Neuromancer (William Gibson, pub. 1984) was published when I was six years old, won a ton of awards, and put a lot of juice in the cyberpunk sub-genre. (All I know about cyberpunk I learned on Wikipedia, but basically I take it as a kind of sci-fi-noir that (usually?) incorporates lots of networky technology.)

I was drawn to the book for two reasons (I mean, aside from the fact that it’s a sci-fi novel. Duh.). First, I wanted something good. I don’t get to read sci-fi very often, so no time for garbage. Neuromancer was the first novel to win all three big sci-fi awards, and it’s on lots of “best of” lists, so it seemed promising. Second, I wanted something dystopian (More Blade Runner than Star Trek); I don’t know, maybe it’s a phase I’m in. Anyways, Neuromancer seemed to fit the bill on both counts.