Agency, by William Gibson Synopsis: The world's first GAI throws a coming-out party for itself. Book Review: A couple months ago one of the panelists (don't recall which one) at the Reason Roundtable commented that "William Gibson is very good at describing surfaces." He meant this literally, and it's true, Gibson does indeed do great visual descriptions, and you really get a feeling for how surfaces look and feel. But it works on a metaphorical level too, because this book is beautiful on the surface level, but doesn't seem to have much depth to it. At first I thought it was intentional, because the book is about an AI creating the infrastructure to manipulate the physical world, and her first step is to recruit a human agent. The human chosen is perfect for this role because she is pathologically passive. The world is on the brink of nuclear war and her primary concern is where she's going to get coffee. She doesn't really care about anything, and it makes complete sense that she'd do whatever the AI says with minimal prompting. The AI scoured the country and chose her mark well. I liked the nefarious implications. But then the AI is removed from the narrative about 1/3rd of the way through, and things continue apace. Things keep happening to the protagonist, and she keeps getting shuffled forward in the plot, but there's never much here to make us care. The protagonist doesn't have motivation or desire, and makes almost no decisions. She doesn't really have any agency in the story. Which feels like it should be some sort of theme, given the title, but it is never explored in the way a theme is explored... it's just there. The "very good at describing surfaces" comment kept coming back to me. Gibson has created a fantastic world. It has complex power structures and entrenched interests. It has a deep history. It is a marvelous place for stories to take place in, and I kept thinking this would make a wonderful source book for a role-playing game. There was even a plot-thread about an AI establishing its powr base that players could be guided through by a skilled GM. But it lacked characters, and so lacked a compelling story. It was a beautiful surface for a story to be painted on/within. And upon further reflection, I think this is a feature of Gibson's works. He crafts incredible worlds that are immensely cool to explore and be inside. The more weird and esoteric the world is, the more there is to explore and and be dazzled by. Like, what do you remember from the original
SF/F Review - Agency
SF/F Review - Agency
SF/F Review - Agency
Agency, by William Gibson Synopsis: The world's first GAI throws a coming-out party for itself. Book Review: A couple months ago one of the panelists (don't recall which one) at the Reason Roundtable commented that "William Gibson is very good at describing surfaces." He meant this literally, and it's true, Gibson does indeed do great visual descriptions, and you really get a feeling for how surfaces look and feel. But it works on a metaphorical level too, because this book is beautiful on the surface level, but doesn't seem to have much depth to it. At first I thought it was intentional, because the book is about an AI creating the infrastructure to manipulate the physical world, and her first step is to recruit a human agent. The human chosen is perfect for this role because she is pathologically passive. The world is on the brink of nuclear war and her primary concern is where she's going to get coffee. She doesn't really care about anything, and it makes complete sense that she'd do whatever the AI says with minimal prompting. The AI scoured the country and chose her mark well. I liked the nefarious implications. But then the AI is removed from the narrative about 1/3rd of the way through, and things continue apace. Things keep happening to the protagonist, and she keeps getting shuffled forward in the plot, but there's never much here to make us care. The protagonist doesn't have motivation or desire, and makes almost no decisions. She doesn't really have any agency in the story. Which feels like it should be some sort of theme, given the title, but it is never explored in the way a theme is explored... it's just there. The "very good at describing surfaces" comment kept coming back to me. Gibson has created a fantastic world. It has complex power structures and entrenched interests. It has a deep history. It is a marvelous place for stories to take place in, and I kept thinking this would make a wonderful source book for a role-playing game. There was even a plot-thread about an AI establishing its powr base that players could be guided through by a skilled GM. But it lacked characters, and so lacked a compelling story. It was a beautiful surface for a story to be painted on/within. And upon further reflection, I think this is a feature of Gibson's works. He crafts incredible worlds that are immensely cool to explore and be inside. The more weird and esoteric the world is, the more there is to explore and and be dazzled by. Like, what do you remember from the original