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One of the first books I ever read that I read by choice! Lol Hugely influential within SF and could make a fantastic series if done well.
I remember thinking that the only thing that had aged badly was the reference to a war between Russia and the West. Well, seems that time has corrected that part of the narrative almost.
I'm torn!!!!
At 53, this is still in my top 3 books of all time. The book was good but it was all the stuff it implied, it suggested or it made me (re-) consider that made it spectacular.
Much like Brave New World did.
But I'm concerned that a TV show of Neuromancer may turn out as bad as the recent production on BNW.
Fingers crossed 🤞🤞🤞
^^ Yeah, it's always a bit of a concern when a much loved book is disallowed or made into a movie. Fingers crossed as you say.
I'm more hopeful as it's Apple making it than Netflix though!
Lol - i couldn't remember who did BNW. But as it is blatantly obvious that apple are trying to take over the world, I will refrain from any further comment in case they are monitoring my android phone... 😂😂😂
The trilogy is fantastic - I love the way each book stands on its own but read all three together and you see how the three fit together to create something bigger ie a tiny bit from one book creates the conditions for something to happen in the next.
I just hope they do Molly properly and do not turn her into a bland holywood charectar
I read them in the wrong order, without realising for at least half of the second book I read. Still enjoyed them all though.
Curious to see how badly it will turn out.
It is one of my favourite books, no matter that some technical details have been outdated. There is lot of neat world building with little details that matter and main character is fairly believable in that world.
They will **** it up. You all know this. Best make your peace with it now.
To those who watched The Peripheral- what did you think of it? Worth a watch?
MrSparkle
Full Member
To those who watched The Peripheral- what did you think of it? Worth a watch?
I watched, I think I generally liked it but it seemed to drop off a bit towards the end as it deviated further from the novel.
I'm not sure it's the technologies or ideas in William Gibson's novels that make them hard to film. It seems to be something in the way he tells stories and/or his characters that just don't seem to fit well with the way TV shows and films are typically done. In several novels the main characters end up being more witnesses to the events going on around them than affecting them greatly, for instance, or you need to be a bit too "in the head" of the point of view characters to really appreciate the experience.
I really liked Pattern Recognition, for instance, but I'm not sure that the atmosphere of that novel would work very well on the screen.
I enjoyed it for what it was - in my opinion a cross between trying to convey the actual story under the constraints of bums on seats, mass market, in it for profit that we are used to.
And Hit Girl was in it, so that's a plus!!! 😂😂😂
Just had a look at the previous of the people/companies involved… if this is any good I’ll be (pleasantly!) surprised 😬
Sorry, guilty, despite being a sci-fi fan, I haven't read it!
I watched The Peripheral without being aware it was based on a book, I enjoyed it, and hoped for another series but its completely cancelled I believe.
Apple seems quite good for Sci-Fi - Foundation, Severance, there's some more on there I haven't yet watched but can't decide which to go for - quite often judge a book by it's cover.
The book has aged remarkably well. I sometimes wonder if he had a time machine and went forward in time, then came back to the present and wrote about what he saw.
The images and ideas in that book defined a whole genre (cyberpunk), so there is the danger that the series simply rehashes old tropes (that ironically the book actually influenced in the first place).
If they did something with a neon retro 80s style like Altered Carbon or the film Upgrade, that would be awesome.
A mobile phone company is adapting Neuromancer for the screen?
Love the book. Would love a TV/film adaptation that does it justice. Not sure that this will be it looking at the team behind it.
I think my current dream team would be Alex Garland and Adam Curtis writing the screenplay, with Garland or Danny Boyle directing.
I know he's already been linked to it in the past, but I reckon Nicholas Hoult would make a decent Case, although Charlie Cox would be good too.
Maisie Williams as Molly?
🤔 great book for its time. Hoping a TV series adapts it well.
william Gibson’s writing maintains some relevance.
I hope it's as loyal to the original material as Johnny Mnemonic was.
(aside but, I never even heard of New Rose Hotel before, is it any good?)
The Peripheral was very well done!
Apple seems quite good for Sci-Fi – Foundation, Severance, there’s some more on there I haven’t yet watched but can’t decide which to go for – quite often judge a book by it’s cover.
foundation. Ponderous. Tedious. Pompous. I gave up on it
Bill Gibson is involved, but not in a production rôle. It’s a ten-part series, so plenty of room to explore the world he created. But what’s really important, is that whatever anyone wants or expects, isn’t what they’ll get; it can’t be, because everyone creates a movie in their mind which will never, ever match what they see on a screen. It’s just not possible. as Gibson has said earlier:
Personally, I’m really glad that it’s Apple doing it, because the whole thing is likely to be finished, unlike Netflix, who have a long, sorry history of starting a series, then just abandoning it, like The Periferal, although to be fair they were caught up with the writers strike, but I think that was just an excuse to just bin it like so many other things they’ve started. A lot of people are hoping that The Periferal might get picked up by Apple to complete it, I’d like to hope so, it kept so close to so much in the book. Gibson’s problem at the moment is what to do about the third book in the series after The Periferal and Agency; he had to re-write Agency after Trump won in 2016, and now everything is up in the air leading up to November, so it’s probably difficult for him to write a future history when everything is in such an unpredictable state of flux.
I’ve met him twice, at the Brighton WorldCon in ‘87, and at a book signing in Bath a couple of years ago, he’s a great raconteur, although very laid back, and a really nice bloke. I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve read all his books, I’ll start at Burning Chrome then work right through to whatever is the current one that’s been published, I never tire of them.
There will be a conversation in the pub tonight about who would be the best actors for Case and Molly, based on who’s appropriate age-wise. 😁
The Peripheral failed as a TV series because it was boring. And while I'm not a massive Gibson fan (I've only read three or four of his more popular books in my twenties) I read Visual Light a few months back and it's essentially a story about town planning, I understood why the TV adaptation was so dull.
So to summarise nickc, A TV series you didn't watch was boring, you can't remember how many of his books you read but it was mostly about 40 years ago. The one you did read recently you can't remember the title of and you're confused about it being adapted for TV.
I'd conclude that the Neuromancer TV series won't be for you.
I really liked The Peripheral (never read the books), and was disappointed to see in cancelled. Hard to blame Netflix for an Amazon show decision though.
It does seem an increasing issue that decent sci-fi shows, which really drive adoption of the platforms, don't seem to last. As Netflix, Amazon and the like increase subscriptions they seem to do less of what I actually like watching, rather than more.
I’d conclude that the Neuromancer TV series won’t be for you.
The reason most the stuff that the likes of Marvel and Star Wars push out these days is so shit, is almost wholly down to a phenomenon known as Fan Service. the producers of it know that hard core fans will watch it regardless (money) they know that hundreds of nerdy incels will make endless Easter egg You tube videos that promote the series for free (that's why there are so many of them in these movies now, and things like plot and character development and script take a back seat) but the 'down-side' is the fans more or less dictate who the movies are "for" and get upset if it doesn't look like they think it should.
I'd like to watch an adaptation of Neuromancer, I remember being quite impressed with it when i read it in my twenties, and it might make for decent TV, but I can do without Gibson fans telling me what I can and can't comment, or critique, thanks all the same.
wordnumbFree Member
A mobile phone company is adapting Neuromancer for the screen?
Hold onto your hat, wait till you find out an online book store is sending up space rockets!
I think Apple will do a good job of this, the Foundation stuff has been absolutely glorious. Superb cast, and series 2 started but wow, the last few episodes were amazeballs.
The Peripheral failed as a TV series because it was boring. And while I’m not a massive Gibson fan (I’ve only read three or four of his more popular books in my twenties) I read Visual Light a few months back and it’s essentially a story about town planning, I understood why the TV adaptation was so dull.
I’d like to watch an adaptation of Neuromancer, I remember being quite impressed with it when i read it in my twenties, and it might make for decent TV, but I can do without Gibson fans telling me what I can and can’t comment, or critique, thanks all the same.
When your critique is based on things you haven’t read, and thus know nothing about, then any criticism is fundamentally null and void.
Case in point, it’s Virtual Light, the first in the Bridge Series, which isn’t about town planning as such, but about technology that’s being developed, and the larger consequences of that; politics and money. City building is involved in The Peripheral, but politics and money as well as technology are also involved.
Which, if you’d read the books, you might be more aware of, and then be in a position to have a legitimate opinion about them. You’ve read three or four out of thirteen.
I mentioned Netflix earlier, in connection with The Periferal, I meant Amazon Prime, however the point still stands.
Wot the goodCount says
Gibsons books are multilayered. Each on its own can be read as a simple story. Each series builds to agreater sum than the parts and underneath there are geopolitical themes
I read the necromancer trilogy 3 times before i got all the depths
the Foundation stuff has been absolutely glorious
I was utterly blown away by for good Foundation is. Only recently watched it. I watched both series across 4 evenings... a lot of late nights were had! Never read the books so can only comment on the series but I absolutely loved it.
It's a great time for SF on TV.
I was utterly blown away by for good Foundation is.
I started but got irritated by how much it diverged from the books so quickly so only managed about 4 episodes. Do you reckon it's worth giving it another go?
I'm all up for an adaptation of Neuromancer, as long as they don't cast Keanu again.
I would suggest it is worth another go. I read the books so long ago they are only really a formative memory, so not frustrated by any deviation but i can see how that would bug.
1st series good, second series is WOW! I love the cast, really superb. Get into it 🙂