'Pattern Recognition' by William Gibson

A sci-fi novel I read not too long ago was ‘Pattern Recognition’ by William Gibson. I had previously attempted to read Neuromancer but found the prose and concepts a bit hard to follow, personally, eventually letting go after a few chapters in. However, I stumbled upon this novel by chance and after giving it a few pages at the bookstore, found myself fully submerged in a phantasmagoria of neo-noir technologic reconnaissance. I fervently breezed through the pages with excitement and curiosity, a feeling I hadn’t experienced from printer ink on paper in a long time.

I won’t divulge too much about the story, but it follows Cayce Pollard, a freelance marketing consultant who finds herself entrenched in a mysterious and dangerous mission spanning across New York, London, Tokyo, and Moscow. Gibson’s storytelling abilities rank him next to surgeons and architects in that the details are down to the minutiae. I’d highly recommend Pattern Recognition for those looking for a meaningful and stylish story that reflects on a lot of cultural phenomena we’re inundated with today.

- Jason