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William Gibson Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

William Gibson

William Gibson

William Gibson Biography

William Gibson was born in South Carolina in 1948. He coined the term "cyberspace" in the early 1980s and was one of the founding authors of the cyberpunk movement in science-fiction writing with his ground-breaking first novel Neuromancer, which in 1984 predicted the birth of the internet. The film "Johnny Mneumonic" was based on his short story, and he also wrote the screenplay. He's since written several more critically-acclaimed novels – most recently Zero History, and The Peripheral (2014) – and more than 20 short stories.

Gibson also contributes an occasional op-ed and long-form piece to the New York Times, Wired, Rolling Stone and other outlets.

He moved to Canada in the late 1960s and lives today in Vancouver, B.C with his wife.

William Gibson's website

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Interview

William Gibson, famous for having coined the term 'cyberspace' in 1982, and writing about virtual reality before it existed, discusses his work, his influences and whether he considers himself a writer of science fiction.

You are famous for having coined the term "cyberspace" in 1982, how did you hit on it and did you think it would stick like it has?
It didn't seem momentous at the time. I wrote out a list. The only two I remember were "dataspace" and "infospace" and neither of those was going anywhere. Then I hit on "cyberspace", and I thought, "Ooooh, cyberspace. That sounds like something people might actually say."

You seem to have stopped using the word in your two latest novels, Idoru and Virtual Light, why is that?
There's something funny going on with the prefix "cyber-". It's become not fashionable. Somebody told me recently that the proprietors of the Cybercafe have taken cybercoffee off the menu and I can understand exactly why.

While we're discussing that particular prefix, what about "cyberpunk? You've been hailed as the king of cyberpunk since your first novel, Neuromancer. Where did that term come from and what does it mean to you?
I can never remember who coined the term "cyberpunk", but it was the title of a short story which wasn't itself cyberpunk and had nothing to do with what was subsequently called cyberpunk. It's something to do with bohemia and computers ...... it's the ...

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Books by this Author

Books by William Gibson at BookBrowse
The Peripheral jacket Zero History jacket Spook Country jacket Pattern Recognition jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for William Gibson but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Iain M. Banks

    Iain M. Banks

    Iain (Menzies) Banks was born in Fife in 1954, and was educated at Stirling University, where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology.

    He came to widespread and controversial public notice with the...

    (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    All Tomorrow's Parties

    Try:
    Inversions
    by Iain M. Banks

  • Steven Barnes

    Steven Barnes

    Steven Barnes is an American science fiction writer, lecturer, creative consultant, and human performance technician.

    He has written several novels and teleplays. He has written several episodes of The Outer Limits and ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Pattern Recognition

    Try:
    Zulu Heart
    by Steven Barnes

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