Pattern Recognition

Bikewer · 23rd October 2003, 06:32 PM

William Gibson's newest, just got around to reading it. I've been a big fan of Gibson since Asimov's magazine thought highly enough of his first "cyberpunk" novel to serialize it; the first novel so treated.

Pattern recognition is not being marketed as science fiction, and it is, in fact, more of a techno-thriller, set in the present.

Taken as a stand-alone novel, it was very good. Gibson's style seems to be evolving, and he sets his scenes in London, Paris, and Moscow quite well. The characters are interesting and the story is clever and properly convoluted.

But....

I got the distinct impression that major plot elements were being recycled, specifically from Neuromancer. In that effort, a young woman, Marly, was hired by an enormously wealthy and sinister individual (who just happened to be on permanent life support...) to find the source of the mysteriously compelling "art boxes" that had been appearing on the market. In order to complete her task, Marly must deal with an irascible computer-geek-software-pirate, and also go into orbit, where she finds that the maker is a demented AI, slaved to multi-function servo mechanisms. (there's a lot more going on, but that's her "arc")

In Pattern Recognition, a uniquely-talented young woman Cayce (yes, after the Sleeping Prophet) works as a consultant to advertising firms as she can intuit whether a corporate trademark or logo will resonate with the public. This because she is phobic about such things; the "Michelin man" sends her wiggy...
Anyway, she is hired by an enormously wealthy fellow to find the source of strangely-compelling "footage" which keeps appearing on the internet.
In order to complete her task, she must deal with an irascible ex-Soviet intelligence type, and her search sends her to Moscow, where she finds that the maker is as bizzare as the AI in Neuromancer...

Now, the novel does not end anywhere near the same way, but still, as I was reading it, I couldn't help comparing it to the earlier work.
Maybe this is just my spin on the thing, but I havn't read any actual reviews by anyone else.

ASRomatifoso · 24th October 2003, 09:30 PM

Liked it but not as much as his earlier stuff. Reading the new Neal Stephenson now, Quicksilver. He replaced Gibson in my affections some time ago. Snow Crash is one of my all-time favorites.

epepke · 25th October 2003, 04:22 AM

Gibson is a Johnny One-Note. His stuff was interesting when it came out, because it was different from what was already out there. However, now it's just the same-old, and he needs to do something different to become interesting again.

Bikewer · 25th October 2003, 04:34 AM

I've actually liked everything up through All Tomorrow's Parties, which I found to be quite compelling.
The biggest divergence, The Difference Engine (with a co-writer) was evidently not well-recieved. ( I kind of liked it)

Hope he doesn't get stuck in the "this is what the readers want" mindset.

23rd October 2003, 06:32 PM	#1
Bikewer Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: St. Louis, Mo. Posts: 9,525	Pattern Recognition William Gibson's newest, just got around to reading it. I've been a big fan of Gibson since Asimov's magazine thought highly enough of his first "cyberpunk" novel to serialize it; the first novel so treated. Pattern recognition is not being marketed as science fiction, and it is, in fact, more of a techno-thriller, set in the present. Taken as a stand-alone novel, it was very good. Gibson's style seems to be evolving, and he sets his scenes in London, Paris, and Moscow quite well. The characters are interesting and the story is clever and properly convoluted. But.... I got the distinct impression that major plot elements were being recycled, specifically from Neuromancer. In that effort, a young woman, Marly, was hired by an enormously wealthy and sinister individual (who just happened to be on permanent life support...) to find the source of the mysteriously compelling "art boxes" that had been appearing on the market. In order to complete her task, Marly must deal with an irascible computer-geek-software-pirate, and also go into orbit, where she finds that the maker is a demented AI, slaved to multi-function servo mechanisms. (there's a lot more going on, but that's her "arc") In Pattern Recognition, a uniquely-talented young woman Cayce (yes, after the Sleeping Prophet) works as a consultant to advertising firms as she can intuit whether a corporate trademark or logo will resonate with the public. This because she is phobic about such things; the "Michelin man" sends her wiggy... Anyway, she is hired by an enormously wealthy fellow to find the source of strangely-compelling "footage" which keeps appearing on the internet. In order to complete her task, she must deal with an irascible ex-Soviet intelligence type, and her search sends her to Moscow, where she finds that the maker is as bizzare as the AI in Neuromancer... Now, the novel does not end anywhere near the same way, but still, as I was reading it, I couldn't help comparing it to the earlier work. Maybe this is just my spin on the thing, but I havn't read any actual reviews by anyone else.

24th October 2003, 09:30 PM	#2
ASRomatifoso Thinker Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 186	Liked it but not as much as his earlier stuff. Reading the new Neal Stephenson now, Quicksilver. He replaced Gibson in my affections some time ago. Snow Crash is one of my all-time favorites.
ASRomatifoso Thinker Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 186

25th October 2003, 04:22 AM	#3
epepke Philosopher Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 7,950	Gibson is a Johnny One-Note. His stuff was interesting when it came out, because it was different from what was already out there. However, now it's just the same-old, and he needs to do something different to become interesting again.
epepke Philosopher Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 7,950

25th October 2003, 04:34 AM	#4
Bikewer Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: St. Louis, Mo. Posts: 9,525	I've actually liked everything up through All Tomorrow's Parties, which I found to be quite compelling. The biggest divergence, The Difference Engine (with a co-writer) was evidently not well-recieved. ( I kind of liked it) Hope he doesn't get stuck in the "this is what the readers want" mindset.