Cyberspace

Overview William Gibson's 1984 Hugo, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Seiun, and Ditmar award-winning science fiction book Neuromancer coined the term "cyberspace." This term has gained popularity as a synonym for the Internet, raising Gibson and similar "cyberpunk" or "post-modern" science fiction writers to cult status.  

William Gibson William Gibson defines cyberspace as "Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts...A graphical representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the non-space of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding..." --William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984) 

William Gibson’s work has lead to a post-modern movement in science fiction books, movies, and television shows. Cyberspace-themed movies include Johnny Mnemonic  (based on a Gibson short story), The Matrix and Blade Runner.  

For an online interview with William Gibson about "cyberspace" and his thoughts about modern information technologies, visit this Salon.com Web page. Additionally, the sites www.josefsson.net/gibson, and www.williamgibsonbooks.com/index.asp provide further reading, as well as links to Gibson-related Web sites. William Gibson’s newest books, such as Idoru (Berkley Publishing Group, 1997) and All Tomorrow's Parties (Ace Books, 2000), continue to advance this literary genre.

Science Fiction Sites William Gibson is not the only science fiction writer who has explored the future of cyberspace. In order to find similar sci-fi books, try searching for the term "cyberspace" at one of the numerous Web sites that exist solely for science fiction fans. For example,  www.scifisource.com is dedicated to providing information about science fiction television shows and movies, as well as links to other science fiction related sites. The MagicDragon Web page provides a detailed index and search engine for science fiction books. Here you can perform a search by title, author, or even the appearance of the book cover! At www.netreach.net/~abrejcha/sf.htm there are links to science fiction publishers and magazines, while at www.sfsite.com there are links to interviews with prominent science fiction authors. This latter site is updated monthly, and it also provides links to science fiction awards sites. Finally, www.scifi.com is specifically designed for those interested in science fiction. It has a strong emphasis on William Gibson and his impact on modern science fiction.  

Shopping for Science Fiction Books Science fiction books are easily found at many online book retailers. By searching at the www.amazon.com site, under the sub-heading books for science fiction, you can find more than 30,000 titles. If you are shopping for science fiction DVDs, check out www.prex.com/sell-science-fiction-dvds.html where you can buy, sell, and discuss science fiction. This Yahoo! Shopping page provides a shopping page specifically for science fiction enthusiasts. The bookstore found at SFF.com site has links to most major booksellers, as well as numerous book search engines and science fiction e-books.