Conference noted::sf

343.0. "Count Zero" by CGHUB::CONNELLY (Eye Dr3 - Regnad Kcin) Fri Jun 13 1986 04:23

Just read "Count Zero", the latest from the author of "Neuromancer".
A first impression is that it's more of the same, but not quite as
well done.  Whereas "Neuromancer" pretty much followed one set of
characters through a continuous adventure, "Count Zero" shuttles back
and forth among three different sets of characters: a mercenary who's
trying to get a scientist to defect from one corporation to another,
an art gallery owner who gets hired by a billionaire to track down
some very strange art objects, and a teen-age cyberspace "hacker" who
has to go into hiding from some faceless assassins after getting
caught using bootleg "ice-breaking" software.

The semi-godlike AI that came into being in "Neuromancer" is still
behind the scenes pulling everybody's strings, so one suspects that
a third book will be forthcoming.  I'm still a little suspicious of
Gibson's talent after reading this book, since it seems to motor on
its "ambience", high techy jargon and _noir_ sensibility, more than
on coherent plotting or character development.  "Neuromancer" had
the same faults, but maintained its intensity level better by not
splitting the viewpoint three ways.  "Count Zero" seems to strain a
bit more to pull the sub-plots together at the end.  Gibson's books
are like a drug rush in some ways: exhilirating while experienced,
but tending to leave you with a somewhat artificial aftertaste.

    Is this out as a book now?  I read it when it was serialized in
    IAsfm (?).
    
    len.
    

re: .1

Yup, it's out in hardcover.  I got it out of the Merrimack (NH)
library.  Although they mention some of the characters from
"Neuromancer" (or allude to them), none actually shows up in
"Count Zero".  (My favorite character in "Neuromancer" was the
software construct of the "Dixie Flatliner", and we know what
happened to him/it in the end!  Makes me wonder if the backups of
Ken Olsen or Steve Wozniak will be sitting in a vault somewhere
some day?!)

    	Don't go telling the whole story!
    

    re .3 - He was talking about Neuromancer anyway, not Count Zero.
    
    If you haven't read Neuromancer yet, grab it.  They're both great
    novels; realistic plausible depictions of a future in which vast
    networks of computing resources are as commonplace as roads.
    
    len.