William Gibson is frequently described as one of the most influential writers of the past few decades, yet his body of work has only been studied partially and without full recognition of its implications for literature and culture beyond science fiction. It is high time for a book that explores the significance and wide-ranging impact of Gibson鈥檚 fiction.
In the 1970s and 80s, Gibson, the 鈥淕odfather of Cyberpunk,鈥 rejuvenated science fiction. In groundbreaking works such as Neuromancer, which changed science fiction as we knew it, Gibson provided us with a language and imaginary through which it became possible to make sense of the newly emerging world of globalization and the digital and media age. Ever since, Gibson鈥檚 reformulation of science fiction has provided us not just with radically innovative visions of the future but indeed with trenchant analyses of our historical present and of the emergence and exhaustion of possible futures.
鈥淭his rich and overdue collection is worthy of its subject. The editors have put together a multi-faceted consideration of Gibson鈥檚 writings that focuses, in particular, on motifs of temporality, technology, and futurity. Its chapters expertly locate both Gibson and science fiction within the longue dur茅e of the future-present.鈥濃擵eronica Hollinger, editor, Science Fiction Studies
鈥淜nee-deep in the Jackpot, with nothing but a Hermes 2000 portable typewriter, precise observation, and surgical prose, William Gibson, a one-man singularity, somehow made it all new. Nothing now looks the same. This excellent collection returns the favor: Gibson, historicized, is the Gibson we already knew, but the timeline is not what we imagined.鈥濃擬ark Bould, University of the West of England, Bristol
鈥淲illiam Gibson is the writer who taught the world that science fiction is the realism of our time, and it鈥檚 his books that made that true. A crucial figure in our cultural history, a poet with a good eye for pattern recognition.鈥濃擪im Stanley Robinson, author, The Ministry for the Future
鈥淎s an edited collection, [William Gibson and the Futures of Contemporary Culture] achieves impressive breadth and depth, especially into Gibson鈥檚 artistic work in the past twenty years or so. Murray and Nilges have done an admirable job in producing a volume that offers something for everyone.鈥濃擡sko Suoranta, University of Helsinki, Science Fiction Studies
Maria Alberto, Andrew M. Butler, Amy J. Elias, Christian Haines, Kylie Korsnack, Mathias Nilges, Malka Older, Aron Pease, Lisa Swanstrom, Takayuki Tatsumi, Sherryl Vint, Phillip E. Wegner, Roger Whitson, Charles Yu
