No other Canadian speculative fiction writer, and possibly no other Canadian writer of fiction, has had as great an impact on late-twentieth-century culture as has William Gibson. Beginning with a series of short stories in science-fiction magazines in the early 1980s, and then the publication of his first novel, Neuromancer (1984), as a paperback original, Gibson quickly rose to the status of a cultural visionary and prophet of the information age. Winning five major science-fiction awards, Neuromancer went on to become a key influence on late-twentieth-century popular culture; its impact can be traced in the worlds of motion pictures, television, popular music, video games, interactive technology, and cultural theory. With its success, and that of its sequels, Gibson became a celebrity, courted by publishers, the news media, academics, art gallery curators, and Hollywood. While this quick rise to stardom may have been partially a result of the excesses of the media, no one can doubt Gibson's ability to imagine and articulate the cultural and technological changes that defined the late twentieth century.
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