William Gibson

So I was just bequeathed a few novels by William Gibson from a friend. I have read both Neuromancer and The Difference Engine both of which I liked. Any thoughts on which of these I should read next? Or better yet, in what order would you rate each of these?
1. Virtual Light
2. Burning Chrome
3. Spook Country
4. Zero History
5. The Peripheral

The bag of books also included Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. How does that one rate?

Looking forward to your expert appraisals. 😀

Burning Chrome is a set of short stories from his early period like Neuromancer. Virtual Light is one out of a loose trilogy; it's the middle book, but the narrative doesn't rely on you having read the previous books in the series; only a couple of characters and the general setting persist from book to book.

Spook Country and Zero History are two of his "Blue Ant" sequence. These are a little more connected, with a number of characters in common, especially the failed CIA agent Milgram and the tech entrepreneur Hubertus Bigend.* Again, the narratives aren't directly connected, but it's a bit more helpful to read those in publication order. Also note that the Blue Ant sequence were an example of Gibson writing SF set ten minutes into the future. Someone coming new to Gibson and reading those for the first time today without knowing his backstory wouldn't identify those books as SF.

The Peripheral was the start of a new sequence which is more SFnal than the Blue Ant novels.

As for the Stephenson: I liked it, but YMMV; lots of other people's does. There's a big expository chunk on Sumerian number systems in the middle - seriously! - but the novel starts out fine, with the Mob having taken over a pizza delivery service and imposing really tough sanctions for not meeting guaranteed delivery times. The tech was very bleeding edge for its time and still reads well now, if a little dated. One warning: there is one scene of consensual but under-age sex. It fits the character but it would get Stephenson into trouble if it were published today.

*I could never decide if that character's name was a deliberate joke on Bill's part or not. Depends on whether you pronounce the name with a hard or a soft 'g'.

>1 Neil_Luvs_Books: Those are all volumes that are part of trilogies/series. The Peripheral is the only first-in-a-series so that might be one to start with, except I don't think the third book is out yet...? Or maybe pick up Pattern Recognition since that comes first in the Blue Ant trilogy, with Spook Country and Zero History filling out the trilogy.

Snow Crash was my first Stephenson. I liked it well enough. At this stage in the game, there will be elements of Snow Crash that will feel dated - but it's still well worth reading for its historical significance to the SF Cyberpunk movement.

Another early Cyberpunk novel that is often overlooked is Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired, which was also published in the mid-1980's.

EtA: Looks like I cross-posted w/the more detailed response in #2. Thanks RobertDay!

>1 Neil_Luvs_Books: I'm a fan of Snow Crash and I think >2 RobertDay: and >3 ScoLgo: have summed it up well. It is a fun read, not to be taken too seriously.

Thanks all! I think I may hunt down the first books in those trilogies. William Gibson already does a good job of dumping the reader into the middle of a plot. No need for me to make my reading more difficult by plunking myself down in the middle of a trilogy. 😀

I have my reading cut out for me for awhile.

My favourite Bill Gibson story is that whilst he was writing Neuromancer, he went to see this much-talked about film, 'Blade Runner'.

"I had to walk out after twenty minutes", he once said. "It looked too much like the inside of my own head."

>6 RobertDay: good story!

If you enjoyed Neuromancer you should definitely try to get hold of Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive, which complete the trilogy.

>8 SFF1928-1973: Yes! These have been on my TBR list for some time. Other books keep landing in my lap and getting in the way of completing this trilogy!

I'd recommend reading each trilogy in order and in their entirety. Gibson is my favourite author by a long margin and each trilogy brings a unique perspective on speculative fiction.