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The new novel from William Gibson, "one of the most visionary, original, and quietly influential writers currently working." (The Boston Globe)
Hollis Henry worked for the global marketing magnate Hubertus Bigend once before. She never meant to repeat the experience. But she's broke, and Bigend never feels it's beneath him to use whatever power comes his way — in this case, the power of money to bring Hollis onto his team again. Not that she knows what the "team" is up to, not at first.
Milgrim is even more thoroughly owned by Bigend. He's worth owning for his useful gift of seeming to disappear in almost any setting, and his Russian is perfectly idiomatic - so much so that he spoke Russian with his therapist, in the secret Swiss clinic where Bigend paid for him to be cured of the addiction that would have killed him.
Garreth has a passion for extreme sports. Most recently he jumped off the highest building in the world, opening his chute at the last moment, and he has a new thighbone made of rattan baked into bone, entirely experimental, to show for it. Garreth isn't owned by Bigend at all. Garreth has friends from whom he can call in the kinds of favors that a man like Bigend will find he needs, when things go unexpectedly sideways, in a world a man like Bigend is accustomed to controlling.
As when a Department of Defense contract for combat-wear turns out to be the gateway drug for arms dealers so shadowy that even Bigend, whose subtlety and power in the private sector would be hard to overstate, finds himself outmaneuvered and adrift in a seriously dangerous world.
Like a wizard employing a hieratic numerology to craft his spells, William Gibson likes to work in threes. Far from being impelled by the publishing industry's fascination with commercial trilogies -- for, indeed, his triplets are not even marketed as such, but only observed in retrospect -- Gibson's focus on sequential cycles of three novels seems to arise from his need to employ shifting angles of attack, to make lateral feints and forays against and into his abstruse subject matter.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Victor White
reviewed Zero History on September 25, 2010
Zero History
William Gibson is the Jay-Z of his genre. I think. I can't be sure, as I don't listen to much rap (few 41 year-old men should say "hip-hop") anymore. Let me explain. I have long admired Jay-Z's effortless delivery and the joy with which he seems to embrace his talents; he sounds like he knows he's good, values his craft, and enjoys the hell out of what he does. And although William Gibson is quieter and, uh, more Canadian, I felt the same way about the author while reading Zero History.
After the have-to-admit-it-was-kind-of-a-letdown Spook Country, Gibson proceeds with Zero History as if he has a (nerdy) chip on his shoulder. He sparkles in detail and rhythm, interspersing long, wraparound sentences with short, noiresque dialogue. The characterizations are taut and durable. This book's natural partner, both in theme and quality, is Pattern Recognition. In both novels Gibson scythes through cultural static and creates a present that, while swirling all around us, seems just beyond our comprehension. I don't want to make this novel sound like homework. Reading Gibson, when he's on point, or anywhere close to on point, is exhilarating. Throughout Zero History he blends thematic depth with intricate industrial espionage and, thank God, reads as if he's locking in on whatever it is that makes him so excellent. He, like the self-proclaimed greatest rapper alive, makes it look easy. I don't know from what roborant Gibson's been drinking, but more, please, don't stop now.
The flow between the three "Bigend" books (Zero History is the third of a trilogy) troubled me. I read both Pattern Recognition and Spook Country so long ago that I felt as if I were missing, from faulty memory, subtle links between the novels. Listen. You've probably already formed an opinion on Mr. Gibson. If you like his work you'll understand when I say Zero History is one of his best. If you've never read Gibson start with Pattern Recogition and work your way through the trilogy. Although I doubt he'd be so bold as to speak up on his own, he's one of the greatest writers alive.
Also, Tad RULES for getting me an autographed copy (inscribed to me!) of Zero History. I am forever in your debt, sir.
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