Neuromancer

By William Gibson, published in 1984

Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars out of 5)

The grandfather of cyberpunk, a word that launched a thousand bad portmanteaus. It’s a challenging read because it shamelessly refuses to explain anything and forces the reader to absorb and decipher complicated and occasionally fictional terminology or simply coast through it as Gibson builds a notably unique narrative environment. Science fiction and fantasy are often dismissed because people who don’t read it assume that a significant portion of the work is explaining the world the author has built. Neuromancer is proof that this is not true — it doesn’t care if you understand it and it doesn’t slow down. Science fiction fans of a certain stripe absolutely love being dropped into a world with zero explanation whatsoever and piece it together as they go. Just like mystery fans want a mystery to solve (or be surprised by), a lot of science fiction fans want to be immersed. After all, if they want to read a stack of unadorned facts, Wikipedia is always there.