Review of Count Zero by william gibson on GoodReads…

Count Zero by William Gibson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started and did not finish Neuromancer about 20 years ago. I picked this up because it has an AI theme and I thought my tolerance of extreme sci-fi was higher now than back then. I call this genre “extreme sci-fi” because of the number and frequency of completely fantastical terms and concepts that are presented in the narrative and the author’s arrogance in which he tosses these out with a ” if you can’t follow me, then you shouldn’t be reading this” attitude. Will Gibson is the master at this and thats why I put down Neuromancer back then and almost put Count Zero down this time.
Though my tolerance isn’t much better, I persevered because I wanted to see what the future for AI could be like and I wasn’t disappointed.

 
The two schools of thought on AI is “the benevolent tool” that supports man in his quest for a higher intellect vs the insidious take over of mankind by machines that are in a self-reinforcing spiral without any predator species.
Count Zero, takes the former view where man’s best and worst nature is amplified a million times by the breadth of knowledge of all of history and current affairs accessible by a pair of ” ‘trodes ” attached to ones forehead or a “microsoft” slotted into a socket surgically implanted in ones cranium. In either case, the brain becomes supercharged and communications with other similarly endowed humans becomes visceral rather than just aural and/or visual.
All of the protagonists and antagonists (and there are plenty of each) in Will Gibson’s novel are still human, still susceptible to traditional human vices and virtues. This is comforting compared to a man vs machine conflict where man is woefully outgunned.
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I rated the story higher than this review might imply because, in pure writers craft, Will Gibson is an expert. He defines his characters evenly and crisply using various devices such as common traits, dialog, behaviors, etc. They are real people.
All of his Will Gibson’s characters, even the minor characters, have personal story of their own. Sometimes it’s just a personal choice to operate a bar for drug addicts and gang members such as Jammer in this story. Still, he has a personality and relationships with several other characters. He’s not just a cardboard cutout to fill a role in the plot.
Several characters have a devotion to another character such as Paco, the young protoge of Verik, Wigam’s colleague on the abandon satellite (can’t remember his name), and the wife who supports her crazy husband Rudy on the family farm. While these are supporting roles to a lead character, they have dialog and captivating personalities on their own. Anyone of them could take off in their own novel.
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Will Gibson manages the major and minor arcs of plot well, leaving the reader in the right amount of suspension at the end of each chapter without the cheesy gimmicks like ending the last paragraph with hanging sentences such as “He walked out the door for the last time…so he thought…”
And in this novel at least, the author didn’t fill plot gaps with gratuitous porn scenes about sex with aliens, etc. (With one exception bordering on pedophilia which could easily have been left out.)
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So, I may go on and read the third in this trilogy and I might go back and read Neuromancer completely, but not right away. I need a dip into reality again before I stretch my sense of credulity to these levels.
-jgp
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