Rating: 
Summary: Better Than Neuromancer
Review: "Count Zero" is an extremely good fiction novel. In fact, I thought it was even better than "Neuromancer" (also by Gibson). It is more concrete, and more easily understood, in it's concepts. Don't get me wrong, it's still got all the abstract ideas and goings ons that are in "Neuromancer". It's got all the action, all the technology, and all the wonderful characters. It wouldn't be a Gibson novel without them. They are quirky and fascinating at the same time. I think the characters are humanized a little more too. For all these reasons, I really liked the novel.Don't skip "Neuromancer" due to this though. You'll enjoy "Count Zero" even if you haven't read "Neuromancer" yet. They are both good novels and deserve to be read in order. Plus "Count Zero" brings in little snippets from "Neuromancer". I can't wait to start on "Mona Lisa Overdrive", the next in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: "Count Zero" pulls it off without being cheesey. I was surprised by how unstupid this futuristic setting was. I also thoroughly appreciate that Gibson does not write down to his audience... he acknowldeges our ability to understand the lingo and nuances of his future-world without having to explain it to us. His style is fresh and sharp.
The three main characters are flawed and written to be believable. There is little character development but that does not seem to be the point. It appears that the focus is more on us getting to know them- the real them. At first they are strangers and then they become more to the point where you HAVE to know that they will be ok in the end. Few authors have the capability to inspire such empathy. (My favorite part was when the Box Maker made a box for Marly.)
The story is capitvating. The pace moves along slowly at first and builds to a frenzy. Reading this book leaves you with the obvious impression that Gibson definately knew what he was doing when he wrote it. The story is a puzzle. You know that everything fits together somehow... but how exactly?
If you loved "The Matrix," take the time to read "Count Zero." You'll find similarities and you'll also find "Count Zero" to be a superior story. More sci-fi needs to be like this.
Rating:
Summary: Kicks Booty
Review: (Cyberpunk is dead, long live cyberpunk...)
The best of Gibson's trilogy, Count Zero combines taut suspense, technomythology and a certain heightened sense of art and biology--bringing to the sophomore story a sophistication to go with its noir edge. More importantly, though, it manages to combine three distinct viewpoints (more complex than the one-shot Neuromancer, without the mired mass that is Mona Lisa Overdrive) and bring them all together for a surprise ending.
Gibson's "diamond-hard prose" and mastery of the postmodern setting have never been more effective. Even without the manic energy of the first volume and the powerful conclusion of the third, Count Zero still triumphs as concept and as art in its own right.
Rating: 
Summary: Gibson's favorite of his books
Review:
Someone in the bookstore asked Gibson which book of his he liked best. He said it was this one.
I can't say I agree. I definitely like Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive better. The beginning sounds really good. I thought after reading the first two pages that the book would be really great. But some of the elements of the book aren't interesting. I don't find the book that cohesive, since it has three independent plot lines, and they don't ever seem to be leading together.
Rating:
Summary: William Gibson does it again.
Review: As a avid reader of cyberpunk, i can say with all confidence that this is one of the most entertaining cyberpunk novels I have had the priviledge of reading. William Gibson takes three seemingly unrelated stories, and blended them together in a wonderful story that grabs you by the throat and takes you on a high speed journey through Gibson's bleak world of the future. Whether it be the story of Turner, the corporate bodyguard for hire, Bobby, the budding cyberspace cowboy, or Marly, the down on her luck art critic, all the characters in the novel are well developed and each with their own personalities. The only real problem I had with this book was the ending, which was rather abrupt and left this reader wanted more. All in all, it is an excellent, well-written novel. William Gibson does it again.
Rating:
Summary: continuing the slide
Review: As mentioned in an earlier review, Gibson tries some really crazy writing here, and I feel that he pulls it off. A lot better than one would think, because you're more likely concentrating on the story than the mechanics of the writing. A real jewel of prose on our modern outlook, and introducing characters that truly illustrate what a hero of today thinks.
and the violence is damn good.
Rating: 
Summary: Who needs a global village when you can have global sprawl?
Review: Clearly, the visions presented within Gibson's books have been hugely inspirational for other writers. When this was written, The Sprawl was seen as a not too distant future for the North-American eastern seaboard, just as "Pugetopolis" was seen as a Pacific Northwest mini-sprawl following I-5, leading up to Vancouver.
I have seen the characters from Count Zero in countless other stories since then. In movie, in stories, they've had different names, and though it would be foolish to suggest that Gibson created these archetypes, he did have a big part in placing them in the hyper-networked distopian futureverse, where they will forever live, die, and rent time-share condos.
Dropping straight into the world of Count Zero might leave the reader a little confused: some of the economic realities are a little unclear. For instance, how dire is Marly's economic situation because she's been fired from her job? Is her survival at stake, or simply her career in her chosen field? Gibson never entirely makes it clear why her instincts are so crucial to her nearly omniscient employer.
The gaps in explanation are often irritating, especially as they seem to exist for the sole purpose of maintaining the tone of the environment, the characters, and the dialogue. I can't help but wonder if these things could have been explained without losing the art that is at the heart of the story. These issues become very important as the story draws to its conclusion.
Still, this is a very competent exploration of ambition, religion, and sacrifices made for friends and freedom. In that sense, it seems like an oddly relevant story these days.
Rating:
Summary: Raw and Dark view of the near future
Review: Corporations have grown to multi-national entities in their
own right. Big Brother knows everything about you or he can
if you were worth more than the phlegm in the back of his throat. Serious action takes place and the story guarantees
more than a few thrills. Imagine being able to become an expert on nearly anything simply by plugging in the right software. Of course the good stuff is gonna cost you.
I especially like the ongoing virtual reality soaps that take
people away from their boring lives but in effect trap them
into being glassy-eyed cows/consumers. Only a few cowboys get
to slide their way around cyberspace and see the "reality".
All in all this book will have you begging for more, but fearful at the same time of the coming wave of technology.
Finally the computers that have transcended their circuitry to become "living" entities give you either a thrill for the
potential of such beings or scare the light out of you knowing
how handily they could crush us humans.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining. classic sci-fi Genre
Review: Correction: quark_the_1st@yahoo.com from LONDON, ENGLAND , April 4, 1998
Snow Crash is NOT written by Gibson, infact, Stephenson style is vastly different is comparison.
