![]() This was my first introduction to Gibson’s writing, and I’m eager to read his earlier works. Opportunities to do very badly were manifold. And, as you near the end of the book, you start to find hope for a better future, if we simply don’t screw it up. ![]() (There’s a part near the end where I was marveled at Gibson’s subtle anticipation of GPT-2]). ![]() The fiction parts of science fiction are plausible enough and, at times, remarkably insightful. ![]() The plot has plenty of action (even though the book dragged at a few points). Unlike more po-faced SF writers, he takes glee in kick-assery of. And yet, through it all, we remain “ll too human.”ĭespite the bleakness of the futures, there is much to enjoy and marvel at in the present in the Peripheral. The Gibson of The Peripheral is interested in ideas but he’s also very much interested in big-screen, popcorn-chewing thrills. In Gibson’s portrayal, we are at the tail end of the “oddly optimistic age,” or perhaps at the very beginning of a darker era known as the “deeper jackpot.” It’s a time where climate change has radically altered the social fabric of humanity: vaccines become useless, governments crumble, etc. Without ruining the book, suffice to say that Gibson paints not one, but two compelling, visions for what humanity may become, potentially in our lifetimes. ![]() Or rather, not our future, but something resembling our future. I can’t be certain of his intent, but I would like to believe that, in The Peripheral, William Gibson is sending us a message from our future. ![]()
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