
How William Gibson Keeps His Science Fiction Real - fortran77
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/how-william-gibson-keeps-his-science-fiction-real
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dpau
I've been waiting for his upcoming novel "Agency" to come out for a long time!
[https://www.amazon.com/Agency-William-
Gibson/dp/110198693X](https://www.amazon.com/Agency-William-
Gibson/dp/110198693X)

Excited to hear about this:

> “Agency” is a sequel to Gibson’s previous novel, “The Peripheral,” from
> 2014, which is currently being adapted into a television show for Amazon,
> executive-produced by the creators of “Westworld.”

~~~
atombender
I thought The Peripheral was a really frustrating novel to read.

Many — perhaps most — of Gibson's novels have the main plot occur behind the
scenes, with the principal character being a minor player a passive observer
of events instigated by others, in particular by wealthy oligarchic figures
with unlimited resources (think Armitage in Neuromancer, Bigend in the Blue
Ant books, etc.). Think about what Case actually _does_ in Neuromancer. He
steals the ROM containing Dixie Flatline, and then... not much else. I loved
Neuromancer when I first read it in the 1990s, but today a re-read makes it
painfully obvious how much of the plot is on rails, with the main group of
characters transported from location to location, ticking boxes on the heist
checklist.

The Peripheral is an _extreme_ example of this. Without spoiling anything
serious, Flynne makes a pivotal conscious choice in the first chapter, and
then for the rest of the book she does absolutely nothing other than being
shipped around while other characters do stuff. She's even kidnapped at one
point. The last two thirds of the book is spent mobilizing for a huge event
that, at least to me, barely registers when it happens, and Flynne doesn't
even seem necessary in order to resolve the central conflict, except that
Gibson wanted her to be present. Flynne is not a badly drawn character, but
she has very little agency.

I love Gibson's prose and his attention to world building and futuristic
detail, which I think end up elevating his books above what the shoddy plots
deserve, but even that seemed diminished in The Peripheral. The dialogue is
particularly atrocious, with every present-day character speaking in the same
annoying shorthand style. A _lot_ of The Peripheral consists of people talking
on the phone with each other and repeating known plot points to each other.
There's a lot of lazy writing here for someone famous for their cool-sounding
prose.

~~~
shantly
It has been my observation that some people are really bothered by structural
or technical problems in storytelling—and, conversely, highly value
structurally and technically sound stories—and others don't seem to notice at
all.

This doesn't seem to be a trade-off thing either—I find that few things
actually are, just as "the truth lies somewhere in the middle" is more fairy
tale than dependable guide—that is, those who appreciate technically-sound
storytelling aren't somehow deficient in appreciation of humor or good
characterization or well-written dialog or whatever. They are just very
bothered by sloppy or poor plotting, while other people don't even notice.
(presumably there are also some who notice but do not care, though I believe
they're a rare species)

~~~
wrp
> _...some people are really bothered by structural or technical problems in
> storytelling...and others don 't seem to notice at all._

Good point. I was just thinking this while reading reviews from people who
loved/hated Haruki Murakami's _1Q84_. Some people focus on language/affect and
others on plot/information.

------
dcminter
This is not super-relevant to the article, but I thought I would mention:

It often strikes me that the opening line of Neuromancer, which is something
like "The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead channel" must be losing
its meaning to newer readers.

~~~
kabdib
A recently penned introduction to Neuromancer (by Gibson, I think, though it
might be by Neil Gaiman) points this out, as well as Gibson's failure to
predict cell phones (which he is chagrined by).

Just the other day I was reading some early Neal Stephenson, and it made
reference to 32-bit personal computers as being on the cutting edge. I guess
you could read it as a period piece. Similarly, a novel about a computer that
was written in the 1950s describes a machine a city block on a side, cooled by
Niagra falls, with 1000 bits of storage, that somehow still forms the pillar
of a surveillance society.

Novel writers are not the best predictors of technology, it would appear.
That's okay.

~~~
mrob
>with 1000 bits of storage

Did anybody really write that? The first electronic stored-program computer,
the Manchester Baby (1948), had 1024 bits of storage. Even assuming no
miniaturization, just scaling up contemporary computers would have gotten you
more than 1000 bits.

~~~
kabdib
I forget the name of the book, but yes, they really did write that. It wasn't
a mainstream author, if that matters.

(It _might_ have been a megabit, but it sure wasn't much compared to what you
need in order to run a computerized dystopia...).

------
dobleboble
I really enjoyed his most recent novel "Peripheral" and can't wait for his
next one due out in January.

------
pclark
> An orange notebook, filled with intricate time lines for “The Peripheral,”
> was decorated with a sticker bearing the logo of the niche techwear brand
> Outlier—a black swan.

Outlier makes amazing clothing: [https://outlier.nyc](https://outlier.nyc)

~~~
gautamcgoel
$395 for a hoodie?? I quite like my made-in-America hoodie from American
Giant, which retails for $108. What extra value would I get if I shelled out
an additional $287 for the Outlier hoodie?

~~~
ralphc
Check out the prices on Arc’teryx Veilance, also mentioned in the article.
$2299 for a hoodie.

~~~
gautamcgoel
Insanity, sheer insanity.

------
k__
While they are a nice read, I had the impression his stories didn't age well
in terms of technology.

A fax machine in a car?

~~~
basch
wait till eink is the thickness of a sheet of paper, and cellular modems and
antennas fit as well. holding a piece of "paper" that can always reflect a
current source of truth, or be etched and locked to never changed.

~~~
mewse-hn
Orwell is spinning in his grave at the phrase "a current source of truth"

~~~
basch
there are plenty of temporal truths relative to their frame. "hours worked
this week" or "percent complete."

you might also be tracking a moving object, and as that object relocates
geographically, different types of sensors pick it up, and the device saying
"ive found it" changes. each sensor is the source of truth.

if those things were printed on standard paper, they can be false moments
after they are printed.

------
ptah
awesome article. i really need to read his newer stuff( for me newer anyway)

------
busterarm
Avid sci-fi reader here. Gibson had maybe 3 good books in him. 30 years ago.
Cyberpunk, although influential, was a short flash in the pan. Him and a few
others (Rudy Rucker, etc) made some contributions.

There's far better out there and I never understood why Gibson has been
written about so much when his output is so little.

~~~
antoinevg
The world he created was all around you by the time you were born so you
probably wouldn't understand.

~~~
matwood
Great point.

Somewhat related, but I have hard time watching older shows/movies where the
plot only works because people do not a have cell phones. I even grew up
before cell phones, but they are such a part of our lives now it is hard to
look past when they are missing.

~~~
shantly
Modern cell phones are a hellish technology for people trying to plot stories.
Every single person's carrying a superior version of a 1960s spy's kit, and
can magically send anything recorded on it to anyone else in seconds. It takes
serious effort to make any event or information plausibly known only to a
limited circle, should any of them wish it to be otherwise.

It's become almost an in-joke how horror movies so often have to find a way to
dispose of or disable cell phones early in the plot.

