The Peripheral

Starred review from September 1, 2014
Seminal cyberpunk author Gibson, who has spent the last several years writing the more-or-less present-day Zero History series of novels, returns to the future with this slow-burning thriller, ambitiously structured on either side of an economic and ecological collapse known afterward as “the jackpot.” In the hardscrabble “pre-jackpot America“ of our near future, gamer Flynne Fisher is covering a beta-testing shift for her ex-Marine brother when she witnesses what she thinks is a gruesome murder—“some kind of nanotech chainsaw fantasy.“ In a depopulated London decades post-jackpot, Wilf Netherton, a disgraced publicist, is caught unawares when his latest client‘s sister disappears. The resulting investigation kicks Gibson’s discursive narrative into high gear as Flynne, allowed across time lines by use of a “peripheral“ (“an anthropomorphic drone... a telepresence avatar“), proves to be exactly the savvy, principled ally that enigmatic Det. Insp. Ainsley Lowbeer has been looking for. If the mechanics of time-travel are sometimes murky, the stakes are crystal clear when Flynne reaches out from Wilf’s past to alter her own future. All of Gibson’s characters are intensely real, and Flynne is a clever, compelling, stereotype-defying, unhesitating protagonist who makes this novel a standout. Agent: Martha Millard, Martha Millard Literary Agency.

October 15, 2014
While placed firmly in the sci-fi genre of his earlier works, Gibson's latest retains the social commentary from his more recent novels (Zero History, 2010, etc.).Most Gibson plots essentially concern a race for a particular piece of information-one side seeks to possess it, the other to suppress it. (Although to be fair, isn't that the plot of most thrillers?) What sets each book apart is the worldbuilding that surrounds that plot kernel. This time around, it's particularly intriguing. Flynne, a young woman living in a poor, rural American county (probably Southern, though it's never specified) in the near future, believes she's beta testing a video game, witnessing the "death" of a virtual character in an urban high-rise. In fact, Flynne has gotten a view into a possible London existing decades in the future and has seen an actual woman get murdered. The two timelines can exchange information and visit each other virtually, via the androidlike "peripherals" of the title. That ability is enough for various future factions to hire killers to go after Flynne and her family or to protect them from that fate, as well as to change the events of her timeline sufficiently enough to ensure that it will never become that future, where, despite considerable scientific advancement, a cascade of disasters has eliminated the majority of human and animal life. Gibson's strength has always been in establishing setting, while his characters tend to seem a bit blank and inaccessible; for example, alcoholic Wilf's constant attempts to reach for a drink read more like an annoyingly persistent quirk than a serious psychological problem. Gibson seems to leave his characters' motives deliberately obscure; due to that and his tendency to pour his energy into the chase, not the goal, the story's resolution basically fizzles. This is quintessential Gibson: gonzo yet cool, sharp-edged, sophisticated-but ultimately, vaguely unsatisfying.

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Starred review from October 15, 2014

As a favor to her brother Burton, Flynne Fisher fills in on a mysterious job beta testing a new game. She's glad for the work, as money is tight with her mother needing constant medical care and Burton having financial troubles since he left the marines. Remotely flying a copter around a high-rise building, Flynne is tasked with simply keeping the paparazzi drones away from one of the apartments, but after she witnesses a murder, everything in her life is going to change. VERDICT Gibson leaves his one-step-into-the-future thrillers (his "Bigend" trilogy wrapped up with 2010's Zero History) behind for something a little more complicated and shows he can still stun readers with his ability to take a trenchant look at the present and give a striking vision of the future. Just as he did with his groundbreaking first novel, Neuromancer, the author weds exciting action with an endless stream of big ideas that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2014
After a decade spent in the present, Gibson (Pattern Recognition, 2002) returns to the future in his latest, a dazzling, complex, confusing, but always provocative novel. In alternating chapters, Gibson tells the stories of Flynne Fisher, master gamer in the near future, and Wilf Netherton, London publicist in a more distant future. In the intervening years, a series of catastrophic events resulting from climate change and known as the jackpot has killed off 80 percent of the population yet somehow allowed the survivors to unleash incredible new technologies, such as nanobots known as assemblers, to help rebuild society. Somewhere in all of this, the ability to communicate with the past (quantum tunneling) has become a vogue among continua enthusiasts who fiddle with the past as a hobby, sometimes with dire consequences. Gibson's genius lies in his interest in evolving technologies, such as 3D printing (or fabbing), wearable tech, quadcopters and drones, and ubiquitous surveillance, and his ability to see where it all might lead. When the self-centered but well-meaning Wilf inadvertently interferes with Flynne's time line, Flynne must, via a flesh-and-blood avatar called a peripheral, join Wilf in his time to set things right. Excessive exposition slows down the action, but well-drawn characters, intriguing concepts, and humor will be sure to satisfy the legion of Gibson fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

February 2, 2015
Reader King does a fine job presenting this complex tale of alternate futures, nefarious plots, time travel, and gruesome crimes. In the not-so-distant-future, gamer Flynne Fisher is covering a beta-testing shift for her ex-Marine brother when she witnesses what she thinks is a murder—“some kind of nanotech chainsaw fantasy.” This new game connects Flynne, her brother, and their friends to a fantastical future world, where Flynne learns that her life in the present is in danger. King is handed a lot in this reading—shifting time periods, different points of view, tons of sci-fi speak, and a multitude of characters—and she handles it all with consummate skill. Her characters, especially the smart and sardonic Flynne, are nicely portrayed with precise individual personalities that fit perfectly. Her pacing is spot-on, never bogging down even when the story calls for a lot of exposition. In lesser hands such expository passages would grind this book to a mind-numbing halt, but King’s intelligent and engaging reading holds the listener solidly from one disc to the next. A Putnam hardcover.