'They floated in the center of a perfectly square room, walls and ceiling panelled in rectangular sections of dark wood. The floor was covered by a single square of brilliant carpet patterned after a microchip, circuits traced in blue and scarlet wool. In the exact center of the room, aligned precisely with the carpet pattern, stood a square pedestal of frosted white glass.
"The Villa Straylight," said a jeweled thing on the pedestal, in a voice like music, "is a body grown in upon itself, a Gothic folly. Each space in Straylight is in some way secret, this endless series of chambers linked by passages, by stairwells vaulted like intestines, where the eye is trapped in narrow curves, carried past ornate screens, empty alcoves..."'
Neuromancer
(Page 206)
After reading William Gibson's debut novel, i can fully understand why he kinda freaked out when Blade Runner was released whilst he was only a third of the way through writing Neuromancer.
The similarities are pretty crushing but i think his story has more of a kinship with the much later release of The Matrix.
His novel surely had a hand in the realisation of The Wachowski Brothers' landmark movie.
They both possess a downtrodden superhacker as the lead character, who just so happens to be the chosen one.
Both their endgames are to take down Artificial Intelligence that's gone way off the reservation.
They each have a less than platonic relationship with their kick-ass female partner in crime.
The heroes have to 'jack in' to the matrix - cyberspace - using dermatrodes (a form of electrodes).
Both stories possess a place known as Zion which acts as a sort of safe haven.
And the key moment in both stories is when Case and Neo are able to see the matrix when they aren't 'jacked in', elevating them to their prophesied status as 'the chosen one'.
I don't know if The Wachowskis credited Gibson but they probably should have.
The similarities aren't just obvious, they're almost downright copyright infringement.
I wouldn't say the Cyberpunk genre is one i'll make an avid attempt to read more of.
The jargon pisses me off, which is actually the reason i don't read very much Sci-fi.
I'm probably missing a trick but i prefer my jargon more on the fantastical side.
Give me werewolves and shamans over spaceships and lasers any day.
I have, however bought the next two of the trilogy...
Not one to leave a good story unfinished.
(shut up Sarah, i can feel you raising that sardonic eyebrow. I'll finish The Millennium Trilogy when i'm good and ready!)
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