William gibson

William Ford Gibson III (Conway, South Carolina, March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian science fiction writer, considered the father of cyberpunk. He was the thirty-fifth author ―in the 2018 edition― to receive the prestigious Grand Master Damon Knight Memorial Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association of America (SFWA) for "his contributions to the science fiction and fantasy literature".

Biography

Gibson was born in Conway, South Carolina on March 17, 1948, a town near the place where his parents used to spend the summer. His father William Ford Gibson Jr. was a director of a construction company and his mother Elizabeth Otey Williams is a housewife, both from the small town of Wytheville, in the state of Virginia. During his early childhood, the Gibson family had to move frequently following his father's construction projects, until they finally settled in Norfolk, where Gibson began his primary studies. A year later, his father drowned in a restaurant during a business trip and his mother returned to Wytheville. Gibson would describe the place as "a place where modernity had reached a certain point, but she was regarded with deep suspicion."

Gibson became a shy and gangly teenager in a strongly religious environment that he rejected. He took refuge in science fiction literature, spending most of his time listening to records and reading books. At the age of 13, behind his mother's back, he bought an anthology of the Beat generation. Due to his poor school performance, Elizabeth threatened to send him to boarding school to which he enthusiastically reacted. He was sent to the Southern Arizona School for Boys in Tucson. On his SAT aptitude test he scored a 148 out of 150 in writing, but only a 5 out of 150 in math much to the dismay of his teachers.

Trajectory

Gibson is best known for his novel Neuromancer (1984), a precursor to the cyberpunk genre and winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards. He is also the popularizer of the term cyberspace to name the virtual space created by computer networks. Together with its sequels Conde Cero (1986) and Mona Lisa accelerated (1988) they form what has been called the Sprawl (or expansion) Trilogy. .

In the same aesthetic line, he has written another trilogy (known as the Yamazaki Trilogy or the Bridge Trilogy) made up of the novels Virtual Light (1993), Idoru (1996) and Todas las fiestas del mañana (1999), as well as some short stories among which Quemando Cromo (1981) and Johnny Mnemonic (1982) stand out.) -- later made into a movie and starring actor Keanu Reeves.

His latest novel Mundo espejo (2003) abandons the cyberpunk theme to tackle a techno-thriller with very current elements.

Work

Novel

The Sprawl Trilogy (or Ensanche)

1. Neuromante (1984) [Ed Minotauro 1989, ISBN 84-450-7084-3; reedit cartoné 2007, ISBN 978-84-450-7662-0]
2. Count Zero (1986) [Ed Minotauro 1990, ISBN 84-450-7095-9; pocket reissue 2008, ISBN 978-84-450-7702-3]
3. Mona Lisa accelerated (1988) [Ed Minotauro 1992, ISBN 84-450-7111-4]

The Trilogy of the Bridge

1. Virtual Light [Ed Minotauro 1994, ISBN 84-450-7214-5]
2. Idoru (1996) [Ed Minotauro 1998, ISBN 84-450-7277-3]
3. Every party tomorrow (1999) [Ed Minotauro 2002, ISBN 84-450-7350-8]

The trilogy of Blue Ant

• mirror world (Pattern recognition(2003) [Ed Minotauro 2004, ISBN 84-450-7518-7]
• Spy country (Spook Country) Ed Plata - Black Silver Collection - 2009
• History Zero (Zero History) Ed Plata - Silver Collection - 2012

The trilogy of Jackpot

• The Peripheral (2014) [Ed Roca Editorial 2017, ISBN 84-1686-749-6]
• Agency (2020) [Berkley Books]
• TBA

Other novels

• The differential machine (1990), with Bruce Sterling [Ed The Ideas Factory 2006, ISBN 84-9800-281-8]

Anthologies

The main anthology of Gibson's short stories and short stories is published in Spanish.

• Chrome Burn (1986) [Ed Minotauro 1994, ISBN 84-450-7080-0], collection of stories including the following stories:
  • Johnny Mnemonic (1981) -Omny May-, story that gave rise to the feature of the same name of 1995;
  • Gernsback's continuum (1981) -Universe #11-, story of which a film was made for TV;
  • Fragments of a holographic rose (1977) -Unearth #3-
  • The species (1981), with John Shirley -Shadows #4-
  • Regions apart (1981) -Onmy October-, I think it was also published as comics;
  • Red star, winter orbit (1983), with Bruce Sterling -Omny July-
  • Hotel New Rose (1984) -Omny July-, story that also gave rise to another feature film in 1998
  • The Winter Market (1985) -Vancouver November-
  • Air combat (1985), with Michael Swanwick -Omny July-
  • Burning Chrome (1982) -Omny July-
• Siruela (ed.). Mirrorshades. A Cyberpunk Anthology. p. 312. ISBN 84-7844-418-1. Collection by Bruce Sterling. It includes three stories:
  • Jonny Mnemonic
  • The continuous Gernsback
  • Red star, winter orbit

The Gernsback continuum was also published in Cronopaisajes, published by Ediciones B (Nova) and Byblos.

There is also an unpublished anthology in Spanish, Fragments en rose de hologramme (1988) [Ed Librio 1998, 2-277-30215-5], a selection of five stories from Burning Chrome published in France.

Stories

Many of William Gibson's short stories can only be found in general magazines and anthologies. Those listed here (in reverse chronological order) have not been translated into Spanish:

• Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City (1997) -New Worlds #222-
• Were the Holograms Go (1993) - The Wild Palms Reader-
• Agrippa (1992) - The Book of The Dead-
• Academy Leader (1991) -Cyberspace: First Steps-
• Cyber Claus (1991) - The Washington Post Book World-
• Skinners room (1990) -Visionary San Francisco-
• Darwin (1990) -Spin April-
• The Angel of Goliath (1990), with Bruce Sterling -Interzone #40-
• Tokyo Collage (1988) -SF Eye #4-
• Hippie Hat Brain Paradise (1989) -Semiotext (e) #14-

Scripts

Gibson's main activity for film and TV is, as can be easily understood, adaptations of his novels and short stories. Among others, Gibson wrote two scripts for the X-Files series. Episode 11 of the 5th season (Kill Switch) and 13 of the 7th season (First Person Shooter).

Accommodations

• Johnny Mnemonic [1] (1995). Directed by Robert Longo. With Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T, Dina Meyer, Henry Rollins and Udo Kier.
• New Rose Hotel[2] (1998). Directed by Abel Ferrara. With Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe and Asia Argento.
• No maps for these territories[3] (2000). Documentary about the author, led by Mark Neale.

Others

• He wrote the song "Dog Star Girl" for Deborah Harry. This was in 1993 included in the album "Debravation," with music by Chris Stein.

Additional bibliography

• Cavallaro, Dani (2000). Cyberpunk and Cyberculture: Science Fiction and the Work of William Gibson (in English). London: Athlone Press. ISBN 978-0-485-00607-0.
• Henthorne, Tom (2011). William Gibson: A Literary Companion (in English). McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6151-6.
• Olsen, Lance (1992). William Gibson (in English). Borgo Press. ISBN 978-1-55742-198-2.
• Westfahl, Gary (2013). William Gibson. Modern Masters of Science Fiction (in English). University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-03780-1.
• Yoke, Carl B.; Robinson, Carol, eds. (2007). The Cultural Influences of William Gibson, the "Father" of Cyberpunk Science Fiction (in English). Edwin Mellen Pr. ISBN 978-0-7734-5467-5.