Sep 29th, 2014, 5:14 am

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William Gibson will be releasing a new eBook on October 28th 2014 and will be his first full length novel since 2010’s Zero History. Gibson has stated that it will be set in multiple futures and it is currently unknown whether this book will be apart of a trilogy.


Much of Gibson’s reputation has remained associated with Neuromancer, but his work has continued to evolve. After expanding on Neuromancer with two more novels to complete the dystopic Sprawl trilogy, Gibson became an important author of another science fiction sub-genre—steampunk—with the 1990 alternate history novel The Difference Engine, written with Bruce Sterling. In the 1990s, he composed the Bridge trilogy of novels, which focused on sociological observations of near-future urban environments and late capitalism. His most recent novels— Pattern Recognition (2003), Spook Country (2007) and Zero History (2010) —are set in a contemporary world and have put his work onto mainstream bestseller lists for the first time.


What exactly is the Peripheral all about? The synapses states “Where Flynne and her brother, Burton, live, jobs outside the drug business are rare. Fortunately, Burton has his veteran’s benefits, for neural damage he suffered from implants during his time in the USMC’s elite Haptic Recon force. Then one night Burton has to go out, but there’s a job he’s supposed to do—a job Flynne didn’t know he had. Beta-testing part of a new game, he tells her. The job seems to be simple: work a perimeter around the image of a tower building. Little buglike things turn up. He’s supposed to get in their way, edge them back. That’s all there is to it. He’s offering Flynne a good price to take over for him. What she sees, though, isn’t what Burton told her to expect. It might be a game, but it might also be murder.


Some time around the year 2020, in a trailer park in the Deep South, a young woman witnesses a murder. She is in a video game, and watches with horror as a drone strike kills a child. At precisely the same moment, one hundred years in the future, a boy is remotely killed on the streets of London’s great skyscrapers. The perpetrator remains anonymous.


Interweaving two strange futures, from a ramshackle community of US army veterans, to the teeming masses of a mega city, The Peripheral tells the story of a brave new world of drones, outsourcing and kleptocracy, and of a crime that can only be solved across time.”


I for one have already pre-ordered this book from Amazon and hopefully will be one of the great reads of 2014. Gibson, Neil Stevenson and Bruce Sterling all started their careers around the same time and really pioneered the modern science fiction genre.  Gibson’s work has influenced bands like Sonic Youth, U2 and Billy Idol.  The film The Matrix  drew inspiration for its title, characters and story elements from the Sprawl trilogy.  The characters of Neo and Trinity in The Matrix are similar to Bobby Newmark (Count Zero) and Molly (“Johnny Mnemonic.”



Michael Kozlowski (4252 Posts)

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about electronic readers and technology for the last four years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the Huffington Post, CNET and more. Michael frequently travels to international events such as IFA, Computex, CES, Book Expo and a myriad of others. If you have any questions about any of his articles, please send an email to michael@goodereader.com





Sep 29th, 2014, 5:14 am
Oct 15th, 2014, 10:29 am
I'm looking forward to it. Read all his other stuff. I own most of his stuff in paperback (some in more than one edition).
One of the things I love about his work is it always gets me interested in other stuff that he mentions in his books - Bibendum (the Michelin man), the Curta, the Buzz Rickson flight jacket, etc..

From what I have heard, I believe it is a bit hard to get into this one initially, (like Neuromancer) in that you're just dumped in a foreign world and have to work out what is happening.
Still, it should be good :)
Oct 15th, 2014, 10:29 am
Oct 22nd, 2014, 9:08 pm
Very much looking forward to this book, too.
Oct 22nd, 2014, 9:08 pm
Oct 27th, 2014, 7:25 pm
One more day to go! Have recently re-read all of Gibson's novels (in sequence) as well as his short story collection, Burning Chrome, and nonfiction anthology Don't Trust That Particular Flavor.

I've avoided reading reviews of the new book - I want to experience it as uncontaminated as possible. Still, as the poster above pointed out, enough has leaked through to suggest The Peripheral is a departure from the style Gibson employed in his last trilogy.
Oct 27th, 2014, 7:25 pm
Oct 28th, 2014, 3:00 am
Unfortunately, the Kindle version doesn't come out until November 20 :(
Oct 28th, 2014, 3:00 am
Oct 28th, 2014, 7:03 am
da5idNZ wrote:Unfortunately, the Kindle version doesn't come out until November 20 :(


Jeff Bezos is a bully and runs what some say is a borderline extortion racket that forces smaller publishers to bend to Amazon's will, and pay a high price for the "privilege", or get frozen out of the ebook market. Amazon charges a premium for its DRM shackled books...the least they can do is make novels available on the official release day, but with their monopoly on Kindle compatible formats they can afford to be blasé about customer service. I bought the ePUB edition of the book from iTunes (also DRM restricted and pricey for a piece of software I don't have full control over) but at least they released it on the 28th. Apple is arrogant in its own way...monopolies bring out the best in corporate culture! Weren't Apple and Amazon both found guilty in the US of colluding and price fixing ebooks? I know Apple was involved for sure and forced to pay a fine. But they are appealing the guilty verdict and fighting for their right to gouge their customers. Sorry, I kind of went slightly off topic there. Greed, gotta love it!
Oct 28th, 2014, 7:03 am
Oct 28th, 2014, 11:55 am
Mobipunk wrote:
da5idNZ wrote:Unfortunately, the Kindle version doesn't come out until November 20 :(


I bought the ePUB edition of the book from iTunes


Hmm, it says it is due on 20th November for me on iTunes down under here too.
Must be different release dates in the U.S.
Also, the iTunes price is NZ$25.99.
Think I will wait.
Oct 28th, 2014, 11:55 am
Oct 29th, 2014, 1:32 am
Well, I can see _The Peripherial_ available on Amazon.com for Europe – probably some territorial rights are in play…
Oct 29th, 2014, 1:32 am
Oct 31st, 2014, 8:05 pm
I purchased my "copy" in Vancouver from the Canadian iTunes Store. (Haven't started reading it yet though).
Oct 31st, 2014, 8:05 pm
Nov 14th, 2014, 1:14 am
Has anyone else finished it?
I admit, I was a little disappointed. Maybe I have a short attention span, but I'm still not entirely sure what it was about...LOL
Nov 14th, 2014, 1:14 am