I was looking forward to the release of William Gibbson’s new novel “Spook”. Online it was praised, The New York Times liked it.
And I wanted to like it too. The Novel is ok, but no new ground. It is set in more or less the same world as “Pattern Recognition” which is a much better novel. These are both accessible to most readers which is good for the author, but it was his earlier more obscure work that gained him fame. I still reread “Burning Chrome”, “Count Zero”, and “Mona Lisa Overdrive”. One thing I have always liked about Gibbson is something I first saw Kurt Vonnegut Jr. do with his alter-ego Kilgore Trout. Kilgore would toss out some wild idea to the reader and then just let it sit. Not stretch it into some pointless subplot. Trust the reader a little, please.
Support your local library, have them get you “Spook” or just read
“Pattern Recognition” and imagine your own sequel.