Customer Reviews

Count Zero

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Count Zero is considered by many to be the sequel to Neuromancer. Upon finishing it, I was surprised as to how little this story had anything to do with Neuromancer. Taken at face value, Count Zero almost works as an independent novel, although without having first read Neuromancer, the reader would probably have a lot of difficulty making sense of the setting and terminology. However, after giving some thought to the implications of some of the more obscure events that took place in Count Zero, I have discovered a handful of important connections to Neuromancer. These discoveries came to me days later as I mulled over some of the unanswered questions presented by this novel, as well as the handful of direct references to Neuromancer that were only touched upon. Reading Mona Lisa Overdrive after Count Zero also proved vital to bridging the gaps between the three novels, finally showing how they work together as a trilogy. This series does not spell anything out; it's the reader's job to put it all together through various clues spread throughout. So, if you think you're going to read either this book or the whole trilogy and be done with it: No, it doesn't work that way with these books. They get stuck in your brain, and as far as I know, they'll be there forever as your mind tries to put the final few pieces (which it can't identify) into the puzzle (which it only thinks it understands). The scariest part is that I don't think I'm exaggerating. In my mid-40s I'll probably get a brain aneurysm and a surgeon will have to pull off an emergency Neuromancer removal procedure to eradicate the source of the stress... jam a pencil in there and twist it around, that should do! Whoops, I think I got a little side-tracked there.

Count Zero follows the stories of three separate people throughout the world that Neuromancer set up. I was expecting the stories to come together into an impressive finale, but finished the novel disappointed. I won't spoil anything for you, but the three stories do not mix together as much as I would have liked.

The character depth is much improved over Neuromancer. I really felt as though I knew exactly what was going on in these characters' heads, and they're all very likable characters in their own ways. The characters are about as opposite from one another as you can get, making it somewhat refreshing as Gibson switches between them. I also loved the Voodoo elements to this book, especially the secondary characters who are involved in it. They are surprisingly likable for the image they portray. Voodoo is not just in this book for kicks and giggles, Gibson uses it to add another dimension to his story, and to thicken the existing atmosphere.

Overall, great book. I just wish the three stories had been more closely tied together. If you plan on reading Count Zero, then plan on reading Mona Lisa Overdrive as well. No ifs, ands or buts.

This book takes a strange and violent look into the future. Some of the tech talk is confusing but you pick up on it really fast. The story itself is equally distributed between 3 characters, you know who the next chapter will focus on. It is a pretty quick read and poses alot of theological questions.

three superb stories through the book all merge into one great cyberpunk fantasy. Gibsons five minutes into the future world is completley beleivable, full of rich characters, with a scary ability of you making you think "is this how its going to be". True Gibson quality.

So, it is not very durable! I mean if a book can not handle being dropped into the tub, left in the sun for a week and not turn brittle and yellow. Is it worth the price?
Well, yes...yes it is. I was only on my third or fourth time through it. So, a few years later I bought it from Amazon to read again. And yes... I do watch movies over and over again...
I would tell you all of the same things everyone else has written, but Gibson books are very worth the read.

Count Zero extends Gibson's elaborate description of cyberpunk technology with a suspenseful story line that explores many future possibilities for an even more gripping story than its predecessor Neuromancer. By reaching out to new characters in the degenerate Sprawl, Gibson follows many unrelated characters through a series of suspenseful plots which work ultimately to a common good.

Some characters and locations are familiar from Neuromancer although some play a bigger role than others. The Finn is instrumental in marketing software to cowboys in the Sprawl. Molly and Case are mentioned vaguely and the Tessier-Ashpools influenced several aspects of the story. The remnants of Freeside remain in orbit and have become almost deserted.

Three separate plots follow three new main characters through their attempts to survive their dangerous lives. Turner, a business mercenary, is introduced in the story as a target for a bombing and barely survives the blast. The wonders of medical science in this time are able to reconstruct his body and reload his mind from a simstim construct. Bobby Newmark enters a run for his life when detected attempting to hack a company's mainframe with a new icebreaker. Marly Krushkova, an out of work art gallery owner, interviews with Joseph Virek for a job after struggling to make ends meet after being disgraced for mistakenly trying to sell a forgery. Virek hires Marly to find the maker of the artistic boxes that he has been collecting and makes his immense wealth available to her in her efforts to do so.

These plots become more and more complicated for the characters as they continue to run into snags and attacks throughout the book. Count Zero will keep you reading to find out just how they will get through the growing difficulties encountered. Gibson in develops each separate plot well and brings them together in the end for an incredible finish.

Well worth the read

As mentioned in an earlier review, Gibson tries some really crazy writing here, and I feel that he pulls it off. A lot better than one would think, because you're more likely concentrating on the story than the mechanics of the writing. A real jewel of prose on our modern outlook, and introducing characters that truly illustrate what a hero of today thinks.

and the violence is damn good.

Count Zero is the second book in William Gibson's so called "Sprawl"-thrilliology. When the first book - Neuromancer - only consisted of one plot, Count Zero has several. It's a cyberpunk type of book. The story mostly takes place in a desert, in a city and in a satellite orbiting earth. The book starts in a funny way. One of the main characters gets blown to pieces. However, soon after he is put back together again. The second plot is about Bobby, alias Count Zero. He is a hacker wannabe. Does some stupid stuff, tries to break some black ICE with a military icebreaker he got from some other console cowboy. Then he gets in trouble. The last plot is about Marly Krushkhova. She is an unemployed art-store owner. When the book begins she is heading to Josef Wirek for a job-interview.

All the parallel stories may sound a bit confused, and Gibson isn't really able to tie everything up in the end. Either he should have skipped two of the plots and only kept one, or he should have made the book a whole lot longer. The climax of the story never really appears, and it feels like he is just cutting the whole thing off slightly too abrupt. It's like the way I usually do when I'm supposed to write some short story in school. It begins well but loses speed towards the end, and eventually comes to a complete halt too soon.

I think the characters are good. The description of the degenerated society is great. William Gibson really manages to get the gray and pessimistic atmosphere over. This is well-worth the read.

Clearly, the visions presented within Gibson's books have been hugely inspirational for other writers. When this was written, The Sprawl was seen as a not too distant future for the North-American eastern seaboard, just as "Pugetopolis" was seen as a Pacific Northwest mini-sprawl following I-5, leading up to Vancouver.

I have seen the characters from Count Zero in countless other stories since then. In movie, in stories, they've had different names, and though it would be foolish to suggest that Gibson created these archetypes, he did have a big part in placing them in the hyper-networked distopian futureverse, where they will forever live, die, and rent time-share condos.

Dropping straight into the world of Count Zero might leave the reader a little confused: some of the economic realities are a little unclear. For instance, how dire is Marly's economic situation because she's been fired from her job? Is her survival at stake, or simply her career in her chosen field? Gibson never entirely makes it clear why her instincts are so crucial to her nearly omniscient employer.

The gaps in explanation are often irritating, especially as they seem to exist for the sole purpose of maintaining the tone of the environment, the characters, and the dialogue. I can't help but wonder if these things could have been explained without losing the art that is at the heart of the story. These issues become very important as the story draws to its conclusion.

Still, this is a very competent exploration of ambition, religion, and sacrifices made for friends and freedom. In that sense, it seems like an oddly relevant story these days.

Let's face it: Neuromancer was so good and its effects so widespread that anything coming along after it could easily suffer in comparison. So, don't compare. Neuromancer was Neuromancer and that was a really great story and well told. If you want another Neuromancer, you're just going to have to keep reading it over and over.

Count Zero, on the other hand, is a fine story all by itself. It's not a continuation of Neuromancer or just a precursor to Mona Lisa Overdrive and you haven't already read this one.

The action moves pretty fast in Count Zero and there are a pretty interesting group of characters. Some of the characters will be familiar to readers of Neuromancer although sometimes only in reference (Molly, for instance, who was so central in Neuromancer is only vaguely referred to once early on and again later as ' a girl with mirrors for eyes'). Still, it's fun to remember our earlier heroes while picking up a whole new crew; you won't be disappointed.

"Count Zero" along with "Neuromancer" shows a
young William Gibson at his finest. The second in William Gibson's
Cyberspace triology, "Count Zero" is a spellbinding look at
the interactions between art and computer technology. It sizzles with
crisply written prose that is state of the art high tech
poetry. Gibson's tale adroitly weaves three intersecting plots. The
hero Turner, a corporate mercenary, barely survives an assassination
attempt in the novel's electrifying opening before embarking on a
quest that will have unexpected consequences for himself and a young
woman he rescues. Marly, a disgraced former art gallery owner, finds
herself working for the Howard Hughes of her age. And Bobby Newmark,
aka "Count Zero" finds himself mixed up with Haitian vodou
gods lurking in cyberspace. Somehow their paths will intersect via
Gibson's terse, poetic prose. Those interested in reading exceptional
Gibson and cyberpunk fiction won't be disappointed.