From Powells.com
25 Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Books of the 21st Century (So Far)
Staff Pick
Set in the then-present day of 2002, William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition is the work of a mind that is usually thinking ahead, but has paused to look deeply at the present. Reading it today, it’s remarkable how — although it may no longer be about the present — it remains shockingly current. Gibson foresaw — any write-up of a William Gibson novel will contain at least one sentence starting this way — that information merchants would have outsized power in the 21st century. In Pattern Recognition, a consultant (who is literally allergic to bad logos) is hired by an incredibly well-resourced ad firm to find the creator of a mysterious viral video. Although political and medical disinformation aren’t a centerpiece of this book, it’s clear reading it today that all the necessary pieces were in place and discernable two decades ago, if you knew where to look. And William Gibson has always known where to look. Recommended By Keith M., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The accolades and acclaim are endless for William Gibson's coast-to-coast bestseller. Set in the post-9/11 present, Pattern Recognition is the story of one woman's never-ending search for the now...
Cayce Pollard is a new kind of prophet — a world-renowned "coolhunter" who predicts the hottest trends. While in London to evaluate the redesign of a famous corporate logo, she's offered a different assignment: find the creator of the obscure, enigmatic video clips being uploaded to the internet — footage that is generating massive underground buzz worldwide.
Still haunted by the memory of her missing father — a Cold War security guru who disappeared in downtown Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001 — Cayce is soon traveling through parallel universes of marketing, globalization, and terror, heading always for the still point where the three converge. From London to Tokyo to Moscow, she follows the implications of a secret as disturbing — and compelling — as the twenty-first century promises to be...
Review
"Pattern Recognition is William Gibson's best book since he rewrote all the rules in Neuromancer." Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods
Review
"One of the first authentic and vital novels of the 21st century." The Washington Post Book World
Review
"Gibson nails the texture of internet culture: how it feels to be close to someone you know only as a voice in a chat room, or to fret about someone spying on your browser's list of sites visited." The New York Times
About the Author
William Gibson's first novel, Neuromancer, won the Hugo Award, the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award, and the Nebula Award in 1984. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Burning Chrome, Virtual Light, Idoru, All Tomorrow's Parties, Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, Zero History, Distrust That Particular Flavor, and The Peripheral. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife.