Spook Country: Amazon.ca: Books

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First Sentence
Rausch," said the voice in Hollis Henry's cell. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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8 Reviews

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2.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GIBSON FINALLY FINDS HIS STRIDE AGAIN, Sep 24 2007

By	NeuroSplicer (Freeside, in geosynchronous orbit) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Spook Country (Hardcover)

I am a huge William Gibson fun, since my university years. I believe his SPRAWL Trilogy to be a strong English Literature Cannon candidate - and, undoubtedly, the Gospel of Science Fiction of our generation.

However, his next trilogy (Virtual Light, Idoru & All Tomorrow's Parties) took an abrupt downturn after the first book of the series. I will not go into the reasons I did not find them to work at par with his previous monumental works; after all, this is not their review.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when my loyalty (finally...) paid off! SPOOK COUNTRY is a BEAUTIFUL book!

If one is hoping to find a fast-paced SF techno-thriller or a page-turner gore-fest, well, this is not the book to pick. Try Richard Morgan instead.
Even since his more action-conscious Neuromancer, William Gibson had always been a subtle writer; his poetic words painting a stroke here and then a stroke there - until his reductionist prose reveals a magic vista of the human condition no one has put to words before.

Be patient with his books. Short chapters, phrasal fragments, unusual word-hacking and turning brand-names into verbs have always been his functional style. And, boy, does his style function!
Long after you will have finished the last page, the imagery will stay with you. Popping up unexpectedly, in the foam of your next Frappuchino; in your car GPS voice; in the site of a spyhopping orca.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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3.0 out of 5 stars When Technolgy Takes Over the Future, Jan 27 2008

By	Ian Gordon Malcomson (Smithers, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Spook Country (Hardcover)

This is another one of Gibson's light-hearted attempts at engaging his each of his main characters in an ambiguous search for an elusive something that only vaguely defines itself as the story unwinds. Hollis, the freelance journalist working for a European counter-culture tabloid, is searching for a scoop on an art form (Locative) that is becoming popular in southern California. For her boss, it is the pressing need to find a mysterious package whose contents will forever remain unknown. And then there is Castro, a shady character of both a KGB and CIA past, who is looking to get his hands on the same contraband as Hollis' boss. Into this wide-open expanse of a plot Gibson, in typical fashion, introduces a pile of technological gizmos to make it operate. Half way through the story, there is so much technology at work in these various missions - GPS locators, VR helmets, and telekinetic forms of transportation - that the reader might feel a little lost in the storyline. Not to worry. This state of confusion is where Gibson wants his readers to be: lost in another dimension where people travel anywhere in the fraction of normal time, see images that aren't natural to the naked eye, lose all sense of privacy, and still no nearer the truth as to who they really are in their convoluted search to extract meaning out of life. Don't read this book if you are looking for an easy-to-follow plot. It just isn't there. While Gibson uses as a very smooth Sci-Fi turn-of-phrase, the same cannot be said for his overall management of the story. A bit of a disappointment for one who remembers "Neuromancer".

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4.0 out of 5 stars Straight Fiction, Nov 24 2007

By	vrai (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spook Country (Hardcover)

I enjoyed Gibson's cyber works, but the last two are much finer writing.
The first ones were all in-your-face attitude. The new ones are atmosphere.

In terms of plot, Spook Country has a very fine one... almost invisible. This is not good if you are still reading Gibson anticipating sci-fi, but it plays well if you are looking for a modern, nuanced read.

John Le Carre it is not... because there is still hope within the anger.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars not enough plot for a comic book
I also was a fan of William Gibson's earlier books. This one doesn't make the grade. Zero character development. No context. No descriptives worth anything. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Buddy Littlehead

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull, tired, middle-aged
I'm a huge fan of Gibson's earlier works, the "Sprawl" trilogy and his short stories of that period. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Timothy Grantham

3.0 out of 5 stars I was expecting more...
Needing a break from fantasy, William Gibson's Spook Country seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. Read more

Published on Nov 18 2007 by Patrick St-Denis

2.0 out of 5 stars Bloated Spy Versus Spy Versus Spy with Science Fiction Twists
I had a hard time figuring out what this book was about in the beginning. If the author didn't have a good reputation, I would have stopped after 30 pages. I wish I had. Read more

Published on Sep 12 2007 by Professor Donald Mitchell

4.0 out of 5 stars Character-driven contemporary cyber-thriller
Very much feeling like a sequel or a parallel story to Pattern Recognition, Spook Country finds Gibson honing his new contemporary style. Read more

Published on Aug 21 2007 by Irfon-Kim Ahmad

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	78% buy the item featured on this page: Spook Country 2.8 out of 5 stars (8)
	7% buy Count Zero 4.3 out of 5 stars (48) CDN$ 12.05
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Spook Country (Perfect Paperback)

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