The Peripheral

Locations
Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Gibson, William
On Shelf At: Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Gibson, William	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Science Fiction / Classic / Gibson, William	4-week checkout	Due 05-23-2024

"William Gibson returns with his first novel since 2010's New York Times-bestselling Zero History. Where Flynne and her brother, Burton, live, jobs outside the drug business are rare. Fortunately, Burton has his veteran's benefits, for neural damage he suffered from implants during his time in the USMC's elite Haptic Recon force. Then one night Burton has to go out, but there's a job he's supposed to do-a job Flynne didn't know he had. Beta-testing part of a new game, he tells her. The job seems to be simple: work a perimeter around the image of a tower building. Little buglike things turn up. He's supposed to get in their way, edge them back. That's all there is to it. He's offering Flynne a good price to take over for him. What she sees, though, isn't what Burton told her to expect. It might be a game, but it might also be murder"-- Provided by publisher.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Jackpot submitted by Fevvers - STAR473 on June 30, 2015, 3:48am Mobile devices, ecological collapse, drones of all types, 3D printers, economic meltdown - The Peripheral mixes all of these recognizable items and themes and moves them just far enough into a science-fictional future to create a setting that is simultaneously relatable and disquieting.

The apparent in-game death of a stranger is the plot hook, but the characters are the driving force. Flynne is great to follow - practical and smart, she is a brave and appealing protagonist (without any "chosen one" sort of storyline).

Things get far stranger than an eerie quirk in a video game. There are possible future events, communication and conflict between past/present and future/present. It is strange and satisfying, much of that due to Flynne's grounding presence. Extra kudos to Gibson for the writing of her and the fantastic side characters in this book.