Neuromancer

Honestly I don't know if I can really write a review for this book, mostly because I didn't have a speck of understanding as to what the hell was going on for most of it. There were vague glimmers of comprehension sometimes, but for the most part I can only describe the feeling of what I read. As such, I'm going to try to hash this out as best I can without a score at the end because I can't really give an accurate one.

The novel revolves around a young formerly adept hacker named Case. Case's job used to be to jack into cyberspace kind of Matrix style, break through a company's "ice" (security), and steal the information within. However, after having been caught by his former employers trying to steal from them, he's injected with a mycotoxin (fungal) that damaged the receptors in his brain in such a way that he can no longer access cyberspace. Without access to the wonders of the net, he becomes trapped in the pleasures of his flesh, constantly looking for a new high while living in the slum-like Chiba City in Japan.

After some very trippy and confusing sequences involving misunderstandings with a drug lord, a shuriken in a shop window, and his girlfriend, Case is rescued by a mysterious woman named Molly with several augmentations including retractable razors in her fingers and opaque glass covering her eyes. She reveals that she has been sent by a man named Armitage, who will cure Case and allow him to jack back into cyberspace in exchange for him completing a hacking job. After some hesitation, Case goes through with the procedure, and finds out afterwords that there are more conditions attached. Along with his nerves being repaired, his liver and pancreas were replaced and modified so he could no longer get high. Also, sacks of the same mycotoxin that crippled him are wafting around in his blood, and will dissolve after a certain period of time. Get the job done, and the sacs go away. Take too long, and he goes back to his own personal hell.

From there it's a long confusing mass of conspiracies, cyberspace heists, hallucinations, and weird characters all trying to figure out who Armitage is, what he actually wants Case to do, and why every time he and Molly dig deeper there's one word that keeps popping up: Wintermute.

The best way I've found to describe this book is as a mix between Blade Runner, The Matrix, and Requiem for a Dream. The state of the reader follows much the same state as Case. He starts off high and paranoid and completely confused about everything but knows it must all be happening for a reason so he goes with it to get what he wants, and then just when he sobers up and things start to get a little clearer, more confusing crap gets thrown his way to keep him off balance. I think too part of the problem for me in reading this book is that I'm a very visual reader, by which I mean I like to try to visualize/imagine what's going on, and a lot of the imagery is so abstract that I could never really get a handle on what was supposed to be going on.

So was it a good book? I think so. Did I at least take a positive experience away from it? Kind of. Would I recommend it to others? Maybe.

If nothing else Neuromancer is a great example of some classic sci-fi that no doubt gave inspiration to many after it came out. Supposedly it even started the entire cyberpunk movement. Basically, if this madly complex, highly surreal and mind bending story sounds interesting to you, I would recommend picking it up. If, like me, you prefer a slightly more straightforward read, then pass it by. As for myself, I'm in both camps on this one and remain confused as ever.

So with that, Neuromancer gets an undetermined score.