Necromancer

Necromancer by William Gibson

Where to start with this one. I think honesty is the best policy, and I also think it matches the books intention. I fully admit for a long old while there, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. Everyone sounded really cool. All the locations seemed fun, mysterious, and a mixture of sci-fi and noir. The ships and gadgets were great… but, I was struggling to follow the story.

Necromancer is an unapologetic cyberpunk experience from start to finish. It uses lingo that you probably wouldn’t have heard when the book came out in 84, and since would associate with all the things it inspired. The characters talk like you’re in the know when you’re not, and there is little to no exposition whatsoever. You’re literally plopped into the middle of the story and have to figure it out for yourself. No handholding.

When you do start to get a grip with what’s going on the book becomes a fascinating surreal dream like adventure deep into the Matrix with a colourful ragtag cast of characters and some ambitious AI which we should probably take note off. It’s a series of increasingly daring heists, with everyone trying to work out their part, and work out who’s behind the curtain. Just who the hell is Armitage really, is one of the many questions you’ll be asking.

I loved Chase and Molly’s interactions and growing relationship, and found myself looking forward to all theirs scenes. Each heist was tense, and the mystery of ‘who’s playing and manipulating who,’ sucks you in. There’s always another revelation nearby, you must might have to read back a few pages to understand it if you were lucky enough to spot it first time round.

I’m sure there’s plenty of readers out there who fully understood the book and had a different experience to me, and well done to them because I did struggle to follow at times. What I will say is, I was entertained by the experience of feeling lost and just being in the middle of an adventure. I wouldn’t want it for every book, but when its written by a master and is a staple of the genre, sit back and enjoy.

And yes… the Wachowski’s definitely read this book. Everything from the Matrix, to being jacked in, to Zion. They didn’t try and hide their love for Necromancer, and as someone who never shies away from my influences, I admire that.

I think it will be interesting to one day give the book a reread having a somewhat better idea now of what the hell was going on, but who knows, maybe that could detract from the experience. Whatever the case, if you’re reading this book and feeling a little lost, it’s not you… Just carry on reading, and enjoy the colourful world being built around you.