Gibson belongs to one of the first groups of science fiction writers to go beyond the limits of the genre--which were set in the 1950s by such authors as Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov--and to chart new territory, taking into account the social changes of the 1960s. As Algis Budrys, writing in the
Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, put it: "A while ago ... a slim, tall, very quiet Canadian named William Gibson published a short story called 'New Rose Hotel' and a novel called
Neuromancer, and a new school of writing SF was born."
Cyberpunk features tough characters who inhabit a gritty world. The pace is frenetic, and the dialogue peppered with creative and unusual slang, which Gibson credits to eavesdropping on Toronto computer hackers and dope dealers. "I listened to what hackers said, not trying to understand it but trying to groove on the poetry of it," he told Edward Zuckerman of People magazine. Cyberpunk differs from traditional science fiction in more than just the dialogue. As Washington Post Book World contributor Charles Platt wrote, "What sets [Neuromancer] apart from all other current science fiction is its totally modern orientation.
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