I just finished Count Zero, the second book in the Sprawl trilogy by William Gibson that basically invented cyberpunk.

Coming after Neuromancer - the defining book of the genre - it couldn't possibly fill those shoes.

And he honestly doesn't give a fuck. And that's why I like it.

He just powers on through the story, 7-10 years after Neuromancer ends, and does ZERO explanation of anything or anyone. You just have to remember the first book, get the references, and go with the flow when he mentions someone use a "Hodaka deck" and you have no fucking idea whether it is a piece of architecture that you put deck furniture on, or a CD drive, a skateboard, or a cyberspace box of some sort.

There is a casual tone to this book. He's writing it for himself, to play with some ideas and suss out some interesting threads he left hanging in the first book. He doesn't care if you get it or not; he's doing this for his own interest and pleasure.

So it's fun to ride along with his stream of consciousness and see how he ties all this shit together at the end.

Which he doesn't actually do, because, ya know, this is the second book of a trilogy.

So now I'm off to read Mona Lisa Overdrive, the final book of the trilogy, and possibly the worst/best scifi cover art ever.