Rating: 
Summary: Count Zero
Review: Count Zero extends Gibson's elaborate description of cyberpunk technology with a suspenseful story line that explores many future possibilities for an even more gripping story than its predecessor Neuromancer. By reaching out to new characters in the degenerate Sprawl, Gibson follows many unrelated characters through a series of suspenseful plots which work ultimately to a common good. Some characters and locations are familiar from Neuromancer although some play a bigger role than others. The Finn is instrumental in marketing software to cowboys in the Sprawl. Molly and Case are mentioned vaguely and the Tessier-Ashpools influenced several aspects of the story. The remnants of Freeside remain in orbit and have become almost deserted. Three separate plots follow three new main characters through their attempts to survive their dangerous lives. Turner, a business mercenary, is introduced in the story as a target for a bombing and barely survives the blast. The wonders of medical science in this time are able to reconstruct his body and reload his mind from a simstim construct. Bobby Newmark enters a run for his life when detected attempting to hack a company's mainframe with a new icebreaker. Marly Krushkova, an out of work art gallery owner, interviews with Joseph Virek for a job after struggling to make ends meet after being disgraced for mistakenly trying to sell a forgery. Virek hires Marly to find the maker of the artistic boxes that he has been collecting and makes his immense wealth available to her in her efforts to do so. These plots become more and more complicated for the characters as they continue to run into snags and attacks throughout the book. Count Zero will keep you reading to find out just how they will get through the growing difficulties encountered. Gibson in develops each separate plot well and brings them together in the end for an incredible finish. Well worth the read
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Summary: An interesting continuation of the Neuromancer universe.
Review: Count Zero is considered by many to be the sequel to Neuromancer. Upon finishing it, I was surprised as to how little this story had anything to do with Neuromancer. Taken at face value, Count Zero almost works as an independent novel, although without having first read Neuromancer, the reader would probably have a lot of difficulty making sense of the setting and terminology. However, after giving some thought to the implications of some of the more obscure events that took place in Count Zero, I have discovered a handful of important connections to Neuromancer. These discoveries came to me days later as I mulled over some of the unanswered questions presented by this novel, as well as the handful of direct references to Neuromancer that were only touched upon. Reading Mona Lisa Overdrive after Count Zero also proved vital to bridging the gaps between the three novels, finally showing how they work together as a trilogy. This series does not spell anything out; it's the reader's job to put it all together through various clues spread throughout. So, if you think you're going to read either this book or the whole trilogy and be done with it: No, it doesn't work that way with these books. They get stuck in your brain, and as far as I know, they'll be there forever as your mind tries to put the final few pieces (which it can't identify) into the puzzle (which it only thinks it understands). The scariest part is that I don't think I'm exaggerating. In my mid-40s I'll probably get a brain aneurysm and a surgeon will have to pull off an emergency Neuromancer removal procedure to eradicate the source of the stress... jam a pencil in there and twist it around, that should do! Whoops, I think I got a little side-tracked there. Count Zero follows the stories of three separate people throughout the world that Neuromancer set up. I was expecting the stories to come together into an impressive finale, but finished the novel disappointed. I won't spoil anything for you, but the three stories do not mix together as much as I would have liked. The character depth is much improved over Neuromancer. I really felt as though I knew exactly what was going on in these characters' heads, and they're all very likable characters in their own ways. The characters are about as opposite from one another as you can get, making it somewhat refreshing as Gibson switches between them. I also loved the Voodoo elements to this book, especially the secondary characters who are involved in it. They are surprisingly likable for the image they portray. Voodoo is not just in this book for kicks and giggles, Gibson uses it to add another dimension to his story, and to thicken the existing atmosphere. Overall, great book. I just wish the three stories had been more closely tied together. If you plan on reading Count Zero, then plan on reading Mona Lisa Overdrive as well. No ifs, ands or buts.
Rating:
Summary: Count Zero
Review: Count Zero is the second book in William Gibson's so called "Sprawl"-thrilliology. When the first book - Neuromancer - only consisted of one plot, Count Zero has several. It's a cyberpunk type of book. The story mostly takes place in a desert, in a city and in a satellite orbiting earth. The book starts in a funny way. One of the main characters gets blown to pieces. However, soon after he is put back together again. The second plot is about Bobby, alias Count Zero. He is a hacker wannabe. Does some stupid stuff, tries to break some black ICE with a military icebreaker he got from some other console cowboy. Then he gets in trouble. The last plot is about Marly Krushkhova. She is an unemployed art-store owner. When the book begins she is heading to Josef Wirek for a job-interview. All the parallel stories may sound a bit confused, and Gibson isn't really able to tie everything up in the end. Either he should have skipped two of the plots and only kept one, or he should have made the book a whole lot longer. The climax of the story never really appears, and it feels like he is just cutting the whole thing off slightly too abrupt. It's like the way I usually do when I'm supposed to write some short story in school. It begins well but loses speed towards the end, and eventually comes to a complete halt too soon. I think the characters are good. The description of the degenerated society is great. William Gibson really manages to get the gray and pessimistic atmosphere over. This is well-worth the read.
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Summary: Fun, in a grim sort of way
Review: Gibson takes this book and experiments. Three story lines unfold across the pages. Each character sees things differently, and you can see the differences. Is Conroy a simple agent with his thatch of white hair, or a dude with the meanest mouth you ever saw? Both. Does this book wander off into some seriously weird voodoo? You bet. Is it still stylish in that 80s noir sort of way, with yuppies expanding to the ultimate form, Japanese ruling over all with mega-corporations, and the poor just plain poor. You bet. There's even hot cyberdecks, drugs and rogue biotechnology, for the cyberpunk purist. The later exercises of Gibson take the same form, and repeat to triteness. This book, being an experiment, is still fresh and interesting. If it blows you away, keep reading Gibson. If it's not exactly thrilling, there are many other authors to sample. But give it a read and see what you think. The time will be well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Better than that lame X-Files episode.
Review: Gibson, while no Neal Stephenson, is perhaps the best cyberpunk author around. Oh, with the possible exception of Rudy Rucker... but that's neither here nor there. I just wanted to use this space to say that I enjoyed Count Zero, but for Idoru's sake, Willie, please cut it out with the numerous gratuitious Steely Dan references... I must notice about four or five a novel. Geez! At least change the CD in your player when you write, man.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD, BUT NOT HIS BEST
Review: Good read but not quite as good as Neuromancer. This time there seemed to be more focus on the action and less on the futurism, and one cannot help thinking that this book was aimed at a slightly younger audience than Neuromancer. However, the way the 3 seperate plots weave into one, is masterful storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the rest
Review: I actually like Count Zero far better than either Neuromancer or Mono Lisa Overdrive, the two books that bookend it in the seminal cyberpunk trilogy. The opening scene is a killer, of course (in more ways than one), and there is just so much lovely writing in here ("A chunk of memory detached itself from the ceiling and fell on him"). The characters are more sympathetic than the ultra-cool testosterone cowboys of Neuromancer or the sad, broken people of Overdrive. The plot, or plots, is intricate and surprising.
I love this book. I'm torn about recommending it without recommending Neuromancer and Overdrive. My advice would be to read them all, in order. I bet you'll prefer this one in the end.
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Summary: Might just be Gibson's best ...
Review: I first read this book (many years and many rereads ago) with low expectations. I'd been told that Gibson was a one book wonder, that he'd never managed to pull off a second book nearly as good as his brilliant first novel, NEUROMANCER. Gibson beat that rap, of course, with masterpieces like IDORU and PATTERN RECOGNITION. But somehow COUNT ZERO has always gotten ever so slightly lost in the shuffle.
Well, I'm here to tell you that everyone, starting with Publishers Weekly, got it wrong. COUNT ZERO is no mere repeat of Neuromancer. It's a different beast altogether. It's older, subtler, and stranger. It's Neuromancer's hard-boiled street chic all grown up and with grown-up-sized problems. The characters are real, complex, and unforgettable. And the central image of the book - though I can't describe it without giving much of the plot away - generates one of the most hauntingly beautiful moments in all of science fiction. If you're one of those Gibson fans who hasn't quite gotten around to reading COUNT ZERO, you're in for a rare treat.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Neuromancer
Review: I found this book even better than Neuromancer. The characters and plot line are more hard driving. Not to be missed.
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Summary: Reads fantastic in more than one language!!!
Review: I had the odd advantage to read this book in both english and greek translated version. It is awesome how such a futurustic book discribing the Neo-World reads so fantastic even in an ancient laguage. Neuromancer started everything, this one sealed the tomb on cyberpunk. No body can attemp to write cyberpunk without sounding like Gibson.
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