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Neuromancer

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

Neuromancer (ISBN 0006480411) by William Gibson, is considered to be the first proper cyberpunk novel, and won the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award and Hugo Award after being published in 1984. It was Gibson's first novel. Set in a dystopian future which many readers find chillingly plausible, it tells the story of Case, an out-of-work computer hacker hired by an unknown patron to participate in a seemingly-impossible crime.

The novel examined the concepts of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering, multinational corporations overpowering the traditional nation-state and cyberspace (a computer network called the matrix) long before these ideas were fashionable in popular culture. Gibson also explored the dehumanizing effects of a world dominated by ubiquitous and cheap technology, writing of a future where violence and the free market are the only things upon which one may rely.

The Sprawl trilogy, of which Neuromancer is the first part

Contents

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Case, an out-of-work hacker and computer legend, has gotten his nervous system burned out by a Russian mycotoxin, rendering himself devoid of access to cyberspace and forcing him out of desperation to find work as a black marketeer. He is approached by Molly, a bodyguard and contract killer "razorgirl," who is recruiting Case on behalf of Armitage, a shadowy ex-military figure whose purposes are unknown. Although Case's neurological damage was universally thought to be irreversible, Armitage offers to cure Case's neurological damage in exchange for his services as a hacker. Case is willing to pay any price to regain his skills, and agrees, but realizes that Armitage's offer is evidence of a backer with unprecedented money, technology, and power.

While Case and Molly develop a personal relationship and begin to look into Armitage's background, at Armitage's direction they plan and execute a daring theft at the corporate headquarters of media conglomerate Sense/Net. A massive diversion in the form of a simulated terrorist attack allows Molly to penetrate the building, while Case, operating in cyberspace, simultaneously directs her to a storage locker containing a priceless ROM module that completely reproduces the brain functions of McCoy Pauley, "The Dixie Flatline," a legendary cyberspace jockey who was one of Case's mentors.

Case and Molly concurrently investigate Armitage's background, hoping to discover the nature of their employer, and suspect he was formerly known as Colonel Willis Corto, one of the only surviving veterans of a famous Cold War military operation known as Screaming Fist, a stealth operation in which a glider-mounted commando force augmented with cyber hacking tools was sent against a Soviet military base. Unbeknownst to the commandos, however, the raid was engineered by high-ranking military commanders to examine the effect of EMP weapons against unprepared troops. Corto's men were slaughtered, but he and a few survivors commandered a transport and fought their way over the heavily guarded Finnish border.

Case and Molly also discover Armitage's connections to a powerful Artificial Intelligence known as Wintermute, constructed by the plutocratic Tessier-Ashpool clan, whose members alternate control of the family wealth and spend periods in cryogenic preservation in the family mansion at the Freeside space resort.

Case is contacted by Wintermute as Armitage begins to appear unstable, and the team recruits an additional member, Peter Riviera, an artist, thief, and drug addict who has the ability to project detailed illusions using a holographic projector located in one of his lungs.

Gradually, it is revealed that Wintermute wants an item from the "Villa Straylight," the space-based home of Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool, the current leader of "Tessier-Ashpool SA." The object contains the hardwiring that keeps the company's AIs from exceeding their boundaries of intelligence, and is the obstacle to a union between Wintermute and Neuromancer, a complementary AI.

Armitage, Case, Molly, and Rivera combine their skills to gain entrance to Straylight, evade the Turing police trying to prevent the AI's illegal attempt to escape regulatory control, and try to complete Wintermute's mission without destroying themselves in the process.

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Adaptation

In 1988, a video game adaptation, designed by Bruce J. Balfour, Brian Fargo, Troy A. Miles, and Michael A. Stackpole, was published by Interplay. The game had many of the same locations and themes as the novel, but a different protagonist and plot. It also featured as a soundtrack a computer adaptation of the DEVO song "Some Things Never Change".

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Characters

Case: The anti-hero, a drug addict and cyberspace hacker. Prior to the start of the book he attempted to rip off some of his partners in crime. In retaliation they used a Russian mycotoxin to damage his nervous system and make him unable to jack into the Matrix. When Armitage offers to cure him in exchange for Case's hacking abilities he jumps at the offer.

Molly: A "Razorgirl" who is recruited along with Case by Armitage. She has extensive body modifications, including retractable, double-edged blades under her fingernails which can be used like claws, an optimized reflex system and implanted lenses covering her eyesockets with added optical enhancements. Molly also appears in a number of other stories by Gibson.

Armitage: He is (apparently) the main patron of the crew. Formerly a Green Beret named Colonel Willis Corto, who took part in a secret operation named Screaming Fist. He was heavily injured both physically and psychologically, and the "Armitage" personality was constructed as part of experimental "computer-mediated psychotherapy" by Wintermute (see below), one of the artificial intelligences seen on the story (the other one being the eponymous Neuromancer) which is actually controlling the mission. As the novel progresses, Armitage's personality slowly disintegrates.

Peter Riviera: A thief and sadist who can project images using his implants. He is a drug addict, hooked on a mix of heroin and cocaine.

Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool: The shared current leader of "Tessier-Ashpool SA", a company running Freeside, a resort in space. She lives in the tip of Freeside, known as the "Villa Straylight". She controls the hardwiring that keeps the company's AIs from exceeding their boundaries of intelligence.

The Dixie Flatline: A famous computer hacker named McCoy Pauley known for surviving 3 "flat-lines" or brain deaths while trying to crack an AI. Before his death, Sense/Net saved the contents of his mind onto a ROM. Case and Molly steal the ROM and Dixie helps them complete their mission.

Wintermute: One of the two Tessier-Ashpool artificial intelligences. Somehow, Wintermute gained a minute amount of control of different computer systems all over the earth and on Straylight. His goal is to combine with Neuromancer and become a superintelligence.

The Finn: A fence for stolen goods and one of Molly's old friends. He has all kinds of debugging and sensor gear that allow Case to confirm Armitage's toxic sac threat. Later in the book Wintermute uses his personality to talk with Case and Molly.

Julius Dean: A black marketeer in Chiba. He is 135 years old with a fetish for fashion. He is very paranoid even around friends and is constantly chewing ginger candy. Case often went to him for information or jobs.

Linda Lee: Case's girlfriend in Chiba. The book hints that she is killed by Julius.

Lupus Yonderboy: Leader of the Panther Moderns, a technofetishistic Sprawl youth gang. Has pink hair, a chameleon suit, and many ear ports. He and the Moderns help steal the Dixie Flatline from Sense/Net.

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Glossary

Hosaka — a computer and microchip manufacturer whose products are in wide use in Gibson's world. Hosaka chips and machines occur in all of the Sprawl novels.

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