I finished Neuromancer a few days ago during a long and delay-ridden day of travel. I carelessly gave it three stars.
That was rash.

Neuromancer continues to linger with me. It drips with PKD¹. But even more so this book inhabits Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
These two examples are obviously linked, but Scott’s adaptation of PKD was far more cyberpunk, whereas Blade Runner’s source material Do Electric Androids Dream of Sheep was distinctly dystopian.

Neuromancer has no lulls. Almost to its detriment. The narrative blazes forward in one extended downhill barrage.
That pace might turn some people off. I’ve read a few reviews that said as much. It’s an adrenaline rush, and maybe not conducive to a certain type of pleasure reading.
Gibson makes you work, he doesn’t spell everything out for you. I kept the William Gibson wiki page at arms length. Something I had previously only done for Gene Wolfe.

But the reason this book resonates with me is simple and obvious. There are few action devices I enjoy more than the heist, and the crew.

The crew assembly gambit works for me every time. If it’s there, I’m in. Large chunks of this book are exactly that. And midway through the book we discover *SPOILER ALERT* that we’re dealing with a crew assembly inside of another crew assembly.

Nothing about Neuromancer is hackneyed or old-fashioned. Another rule I have now—any book that refers to hackers as Console Cowboys—I’m in. Gibson’s style feels every bit as thrilling now (in 2023) as it must have in 1984. Modern too, and that’s especially impressive considering how technology driven this story is.
But it is hard to fathom just how groundbreaking and divining² Gibson’s speculative future must have seemed to readers at the time—readers (for the most part) wholly ignorant of the impending internet revolution. His vision of humans adapting to technology—and vice versa—is not the gadget-like-jetsons vision of Heinlein or other retro-futurist imaginings³. Neuromancer is a bridge to a new era of thinking about sci-fi.
Gibson doesn’t give us a utopian future, but it’s not a wholly dystopian one either. It’s a future that sees humans struggling to stay atop the food chain. Humans that remain flawed and corruptible as ever. Grimy, sordid, but potentially admirable humans. Read this one, I know I’ll read it again.

And now the unnecessary Disney portion of the story. 

I read this book during a trip to California that—among other things⁴—included a 14 hour day at Disneyland. I’ve yet to have anything less than an all-time mt. rushmore day at Disney, both in SoCal and Orlando. I’ve been maybe 9 times (all as an adult) and each time Amber and I open and close the place. Our love for these parks is irrational and boundless.

BUT–

We take in with us ungodly amounts of edibles. So we’re not exactly innocent and doe-eyed.
The impact of these edibles is hard to measure. I try to time the edibles to peak during Splash Mountain. One time I was almost scared out the line, saved only by a pep talk from my wife. This most recent ride down Splash Mountain was the best one because it was the last one. Splash Mountain will be gone for good next month⁵. It was a euphoric send off and I’ll include a photo below for proof.

I know the existence of Disney adults is a turn off for some. It’s gatekeeping, obviously, and try as I might to not do this I’m sure I gate-keep some activity too. I can’t fully explain my fascination with these theme parks. Nostalgia doesn’t quite fit because I never went as a child. My first visit was maybe 6 years ago. Again– the copious amount of drugs need not be underestimated here.

BUT–

These parks are incredibly fun. We smile the entire day. I think it’s that simple. Just yesterday I told Amber I couldn’t wait for our next trip to Disney World. A next trip that is unplanned, only assumed. These trips are our hajj, and we the haji.

1. Philip K. Dick.
2. There’s a great line in the afterward of this book by Jack Womack, he asks “what if the act of writing it down, in fact, brought it about?”
3. More fondly tagged the golden age of sci-fi.
4.  The principal reason for this trip was a baby shower for Amber’s childhood friend, who also served as Amber’s maid of honor in our wedding last year. It should also be noted that said maid of honor—Britney, and her husband Bradley—drove to Nashville from California to attend our wedding.
5. Alas, The Song of the South