.
This is now a novel of Today; for one thing, since reading it, I've done a double-take whenever I've encountered a Toyota Hilux pickup on the road. My one question is this: where does Gibson go from here?
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LibraryThing member andy475uk
Some reviews of this book have tended to focus on it's lack of a decent plot but with William Gibson part of the enjoyment of reading his later books are the little technical details on every page so although the plot of Zero History isn't really anything other than a lightly sketched scenario
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there's lots of gorgeous descriptions and clever ideas such as a mysterious fashion label, a secret hotel in London and partly visible flying spy devices shaped like animals to keep the reader entertained. It's not Neuromancer but still a great although time consuming read. Show Less
LibraryThing member AsYouKnow_Bob
This is my favorite book so far this century.
Some of that is just me - I seem to be the perfect reader for Gibson's 'Blue Ant' series - but this remains a rollicking good time.
Some of that is just me - I seem to be the perfect reader for Gibson's 'Blue Ant' series - but this remains a rollicking good time.
LibraryThing member kmaziarz
After finishing a job investigating the rise of underground “locative art” for Hubertus Bigend in Spook Country, former rock star Hollis Henry once again finds herself coming to the attention of the mysterious marketing mogul and head of the trend-forecasting firm Blue Ant. Despite her initial
Meanwhile, Bigend has sent another of his employees, the recently-recovered former drug addict Milgrim, on a little industrial espionage trip to check out the competition. Milgrim, who has basically missed most of the last ten years, is Bigend’s current project. For one thing, he wanted to see if an experimental drug rehab project would actually work. For another, Milgrim’s tabula rasa state when it comes to pop culture makes him invaluable to someone like Bigend. However, Milgrim is balanced very carefully on a razor’s edge between complete stability and a slow slide back into his former habits, and his unpredictable nature coupled with the fact that the “competition” he checked out happened to be a former American Special Ops soldier turned arms dealer throw more than a few monkey wrenches into the plans of both Bigend and Hollis.
Fast-paced, edgy, and written in an almost ascetic and concentrated style, this is a near-future thriller set in a time and place that will feel at once out on the edge and also completely familiar to readers. Highly recommended for readers looking for something a little bit different than their usual fare.
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reservations about working for the slightly amoral and driven exec, Hollis gets roped into tracking down the designer of an obscure, highly collectible, and extremely exclusive “secret brand” of clothing, Gabriel Hounds. Bigend is, on the one hand, concerned that the Gabriel Hounds designer is beating him at his own marketing game. On the other hand, the clothing Hounds produces is instantly crave-worthy; all the pieces are well-made, deceptively simple, and completely trend-immune, and Bigend wants to recruit the designer for a project of his own. He’s decided to slip through a legal loophole and into the lucrative business of designing clothing for the American military. Meanwhile, Bigend has sent another of his employees, the recently-recovered former drug addict Milgrim, on a little industrial espionage trip to check out the competition. Milgrim, who has basically missed most of the last ten years, is Bigend’s current project. For one thing, he wanted to see if an experimental drug rehab project would actually work. For another, Milgrim’s tabula rasa state when it comes to pop culture makes him invaluable to someone like Bigend. However, Milgrim is balanced very carefully on a razor’s edge between complete stability and a slow slide back into his former habits, and his unpredictable nature coupled with the fact that the “competition” he checked out happened to be a former American Special Ops soldier turned arms dealer throw more than a few monkey wrenches into the plans of both Bigend and Hollis.
Fast-paced, edgy, and written in an almost ascetic and concentrated style, this is a near-future thriller set in a time and place that will feel at once out on the edge and also completely familiar to readers. Highly recommended for readers looking for something a little bit different than their usual fare.
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LibraryThing member Kellswitch
It's always hard to describe William Gibson's books, and almost impossible to do without giving away major plot points.
Like his previous two books this one is set in current times vs. the future, but it still feels like a science fiction book instead of a contemporary one. Much science fiction is
The book starts out as a story about an eccentric billionaire, one of the powers behind the scenes for just about everything trying to track down the designer of a "secret" brand of denim clothes and pretty much ends up about as far from that as you can get.
Gibson isn't an author for everyone but I've always loved the way he uses words, they way they flow and fit the characters and story perfectly even if I don't always understand what they are saying as they inhabit a world I don't, even when set in modern times. I read this book in two days and had to force myself to put it down when it was time to go to bed.
Like his previous two books this one is set in current times vs. the future, but it still feels like a science fiction book instead of a contemporary one. Much science fiction is
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prescient, but he always seems to me to be just one step ahead of where we are actually heading culturally if not technically.The book starts out as a story about an eccentric billionaire, one of the powers behind the scenes for just about everything trying to track down the designer of a "secret" brand of denim clothes and pretty much ends up about as far from that as you can get.
Gibson isn't an author for everyone but I've always loved the way he uses words, they way they flow and fit the characters and story perfectly even if I don't always understand what they are saying as they inhabit a world I don't, even when set in modern times. I read this book in two days and had to force myself to put it down when it was time to go to bed.
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LibraryThing member freddlerabbit
Zero History seems very much in keeping with some of Gibson's other work, especially the more recent vintage. I had a hard time telling what the book was about, exactly - something to do with branding and design and identity. I'm not sure whether I'm just too stupid to get it, or the idea was left
Despite this, it was entertaining - whimsical, even - with compelling characters and ludicrous situations and just general weirdness. I remember an author once stating, "plots are what you have if the reader doesn't like your characters" - and I think that's quite right; here, I liked the characters so much the fact I really didn't grok the book didn't matter to me.
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deliberately unclear. In either case, I felt like the book was really about some abstract idea, or point, rather than just a good story unto itself, and the latter is really what I'd prefer to read.Despite this, it was entertaining - whimsical, even - with compelling characters and ludicrous situations and just general weirdness. I remember an author once stating, "plots are what you have if the reader doesn't like your characters" - and I think that's quite right; here, I liked the characters so much the fact I really didn't grok the book didn't matter to me.
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LibraryThing member viking2917
Gibson has an amazing way of writing about the recent past in a way that makes it sound like the future....a fun little caper through secret brands, clothing fetishes, cool hunting, and the financial collapse of Iceland. Vintage Gibson. The ride is fabulous; at the end, one is somewhat left
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wondering what the point was....and ultimately not caring because the ride was so fun! Show Less
LibraryThing member PghDragonMan
William Gibson’s hard edge is back.
While lacking the true raw grit of his earliest cyberpunk works, Zero History manages to feel like a return to the style that brought him such high acclaim. In some ways, this story is a prequel to the characters of his Neuromancer days. Fiona, a messenger of
The pacing of this book reminded me a lot of Pattern Recognition. You will find Hubertus Bigend, and some other characters, in both books, but it is more than just characters that binds these together. There is a palpable tension coming through the pages into the reader’s mind. This is the edge that made me a fan of Gibson’s writing.
A lot of the back story is filled, so you needn’t have read the two preceding books to feel up to date. Another big plus for this book is that you are not even aware that you are being filled in. Too many series waste the reader’s time with tedious flash back scenes and other devices to bring you into the current book’s time continuum. If you have read the preceding stories, you will probably be able to jump to some conclusions non-initiates might not, but no one’s enjoyment will be diminished by not having read them.
This is a solid five star book, well worth acquiring and reading. More urban metropolitan fantasy / industrial espionage than sci-fi, this book should attract a broad range of readers. While not a Bond Action / Adventure novel, there is enough action to keep fans of that genre happy. The science and technology is cutting edge, but it is also very believeable; the technology depicted exists, it is just the application that is novel.
While lacking the true raw grit of his earliest cyberpunk works, Zero History manages to feel like a return to the style that brought him such high acclaim. In some ways, this story is a prequel to the characters of his Neuromancer days. Fiona, a messenger of
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sorts, could be the antecedent of Molly Millions, the body altered bodyguard from his earlier works. Millgram, with a little work and combined with Hollis Henry, could give us Case as a figurative off spring. There are connections there.The pacing of this book reminded me a lot of Pattern Recognition. You will find Hubertus Bigend, and some other characters, in both books, but it is more than just characters that binds these together. There is a palpable tension coming through the pages into the reader’s mind. This is the edge that made me a fan of Gibson’s writing.
A lot of the back story is filled, so you needn’t have read the two preceding books to feel up to date. Another big plus for this book is that you are not even aware that you are being filled in. Too many series waste the reader’s time with tedious flash back scenes and other devices to bring you into the current book’s time continuum. If you have read the preceding stories, you will probably be able to jump to some conclusions non-initiates might not, but no one’s enjoyment will be diminished by not having read them.
This is a solid five star book, well worth acquiring and reading. More urban metropolitan fantasy / industrial espionage than sci-fi, this book should attract a broad range of readers. While not a Bond Action / Adventure novel, there is enough action to keep fans of that genre happy. The science and technology is cutting edge, but it is also very believeable; the technology depicted exists, it is just the application that is novel.
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LibraryThing member g33kgrrl
This is the culmination of narrative strands started in the first two books. Hollis Henry is once again playing detective for Hubertus Bigend, and has to deal with all the corporate intrigue that goes along with it. It also deals with Hollis's life beyond the work, including delving more into
The concept at the end, which I'm not going to address, may feel familiar to anyone who's read Gibson's other work - he likes transformations, and expansions. I don't mean that in a bad way, just in a way that you might recognize some themes.
I actually found this my favorite of the three. Milgrim has more personality, and revisiting a certain character from Pattern Recognition was excellent.
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Heidi's personality, which I loved, and brings back another character who I liked learning more about. The concept at the end, which I'm not going to address, may feel familiar to anyone who's read Gibson's other work - he likes transformations, and expansions. I don't mean that in a bad way, just in a way that you might recognize some themes.
I actually found this my favorite of the three. Milgrim has more personality, and revisiting a certain character from Pattern Recognition was excellent.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
I find this a rather hard book to talk about because not very much happens. This is certainly not a plot-driven book, ironic when you consider the closest genre for placement would probably be thriller. And I can't call a character-driven book. In fact, it took me a while to get into it as the
I think I'd describe it as an idea-driven book, touching on cultural trends, memes and behaviors. When you look at Gibson's work as a whole, this isn't a departure. While his stories range from cyberpunk to steampunk to action, there's an underlying awareness and perspective on our culture that is very dominant.
I think the best description of what it felt like to read this book is the blurb on the back from Time: "...writing about the present as if it were the future." That's exactly the sense I had. It felt like speculative fiction but, when I stopped to think about it, everything in the story could exist today.
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rapid switching of viewpoint between the two main characters held them at arm's length for a while (although I eventually became quite heavily invested in them).I think I'd describe it as an idea-driven book, touching on cultural trends, memes and behaviors. When you look at Gibson's work as a whole, this isn't a departure. While his stories range from cyberpunk to steampunk to action, there's an underlying awareness and perspective on our culture that is very dominant.
I think the best description of what it felt like to read this book is the blurb on the back from Time: "...writing about the present as if it were the future." That's exactly the sense I had. It felt like speculative fiction but, when I stopped to think about it, everything in the story could exist today.
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LibraryThing member vanderwal
This third part of William Gibson's trilogy that started with Pattern Recognition all seemed to set in roughly the same time period, but by Zero History it was no longer near future, but today's world (but today is not evenly distributed). It was a good closing for the trilogy, but I was really
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missing the "so this is there things are going to be in a year or so" moments. It was good a good thriller/suspense book set in very current day. Show Less
LibraryThing member themulhern
Fun. The junkie becomes the most important character. Another Gibson tale in which the weedy guy gets the cool girl who can do the masculine things, e.g., kill people, ride a motorcycle. A more typical romance as well, which was a little off-putting in a Gibson novel.
LibraryThing member gbsallery
Sublime very-near-future thriller; an unfolding of the world of Bigend et al., sharply observed and searingly modern. Perhaps just a trifle disappointing in the last few pages, but I think that's just sadness that the book had to end; the whole thing hinges around London and is written as though
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Gibson is inhaling the zeitgeist then spinning it into taut little sentences in an exquisitely detailed stream. Magnificent. Show Less
LibraryThing member 8bitmore
[very slightly spoiler alert] Nicely written (as in terse and somehow yet visually and emotionally engaging) take on the Bigend saga, though the omnipotency of our supposed marketeer/cool-hunter is starting to come off a bit stale.. seriously. At least the Bigend character transcends his role at
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the end so there we go, no more same-same from Gibson on that account; hopefully. Show Less
LibraryThing member nmele
The series of novels by Gibson that started with "Pattern Recognition" seemed like a radical departure for Gibson at the time, and they are very different from earlier works like "Neuromancer" but Gibson's fascination with how societies are structured, how order emerges out of seeming chaos, and
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the hidden parts of culture and society remain. I really enjoyed this one, made me want to reread "Pattern Recognition" and "Spook Country" again. Show Less
LibraryThing member paulmorriss
William Gibson is on fine form here. It is written in a slightly obtuse style which isn't so unsettling that you fall behind, but enough to make the ride interesting. There is no simple classification of the characters as heroes and villains - you have to watch as the events unfold and the
At the end he gives credit to the people who gave him ideas and I was surprised at how many weren't his.
I hadn't read the previous books in the series and I didn't feel like I'd missed out, so you can jump in with this book. The setting is the near future so it will quickly become dated so I suggest catching it now while it's fresh.
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allegiances sort themselves out.At the end he gives credit to the people who gave him ideas and I was surprised at how many weren't his.
I hadn't read the previous books in the series and I didn't feel like I'd missed out, so you can jump in with this book. The setting is the near future so it will quickly become dated so I suggest catching it now while it's fresh.
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LibraryThing member Jaelle
Enjoyable, but not quite as good, sequel to Pattern Recognition, and Spook County featuring further escapades of Blue Ant and Hilbertus Bigend. If you enjoyed Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, you should like Zero History.
LibraryThing member geekpoet
This was one of the most boring and slow moving novels I've read in a long time. Even the plot, to find the secretive designer of a pair of pants, was uninteresting. The characters were well rounded and in themselves very interesting, and it was nice to see them change/where-they-are-now since the
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last novel, but I really could have skipped this. The ending made this feel like an interlude between two actual stories, even the plot of this one was dismissed by one of the main characters as a side-job/small project. I'm left wondering why I should have cared about any of the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member callmecayce
I have no trouble admitting that William Gibson is my favorite author. I bought this the day it came out, but didn't read it until now. Why? Library books pile up with due dates, books I own do not. I love the Blue Ant series, as it's called, and while I adored Spook Country, I didn't think it was
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as good as my favorite, Pattern Recognition. But Zero History, on the other hand, was almost perfect. I liked Hollis in SC, but she wasn't Cayce (my favorite). And then I read ZH and I literally fell in love with these characters, from Hollis to Fiona to Garreth to Milgrim. Gibson really pushed a lot of detail into this novel, more than the other two -- or at least in different ways. About a third of the way through I figured out who I thought the Hounds designer was and Gibson all but confirms it at the end (though fans seem to disagree, but I think it's fairly obvious). I'm going to be really bummed if there aren't more books in this series, but ZH is a good one to end on, because it blends the worlds of PR and SC together in a really, really great way. There'sa reason why I love Gibson's writing and Zero History is a great example of that. More, please? Show Less
LibraryThing member adiasd
This book is the third of a sequence started with Pattern Recognition, and it is a direct sequel to previous Gibson book Spooky Country. The same set of characters in a plot triggered by Blue Ant owner Bigend. It also keeps the trend of previous two of focusing on the present and not anymore on the
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future. However, from the books of this trilogy, this is in my opinion the weakest. Not that it is so boring, it keeps holding your attention, it is a easy reading, characters are still interesting but the plot is not so good. While other books of this trilogy manage to give a novel view of the present world, as if it was a little bit in the future with its cool trends (like the coolhunting stuff in Pattern Recognition or the locative art of Spooky country) and dark sides, this one doesn't bring anything new. Besides, the plot starts in a way and then suddenly diverts to a kind of side story that becomes the whole climax (or anticlimax) of the book. Gibson has successfully changed to a different style before when the cyberpunk concept was exhausted and now it seems that a new change is required since the mix of spooky and cool reality that was the center of this latest trilogy has already lost its strength. Show Less
LibraryThing member geertwissink
Short, provocative, intelligent prose - minimal art in words on every page. Setting: contemporary London in which iPhones are the interfaces of sophisticated surveillance platforms. Quest: the hunt for the most cool guerilla brand. Still - not the best Gibson I've read, too short on ideas and a
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thin storyline, more in the style of a contemporary sketch than a full blown novel. But hey, who's complaining, the description the of the Cabinet hotel still hounds my dreams and I'm having the feeling that I'm watched by a silver flying penguin .. Show Less
LibraryThing member voicebyjack
one of my favorite authors, this book is part of a trilogy with Pattern REcognition and Spook Country, with chracters and themes shared throughout. Very richly detailed, and with these latest books, technology is featured but they are not really sci-fi, but more contemporary, certainly in time and
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locales. Show Less
LibraryThing member nnschiller
Too soon to be more articulate than that I loved it and it tied the Blue Ant novels together in a way I didn't expect. Wonderful stuff.
Publication
Berkley (2011), Edition: Reprint, 416 pages
Media reviews
"Instead, it feels as if Gibson is going through the motions, as if he's gone back to the pattern once too often, setting up a story — centered by Hollis' efforts to find that designer — that we've seen before."
"His trenchant scrutiny of society and culture, and the relentless precision of his prose force us to see his world (and ours) with a troubling exactitude and an extra dose of unease."
"To read Gibson is to read the present as if it were the future, because it seems the present is becoming the future faster than it is becoming the past."
"What matters are the highly textured, brilliantly evocative prose and the stunning insights Gibson offers into what we perceive as the present moment—the implication being, per the title, that's all we have left."
This flatness is the strangest feature of the world of Zero History, and more generally of the trilogy it completes. There's no question that, taken together, these three books represent one of the first great novels of 21st-century data culture. But there's no dirt in view – no muss. The cities
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of Neuromancer were crumbling into a kipple of obsolete technology, litter and grime. Cyberspace – clean, rational, clutterless – offered an alternative reality for those with the skills and the technology to gain access, while the wealthy could escape to exclusive orbital country-club cantons. Now that the future is here, Gibson's readers, like his protagonists, seem condemned to cities that are all surface, while yearning for a glimpse of something seedier, stickier, more troubling. Show Less
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010
Physical description
404 p.
ISBN
9780425240779