Review: Count Zero

Count Zero by William Gibson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Count Zero is the follow-up to Gibson's (amazing) Neuromancer, and, while it follows a different set of characters and only briefly mentions (and, then, not by name) the characters from Neuromancer, it's set a handful of years after Neuromancer's conclusion. The world is still a gritty place where corporations rule the population not only with the weight of financial power, but with guns and steel, as well.

This time, we follow three converging plotlines: a mercenary trying to run an extraction on a scientist who wants to leave his employment, an out of his depth hacker on the run from unknown forces after he almost dies trying out experimental software, and a disgraced art dealer hired to find the source of a set of very unusual sculptures.

Count Zero is another thrilling adventure in the Sprawl from Gibson, and it's no wonder that he's so well regarded as a sci-fi author. Here's a world set, much like our own, but just out of reach. Gibson is looking forward and presenting us a believable version of what the future might hold. No flying cars and cities of glass and chrome, here. Oh, there's future tech, for sure; cities orbiting the planet, and spaceship freighters running cargo to distant locations, cyberspace that you log in through VR helmets, and cyborg augmentations for military and civilian use abound, but most of it feels like it could be a glimpse of a dark future yet to come.

This isn't the sort of novel where you feel a deep connection for the characters; Gibson is more interested in the world and exploring themes than in developing characters (which is fine, here). If you've read other Gibson stories, you know what you're in for, and if you haven't, this probably isn't the right starting point (since there are some pretty major plot elements that rely on an understanding of what happened in the first book).

While it's overall an excellent read, I did have two nits to pick. Marly's arc was generally... bland. She starts off enthusiastic and excited to be a part of the hunt for these strange sculptures, but ends up falling off the rails for reasons that aren't completely clear, other than that she finds her new employer vaguely creepy. More importantly, she's not actually that vital to the plot. Turner and Count Zero start off in very different places but end up converging on each other. Even though they have different goals, the connection between them ends up very clear, and it's obvious how they end up helping each other. Marly's arc, however, is far more loosely connected, and doesn't feel nearly as significant as Turner and Count Zero's. Unless I'm forgetting something, you could completely remove her from the story and everything would still end up exactly like it does.

The other nagging issue is that unexpected appearance of a hacker late in the game; her role in the story is significant, but her showing up is rather too convenient. It felt a little bit like a cheat to have her show up out of the blue to solve Zero's problems for him.

Those problems aside, Count Zero is a solid Gibson entry, and a must-read for anyone looking for more cyberpunk action after Neuromancer. Looking forward to picking up Mona Lisa Overdrive now.



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