INOFFICIAL WILLIAM GIBSON FAQ v3.12 <<<<<<< < < < < < < < < < < < 2004-06-13 compiled by Manuel Derra Webmaster of William Gibson aleph an anton rauben weiss publication (c) Copyright 2000-2004 by Manuel Derra. All rights reserved. The Inofficial William Gibson FAQ may not be reproduced in part or completely in any form electronically, physically or other without permission of the author. It may be downloaded and re-distributed as long as it is not modified. It may be posted on non-commercial sites with the permission of the author. Thanks goes to: John Lloyd Parry, Stuart Argabright, Simon Carless, Bret Berg, S. Page, Script Hound, Bill Page, Lance Olsen, Dennis Lindström, Bernhard Bockelbrink, Joshua Klessig, Masaki Kanai, Zsolt Kokas, Mark Shainblum, Derek Angel, Philip Daniels, and many many more... INTRODUCTION ------------ Hello and welcome to my guide to William Gibson. I have been collecting information about William Gibson for a while and started the William Gibson aleph webpage in 1999. In order to share this information with those who wish to know, I wrote this FAQ. Over the last few months, a lot of changes have been incorporated into this FAQ, and version 3 has been released in time for the second anniversary of my William Gibson aleph website. Now the fourth anniversary has passed, while not much has changed in the FAQ. I completely rewrote this FAQ after receiving some feedback. It is now a 'real' Q&A of frequently asked questions. Thanks to anyone who gave feedback and posted this FAQ. The official William Gibson FAQ can be found at The official William Gibson Board can be found at . The official William Gibson web site can be found at . Latest versions of this FAQ are always available at: . Latest information and updates can always be found at William Gibson aleph . If you have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact me only after reading this FAQ at lf at antonraubenweiss dot com. CONTENTS -------- About Gibson Q: What is William Gibson's email address? How can I contact him? Q: Who is Gibson's agent/editor/translator etc.? How can I contact them? Q: Could we, for completeness' sake, include the biography here? Q: Is William Gibson a computer nerd? Q: Where did the term 'cyberspace' come from? Novels Q: What about Gibson's latest novel 'Pattern Recognition'? Q: Where can I download the texts of Gibson's novels? Q: Are Gibson's first three novels connected? Q: Can 'Mona Lisa Overdrive' be read as a standalone novel, or would it be recommended to read the three novels in order? Q: Why do you call it 'Sprawl series' rather than 'Neuromancer trilogy'? Q: Which awards did William Gibson's novel 'Neuromancer' win? Q: What connection is there between 'Neuromancer' and 'Blade Runner'? Q: What is 'Count Zero'? Q: Is there any connection to the world-famous painting Mona Lisa in the book 'Mona Lisa Overdrive'? Q: Is 'The Difference Engine' connected to other Gibson works? Q: What is 'Steampunk'? Q: Are Gibson's later novels also connected in a series? Q: What does the term 'Virtual Light' mean? Q: What is an 'Idoru'? Q: Can you give me the ISBN numbers of Gibson's books? Other works Q: Is the poem 'Agrippa' really that rare? Q: Why can I find the text of 'Agrippa' on the internet? Q: What about Gibson's short stories? Q: Which other short stories are written by William Gibson? Q: Where can I find some of Gibson's articles on-line? Movie/Film Q: Why was Gibson's movie script for 'Alien3' rejected? Q: Did any part of Gibson's script make its way into the movie 'Alien3'? Q: Have there been any attempts to adapt Gibson's stories for the big screen? Q: Why is the movie 'Johnny Mnemonic' commercially produced and undistinguished, even though Gibson wrote the screenplay himself? Q: Why is the Molly Millions character missing in 'Johnny Mnemonic' and replaced by Jane (Dina Meyer)? Q: Is the 'Neuromancer' movie script I found on the Internet written by William Gibson? Q: What about the 'Neuromancer' movie, which has long been overdue? Q: What happened to the movie website www.neuromancer.org? Q: I heard rumours that the novel 'Count Zero' should be made a movie? Q: Which episodes of 'The X-Files' were written by William Gibson? Q: What about this William Gibson feature film? Q: When will 'No Maps For These Territories' be released on DVD/VHS? Q: Is there a movie adaptation of 'Burning Chrome'? Other adaptations Q: Is the 'Johnny Mnemonic' computer game worth playing? Q: What other adaptations are there? Q: Is the 'Neuromancer' graphic novel still available? Q: Does the 'Neuromancer' graphic novel cover the whole novel? Q: What does Gibson think about the comic adaptation? Q: Is the plot of the 'Neuromancer' computer game the same as in the book? Q: What did Gibson say about the 'Neuromancer' computer game? Q: Can I still play the 'Neuromancer' computer game? Q: Does the 'Neuromancer' audio book really feature U2? Q: Where can I find the unabridged 'Neuromancer' audio book? Q: What happened to Gibson's website 'William Gibson's Yard Show'? QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ------------------- <<>> ABOUT GIBSON <<>> Q: What is William Gibson's email address? How can I contact him? A: Of course, William Gibson cannot be contacted by the public via an email address. (Gibson once said in an interview that the last thing he needed was beeing able to be contacted by hundreds of thousands of his readers by email, and I understand this feeling). You can, however, contact him via his publisher Penguin Putnam at http://www.penguinputnam.com, or regular mail: William Gibson c/o Ace Books Publicity 375 Hudson Street New York, NY 10014 United States of America Q: Who is Gibson's agent/editor/translator etc.? How can I contact them? A: See above. Q: Could we, for completeness' sake, include the biography here? A: William Ford Gibson was born March 17, 1948 in Conway, South Carolina but left the United States for Canada when he was nineteen. The only son of a civilian contractor who had prospered during the construction of the Oak Ridge facility that manufactured the first atomic bomb, Gibson spent his childhood with his widowed mother in a small town in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, attended a boarding school in southern Arizona, and at age 19 left the United States for Canada in order to avoid the draft for the Vietnam War. Since 1972, he has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife and their two children. Gibson began to write fiction while attending the University of British Columbia, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English literature. Gibson is credited with having coined the term 'Cyberspace', and with having envisioned both the Internet and virtual reality before most people had even heard of them. Q: Is William Gibson a computer nerd? A: No. By the time he wrote 'Neuromancer', Gibson did not even own a computer. Later on, he refused for a long time to use the internet and even email, instead he used fax to communicate with people. Only lately has Gibson begun to use email and the internet. Q: Where did the term 'cyberspace' come from? A: The term 'cyberspace' was introduced by William Gibson in his short story 'Burning Chrome'. In 'Neuromancer' and subsequent novels this term was used to describe virtual reality interface system to navigate the world-wide data-network, the 'Matrix'. Gibson said that he tried hard to find a nice-sounding term, combining words like 'cyber', 'cryo', 'void' etc. <<>> NOVELS <<>> Q: What about Gibson's latest novel 'Pattern Recognition'? A: For the April 2001 issue of The Observer, William Gibson wrote an article titles 'Modern Boys and Mobile Girls', beneath which was stated: 'William Gibson is the author of All Tomorrow's Parties, and the forthcoming Pattern Recognition, both Penguin UK.' A recent article of 'TotallyHK' included the following precis: 'In Pattern Recognition (Viking, July) the author of Virtual Light conjures up a typically glamorous and futuristic storyline. The heroine, Cayce Pollard, consults for the world's hippest ad agency based in London. 'Pathologically sensitive' to logos, she falls under the spell of a mysterious auteur after seeing a strange body of fragmentary footage he has produced then embarks on a worldwide search for her obsession. En route she tangles with a defrocked mathematician and a Tokyo coven known as Eye of the Dragon among other weird and potent Gibson phenomena.' The official precis can be found in the Penguin Putnam Viking official catalogue at http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/packages/uk/booksellers/catalogues/pen_gen2002_15-44.pdf Q: I noticed your web site (and others too) offer copyrighted texts for download. Isn't that illegal? A: I removed most copyrighted texts from my site after some copyright issues. Even though the internet makes it fairly easy to distribute texts like this, copyright law is still in effect which states that any distribution or duplication of these copyrighted texts is illegal. There is some discussion going on if people actually read a whole book on their computer screen, or if they just read into the book and then buy it, or actually own it already. Gibson himself said in an interview that he doesn't mind his texts floating around on the internet, as long as he or his publisher don't experience any financial losses. He said that if there was an (illegal) Chinese translation of his books made available through the internet, he would find it 'cool', but if an illegal Chinese translation would be printed and sold, he would be quick to surpress this action. Therefore, sharing Gibson's novels texts on the internet should be ok for now, but as for my site, I rather not do it anymore. If you want to download the texts, start a search with Google or any other search engine, since there are many sites which offer them - that's where I got the texts in the first place. Another possibility is to try some file-sharing network like eDonkey, or you might also try the 'Links' page at . Q: Are Gibson's first three novels connected? A: Gibson's first novel, 'Neuromancer' (1984) is about Case and Molly who need to try to free the AI Wintermute who plans to merge with its twin, Neuromancer. After the unification cyberspace gains conciousness, and parts of the original AI are loose within the Matrix with their own agenda. Therefore, the series is normally referred to as the 'Neuromancer trilogy'. The sequel, 'Count Zero' (1986), is about the low-level hacker Bobby Newmark is drawn into the plans of Matrix voodoo gods, a crazy millionaire and the planned defection of a high-grade biotech designer. 'Mona Lisa Overdrive' (1988) takes place another eight years after 'Count Zero' and is about a stolen mega-chip, a whore who is turned into the double of a SimStim superstar, and an action-packed final fight. Note that the series is sometimes also called the 'Sprawl trilogy', as most part of it takes place in the 'Sprawl', the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitian Axis, which has grown together into one big city, or as the 'Sprawl series' (see next question). Q: Can 'Mona Lisa Overdrive' be read as a standalone novel, or would it be recommended to read the three novels in order? A: Of course, each of these books can be regarded and read as standalone novels, but when reading out of order one misses lots of background information, and end up more confused than most people find themselves even after reading them in order for the first time. Judging from most people's experience (and my own), starting 'Mona Lisa Overdrive' without having read the prequels leaves one understanding not a thing at all, so dealing with 'Neuromancer' beforehand would be recommended. Actually, the final novel of the trilogy brings together some of the main characters of the previous novels. Q: Why do you call it 'Sprawl series' rather than 'Neuromancer trilogy'? A: The term 'Neuromancer' of course only refers to the three novels 'Neuromancer', 'Count Zero', and 'Mona Lisa Overdrive', but actually several of Gibson's short stories take place in the same world. For example, Molly Millions, who appears in 'Neuromancer' and 'Mona Lisa Overdrive', first appeared in the 'Johnny Mnemonic' (1981) short story. Furthermore, the protagonist of 'Burning Chrome' (1982), another short story, is mentioned in 'Count Zero'. The short story 'New Rose Hotel' (1981) belongs to this series, too. Q: Which awards did William Gibson's novel 'Neuromancer' win? A: Gibson's debut novel 'Neuromancer' has won all major science fiction awards (Hugo Award, Philip K. Dick Memorial Award, Nebula Award, Seiun Award, and Ditmar Award) and defined a whole new genre of science fiction. It is regarded as one of the most influential literary works of the eighties. Q: What connection is there between 'Neuromancer' and 'Blade Runner'? A: Gibson said that the dark vision of the future evoked in Ridley Scott's movie 'Blade Runner' (1982) was very similar to what he imagined as the setting in Chiba City in 'Neuromancer'. He even said that he was quite depressed after watching the movie because he felt like the movie took ahead what he was still trying to develop at that time. It is agreed that both works of art stand alongside as two of the most influential fictional works of the eighties. Q: What is 'Count Zero'? A: William Gibson's second novel protagonist's handle 'Count Zero' comes from the programmer term 'Count Zero Interrupt'. This term describes the moment when a program has looped enough times (the counter reaches zero), which causes an interrupt (event which causes the program to stop doing one thing, and start or check another). Q: Is there any connection to the world-famous painting Mona Lisa in the book 'Mona Lisa Overdrive'? A: No. Even though the German edition of the book features the (digitally distorted) Mona Lisa painting on its cover, 'Mona Lisa' is the name of one of the protagonists and is not connected to the painting. Q: Is 'The Difference Engine' connected to other Gibson works? A: 'The Difference Engine' was published after Gibson finished the Sprawl series with 'Mona Lisa Overdrive' and is not connected to the books published before or after. It also written in a different style than the stories from the Sprawl or San Francisco series. 'The Difference Engine', co-authored with Bruce Sterling, is not set in the future but in the middle of an alternate nineteenth century. Steam-driven mechanical computers have been developed and determine the life of the protagonists in this detective story. Q: What is 'Steampunk'? A: The novel 'The Difference Engine' by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and novels by other authors with a similiar setting are sometimes referred to as 'Steampunk' because of the steam driven analog computers used in these stories. 'Steampunk' is a subgenre of Science Fiction similiar to 'Cyberpunk'. Q: Are Gibson's later novels also connected in a series? A: After finishing the Sprawl series, Gibson started a new trilogy in a revised setting which is usually referred to as 'Bridge trilogy'. 'Virtual Light' takes place in the near future and is more tame and more probable than his previous novels. The sequel 'Idoru' also belongs to the series, even though most part of it takes place in Tokyo), and the main characters of the book are very similiar to 'Virtual Light'. In this book Gibson concentrates on the themes of media and popularity. 'All Tomorrow's Parties' is the third novel in the series and, as in 'Mona Lisa Overdrive', Gibson brings together characters from the prequels. Q: What does the term 'Virtual Light' mean? A: The term 'Virtual Light' was coined by scientist Stephen Beck to describe a form of instrumentation that produces optical sensations directly in the eye without the use of photons. Q: What is an 'Idoru'? A: 'Idoru' [aidoru] is a Japanese word derived from the English 'idol'. In Gibson's book by the same title the idoru appears as a completely artificial media celebrity. Gibson said that the idea came to him when he heard about the computer-generated Japanese pop star Kyoko Date. Kyoko Date, a.k.a 'Date Kyo' or 'DK-96' ('Digital Kid 1996'), was designed by Tatsuya Kosaka, Toshihiro Aramaki and Tomoya Tomadechi. Her development was funded by Horipro, Virtual Science Labs, and JVC Records. There were two singles published in Japan, 'Love Communication' and 'Touch'. Since Kyoko Date didn't have much of an impact in Japan, her name was sold and republished in Korea with the name 'Diki'. Q: Can you give me the ISBN numbers of Gibson's books? A: 'Neuromancer', 320 pages, Voyager edition, 1995, ISBN 0006480411 'Count Zero', 336 pages, Voyager edition, 1995, ISBN 000648042X 'Burning Chrome', 220 pages, Grafton edition, 1988, ISBN 0586074619 'Mona Lisa Overdrive', 320 pages, Voyager edition, 1995, ISBN 0006480446 'The Difference Engine', 429 pages, Spectra edition, ISBN 055329461X 'Virtual Light', 352 pages, Bantam Spectra edition, 1994, ISBN 0553566067 'Idoru', 388 pages, Penguin Putnam edition, 1997, ISBN 0425158640 'All Tomorrow's Parties', 277 pages, Penguin Putnam edition, 1999, ISBN 0399145796 'Pattern Recognition', 300 pages, Viking Books, July 2002, ISBN 0670875597 <<>> OTHER WORKS <<>> Q: Is the poem 'Agrippa' really that rare? A: Yes. William Gibson wrote the poem 'Agrippa - A Book of The Dead' about his dead father and his relationship towards him. It consists of childhood memories and thoughts about his fathers photo album with the title Agrippa, and therefore is neither science fiction nor cyberpunk. 'Agrippa' was released on a limited edition encrypted diskette that erased itself page by page as you read. The book itself contained artwork by Dennis Ashbrough, a painter from New York, related to the content of the poem (such as advertising posters from the 1920s). It was made using a special ink that disappeared after prolonged exposure to light. Q: How come I can find the text of 'Agrippa' on the internet? On December 9, 1992, 'Agrippa' was made available to the public for one day, at museums across America, through the internet. The (supposedly unhackable) code of the poem text was soon hacked and put on various internet sites. It is available at many Gibson fan sites and the official William Gibson web site. Q: What about Gibson's short stories? A: The details will soon be included in the FAQ. Q: Which other short stories are written by William Gibson? A: Apart from those mentioned above, contained in the short story collection 'Burning Chrome' are 'Fragments of a Hologram Rose' (1977), 'The Belonging Kind' (1981) , 'The Gernsback Continuum' (1981), 'Hinterlands' (1981), 'Red Star, Winter Orbit' (1983), 'Dogfight' (1985), and 'The Winter Market' (1985). Apart from that, short fiction published by Gibson include 'The Silver Walks', 'Kumi in the Smoke', 'Hippie Hat Brain Parasite' (1989), 'Tokyo Collage' (1988), 'Tokyo Suite', 'The Angel of Goliad' (1990), 'Doing Television' (1990), 'Darwin' (1990), 'Skinner's Room' (1990), 'Cyber-Claus' (1991), 'Academy Leader' (1991), 'Where the Holograms Go' (1993), and 'Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City' (1997). For a more detailed overview of stories published by William Gibson, please refer to the 'Mediagraphy' page at http://www.antonraubenweiss.com/gibson/mediagraphy.html. Q: Where can I find some of Gibson's articles on-line? A: Some of the articles Gibson has written are available at the 'Other works'/'Articles' page at http://www.antonraubenweiss.com/gibson/articles.html. This part of the FAQ will be expanded soon. <<>> MOVIE / FILM <<>> Q: Why was Gibson's movie script for 'Alien3' rejected? A: William Gibson's script for the movie 'Alien3' was most likely rejected because of the role of the Russians in his script. The Russians appear frequently in the story as a sort of running gag with their inferior and buggy technology. This emphasis maybe seemed unlikely and old-fashioned after the end of the cold war. The script used for the movie was written by Larry Ferguson and David Giler, the movie was directed by David Fincher (1992). Q: Did any part of Gibson's script make its way into the movie 'Alien3'? A: It is said that the only detail which actually made it into the movie is the prisoners having barcodes tattooed to their heads. (To my knowledge these barcode tattoos also appeared in similar form in the movies 'Terminator', 'The Fortress' and '12 Monkeys', none of which of course is connected to William Gibson) Q: Have there been any attempts to adapt Gibson's stories for the big screen? A: In 1995 Gibson's short story 'Johnny Mnemonic' was adapted as a movie directed by Robert Longo, starring Keanu Reeves, Dina Meyer, Ice-T, Takeshi Kitano, Dolph Lundgren, Henry Rollins, and Udo Kier. Gibson wrote the movie script himself. Based on the short story 'New Rose Hotel' a movie was made by the same name in 1998, directed by Abel Ferrara. The movie script was written by Christ Zois, the movie is starring Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, and Asia Argento. Apart from these adaptations, ideas and terms from Gibson's work appear in many movies of the eighties and nineties, e. g. 'The Matrix', 'Strange Days' etc. Q: Why is the movie 'Johnny Mnemonic' commercially produced and undistinguished, even though Gibson wrote the screenplay himself? A: Robert Longo, the director said that Gibson and he intended to make a 'dirty, edgy black-and-white science fiction film' but shifted to big movie because nobody was interested in funding what would have been 'a giant student film'. Still, Gibson himself says Hollywood forces changed the movie from his and Longo's vision, and that the Japanese cut of the movie (in English with Japanese subtitles) is closer to their intent. Q: Why is the Molly Millions character missing in 'Johnny Mnemonic' and replaced by Jane (Dina Meyer)? A: The rights to 'Neuromancer' (and therefore also the right to the Molly character and her attributes, silver glasses and razors) were at that time with Cabana Boys Production and therefore could not be used in the movie. The reason for this was, if Molly would have appeared in 'Johnny Mnemonic', she would have been a part of the big Sony 'Johnny Mnemonic' franchise/merchandise, which would have made it quite impossible to use her for the pending 'Neuromancer' movie, which Gibson and Cunningham were still discussing even back then. So they kept the rights to themselves. Q: Is the 'Neuromancer' movie script I found on the internet written by William Gibson? A: No. The 'Neuromancer' movie script which has been floating around on the internet for some years now is not by William Gibson whom it usually is attributed to. It was written in 1990 by Chuck Russel ('The Mask', 'Nightmare on Elm Street' sequel, 'Eraser' etc). Q: What about the 'Neuromancer' movie, which has long been overdue? A: It was rumored that this movie would be released around 1999/2000 and directed by the British director Chris Cunningham. He has been acknowledged for directing several music videos for Aphex Twin ('Come To Daddy', 'Windowlicker'), Madonna ('Frozen') and Portishead ('Only You') and is also known for his f/x work in movies like 'Alien3'. The producer Alex Lightman has become famous with entertainment projects like 'Star Trek: First Contact', 'Babylon 5', and 'The X-Files'. It seems this project has been postponed or cancelled (see below). Recent rumours in the Aphex Twin fan community point toward Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) got bored with making the soundtrack, and that Chris Cunningham didn't want to do it without him. This is completely unconfirmed, though. Q: What happened to the movie website www.neuromancer.org? A: The official website www.neuromancer.org has been put off-line as of June 2000 which probably means that the project has been postponed or canceled. By the time it was still on-line it contained information about the novel, the producer and director and some general info. Q: I heard rumours that the novel 'Count Zero' should be made a movie? A: There was talk that Gibson's novel 'Count Zero' should be adapted as 'The Zen Differential'. The project currently is on hold at Warner Brothers' Studios. Michael Mann is 'attached' to direct, and Kathryn Sommer and Chuck Roven are still attached as producers. As for the script written by John Lloyd Parry, dated January 5, 1996 and titled 'The Zen Differential', it has undergone several revisions by Shawn Slovo. The new script more closely follows the original storyline in the novel, and they've gone back to the title 'Count Zero' (information provided by John Lloyd Parry). Q: Which episodes of 'The X-Files' were written by William Gibson? A: The X-Files episode 'Kill Switch' (5X11) was written by William Gibson and Tom Maddox and aired Febuary 15 1998. Subtitle: 'Sentient computer program targets its creators for extinction'. Episode 7X13 'First Person Shooter' was also written by Gibson and Maddox, directed by Chris Carter, and aired February 27 2000. 'A murder inside the high-tech world of a virtual reality game leads Scully to battle a deadly digital character in order to save Mulder's life.' Q: What about this William Gibson feature film? A: At the beginning of 2001, the Gibson feature film 'No Maps For These Territories' was released. It is directed by Mark Neale and 88 minutes long. William Gibson is travelling through America in a limousine that is rigged with lots of micro-cameras, television, a computer and other multimedia equipment. The intention of the film is to record Gibson's impressions while travelling, and also his conversation with the driver and a few temporary passengers, such as Jack Womack and Bono from U2. The film had its premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival 2001 which was held from January 20-27, 2001 in Park City, Utah. Q: When will 'No Maps For These Territories' be released on DVD/VHS? A: The film is available on DVD and VHS at www.robotstore.com. Q: Is there a movie adaptation of 'Burning Chrome'? A: No, but there is a stage adaptation. It was performed by Next Theatre in Evanston, Illinois in 1998 and by the Sacred Fools Theatre in Los Angeles in 1999. The story was adapted by Steve Pickering and Charley Sherman, and the play was performed for the first time on February 6, 1998 by Next Theatre, directed by Steve Pickering. The play was also performed one year later by the Sacred Fools in LA, directed by Scott Rabinowitz. <<>> OTHER ADAPTATIONS <<>> Q: Is the 'Johnny Mnemonic' computer game worth playing? A: Sony Imagesoft published a Full Motion Video computer game in 1995 which is based on the movie by the same name, also by Sony. It is a completely different filmed version of the movie, and actors include Isaac Hayes, Julie Strain, and Christopher Russel Gartin as Johnny. There's 2 hours of footage on the 2 CDs, and it's an FMV (full motion video) adventure game where filmed action plays, then you pick a choice, then more filmed action plays. The aim of the game is to find the pieces of the download code so Johnny can download the data overload in his head. Most people find the game not really worth playing. Q: What other adaptations are there? A: There was a comic adaptation of 'Hinterlands' (1995), adapted and illustrated by Gavin Lonergan. It appeared in Freeflight #5 and #6, Dec/Jan 95 and Apr/May 95, published by Thinkblots. Another short story from the 'Burning Chrome' collection, 'The Gernsback Continuum', was made a tv film in the United Kingdom in 1995 called 'Tomorrow Calling', which was originally shown on Channel 4 and is starring Sarah Stockbridge, Toyah Wilcox, and Don Henderson. Q: Is the 'Neuromancer' graphic novel still available? A: The graphic novel by Tom de Haven and Bruce Jensen was published in 1989 by Epic Comics, ISBN 0-87135-574-4, and Berkley Books, ISBN 0-425-12016-3. It is out of print and apparently hard to obtain. There is an on-line version of the comic available at Q: Where can I get the 'Neuromancer' comic which covers the whole novel? A: The first volume of the graphic novel only covers the chapters 'Chiba City Blues' and 'The Shopping Expedition' of the novel 'Neuromancer'. Apparently it was planned to be the first in a series of which the remaining chapters have been cancelled. Q: What does Gibson think about the comic adaptation? A: Gibson, apparently an avid comic fan during his youth, said that he was satisfied with the graphic novel and that it looked pretty much like what he imagined in 1983. He also said that if any of his work was adapted for the big screen, he would be very happy if it would come that close to his original intention as the graphic novel. Q: Is the plot of the 'Neuromancer' computer game the same as in the book? A: No. Places, persons and names are the same as in the book, but the plot is quite different. The player takes the role of Case who finds himself in Chiba City. The aim of the game is to prevent the AIs Neuromancer and Greystoke to take over the Matrix. The first part of the game takes place in Chiba City where the player needs to hack various terminals and visit lots of original places from the book, while the second part is fighting against various AIs in cyberspace. Q: What did Gibson say about the 'Neuromancer' computer game? A: Gibson said that it amused him that 'Neuromancer' is now a product that you can actually play. A real Neuromancer game, however, would probably kill or maim you or maybe give you a mild shock if you lost. Q: Can I still play the 'Neuromancer' computer game? A: Yes. Playable versions for PC (runs in MS-DOS mode) and C64 version (can be played with the CCS64 emulator) and a walkthrough can be found at the 'Downloads' page at http://www.angelfire.com/de3/gibson. Q: Does the 'Neuromancer' audio book really feature U2? A: Yes. The whole text of 'Neuromancer', read by William Gibson, was published in 1995 by Time Warner Audio books on 4 tapes or 5 discs and is about six hours long. U2 contributed one track for Time Warner, who happily included it for their huge name recognition. The rest of the soundtrack, including the background sounds, were done by Black Rain. Q: Where can I find the unabridged 'Neuromancer' audio book? A: The audio book 'Neuromancer' read by William Gibson is only available in its abridged form. However, there is an audio book published by Books on Tape (published in 1997), which features the complete, unabridged text of the novel, however narrated by Arthur Addison (and not Gibson). (ISBN: 0736638369) Q: What happened to Gibson's website 'William Gibson's Yard Show'? A: Unfortunately, the website was put off-line during the year 2000. Please note that by request of the creator of William Gibson's Yard Show, Christopher Halcrow, any reference and information on the site has been removed. Thanks so far, for your attention. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (c) Copyright 2000-2002 by Manuel Derra. aleph@antonraubenweiss.com William Gibson aleph - essential information collection http://www.antonraubenweiss.com/gibson an anton rauben weiss publication http://www.antonraubenweiss.com