Rating: 
Summary: So much better than All Tomorrow's Parties
Review: Look, Gibson has written some amazing books, and he's written some real dross. This ranks as one of his better books, in my opinion. It's not Neuromancer, but it's certainly not Idoru either. It was nice to see him write a current day book, deal well with the events of 9/11 without dwelling on them, and work in his fascination with consumerism, branding, and trends. Fashion always has a place in his work, whether it's the fashion for implanting dog teeth in one's mouth, a bristle of plugs from the wetware sockets behind your ear, or an appreciation for just the right shade of burgundy nails. I think that for him to head on write a book about branding and consumerism is right on course for him. Cayce was his most sympathetic character since Case in Neuromancer (Gibson is the master of writing the everyman into the extraordinary situation), I was really sad when the book was over because I genuinely enjoyed spending the time with her. I think that more than anything, this was Cayce's own journey of self discovery. Her phobias are her way of hiding from the world, her way of not dealing with it. I think that this was a highly readable and enjoyable book. I always look forward to his new stuff, and this one was worth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: Another great book
Review: William Gibson will always suffer from the same problem that afflicts John Keegan and some other notable writers: their first books were so extraordinary, so important for redefining the genre, that nothing they ever do again is likely to have the same impact.Nonetheless, "Pattern Recognition" is a very interesting read, though it's got lots of the kinds of things we've come to expect in Gibson: a central character who's tortured and in difficult straits, a rich and unpleasant patron who gives makes her an offer she can't really afford to refuse, travel to various parts of the world, and a last-minute attempt to break free from the patron and commune directly with That Which She Has Sought. Still, it's not a bad formula, and it's certainly less predictable than, say, Michael Crichton, whose "Prey" was ostensibly about nanotechnology, but was "Jurassic Park" with very very tiny velociraptors. (I suppose somewhat the same thing could be said about "Rising Sun," with the dinosaurs in this case being.... oh, never mind.)
Rating: 
Summary: Pattern Recognition
Review: I'm not quite sure what to say about this book; the positive reviewers are right, but so are the negative reviewers. The book is written in the present tense, which seems to be the latest trend among the literati these days. Sometimes like a blog, other times like a Wired article or even a screenplay. It does have a very contemporary feel with all the brand-name dropping and cell-phone/iBook communication. The plot? Pretty much as has been described by other reviewers. Agonizingly slow. It seems Gibson's intended demographic for readers are female Web graphic designers or overly intellectual ad researchers as evidenced by one Cayce Pollard, his protaganist, sent to London ostensibly to thumbs-up a new logo, but ends up looking for the maker of the so-called "footage" that surfaces on the Internet. Her logo "allergy" was a bit much of a conceit for me, but, we've been living with global markets since the ancient Greeks. Deal with it. And I'll agree that some art just shouldn't be marketed, but when you hear Bach or the Beatles in a commercial, well, you have to wonder. Lastly, I'll agree with Gibson when he says that sf is dead, because the future just changes every day.
Rating: 
Summary: boring
Review: I was a big fan of William Gibson but this book is lame. I'm forcing myself to finish reading it but it is incredibly boring.
Rating:
Summary: oh how the mighty has fallen...
Review: ... Please don't waste your time on this book. There's so much good stuff out there to read and so little time. You may discount my review because I only made it to chapter 3. I grew frustrated with his brand-name dropping and the broken up, staccato sentence structure (if you can call it that). His prose in the past was dense, but dense in a good way with fluid sentences that imparted indelible images. But here, however, there are very few good images that stick in my head. With "Pattern Recognition" it's like Gibson is trying to immitate Bret Easton Ellis circa "American Psycho" -- the difference being Ellis knew his work was satire on our consumer-driven modern culture. Worse, there's no characterization in "Pattern Recognition" -- he pores over the fashion details of the protagonist's clothing as if THAT'S what we should care about! Sorry, but no. Product and brand name dropping (Ebay, Google, Prada, iBook etc.) does not make for a good read. Look, I wasn't expecting the latest literary masterpiece, but a return to the cyber-noir that Gibson was so good at.
Sadly, his time as someone to pay attention to in the new fiction/sci-fi realm has passed....
Rating: 
Summary: What Happened?
Review: This was easily the most disappointing book I have read so far this year. Gibson is, or at least was, capable of better. Cayce Pollard was an interesting character in the beginning and had interesting possibilities but was not fully developed or explored. The book jumped around in search of a theme / purpose. There was Cayce's search for her father, which never went anywhere. There was the brief introduction to her mother, which never went anywhere. There was the main plot element in the book: "the footage" which again, never really went anywhere. In the end, the producers of the footage are found, and there is no point to any of it other than the fact that some people where making it and Cayce found them. No big revelation or hidden twist. Ummmm... OK. Save yourself the money and don't read this. Seriously, it just isn't worth the time or money with so many other good books out there.
Rating: 
Summary: A SF Novel of the Past?
Review: Pattern Recognition is the eighth novel by William Gibson. Although all the novels seem to share a common universe, this work does not include any characters from the previous stories and, indeed, is set in the very near future, which might now be the past. In this novel, Cayce Pollard is a design consultant who has the ability to recognize which logos and other designs will be successful, but does not have a conscious understanding of how she makes such judgments. The ability is probably connected in some way with her strong reaction to certain commercial logos and symbols, an aversion that developed during childhood and which has been highly resistant to therapy. Cayce also has an unusual avocation: collecting and analyzing "footage" found on various network servers. This "footage" seems to be segments of a visual presentation involving a man and a woman in unidentifiable locations. Cayce is a member of a chat group @ Fetish:Footage:Forum which is also dedicated to the discover of the origin and purpose of this "footage". Cayce is based in New York, but travels to London to meet with Blue Ant, a client who wants an opinion on a new logo. Cayce stays at the new home of a friend, Damien, who is on a shoot in Russia. Cayce sees London as the mirror world, so alike yet so different. In contrast, she would probably see Canada as being so similar to the USA that it is much like another state. On the other hand, Tokyo is so wildly different that it can't possibly mirror the USA. The following day, Cayce attends the meeting with her client and finds Dorotea Benedetti, representative of the design group that produced the logo, strangely hostile, even to the point of covertly burning a hole in Cayce's reproduced bomber jacket. When she returns to her Damien's place, Cayce discovers that someone has gotten in, despite the door lock and dead bolt, and has accessed Damien's computer system. She pushes redial on the phone and gets Dorotea's answering machine. Later, Hubertus Bigend, owner of Blue Ant, asks Cayce to track down the origin of the "footage" for him. As she travels to various locations, including Tokyo, Cayce encounters other strange and hostile events. Cayce is the daughter of a security consultant, Win Pollard, who was apparently last seen taking a cab in the direction of the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. Although Win is presumed dead in the terrorist attack or its aftermath, Cayce and her mother are having a hard time getting the insurance company to settle their claims. Since there was no body, Cayce still hasn't been able to grieve for her father. As misfortune and malice dog her footsteps, however, Cayce remembers more and more of the knowledge imparted by Win and manages to outwit her persecutors. At the end of the book, she still isn't certain whether if her father is alive or dead, but is able to accept the possibility of his death with both sadness and pride. This novel has a surreal ambiance, much like Blade Runner, that creates a feeling of disassociation and confusion. It is as if the reader is sharing the jet lag that impairs Cayce's mental alertness at several points in the books. Part of the effect results from the polyglot mixture of characters that Cayce meets in London and elsewhere, a sort of vicarious cultural shock. Some of it comes from the interleaving of the real and the cyber worlds, yet the network access only involves chat and email. This novel is stylistically and contextually interesting. Although I had my doubts in the beginning, the plot and characters gradually became more enthralling until I just had to finish the book. And I can assure you that I enjoyed the experience. Highly recommended to Gibson fans and anyone else who enjoys high tech mysteries with a strong feel of a global network community.
Rating:
Summary: Gibson's Breakout Postmodern novel! **** 1/2 stars
Review: Author William Gibson has always proclaimed the influence of Thomas Pynchon ("V," "Gravity's Rainbow") in his beginnings as an author. With "Pattern Recognition," Gibson not only tips his hat to Pynchon but also seems indebted to him through the book's structural content. Gibson's new book, and I mean no slight in saying this, feels like a re-work of Pynchon's classic "The Crying of Lot 49." Heroine Cayce Pollard, like the heroine of Pynchon's book, finds a symbol that defies decoding and, seeking its answer, slowly gains a not inconsiderable amount of self-knowledge through treks across land and people. Rather than the Trystero in Pynchon's book, which remained a mystery at story's end, here Cayce seeks the Footage and its Creator; what she uncovers dazzled and delighted me. (And watch for the veiled reference to Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" through Win; it changes so much about this book!) The prose of Gibson in this book is masterful; he is acute and lyrical while noting how material comforts have come to desensitize us and lead to a sense of soul-decay. Truly, this is some of Gibson's most impassioned prose since "Neuromancer." His ear renders some of the most awe-inspiring descriptions and musings this side of Don DeLillo ("White Noise" and "Mao II"). However, whereas DeLillo misstepped slightly with his latest book, "Cosmopolis," Gibson's meditation is eerily, and deadly, on. I can only find one fault with the book, and that is that the end of "Pattern Recognition" starts to let the plot wrap up just a little too quickly. Still, not merely content to be behind the postmodern masters of DeLillo and Pynchon, Gibson finally closes the ranks with this novel. Through "Pattern Recognition," he proffers himself as one of the accessible yet intelligent authors on the postmodern condition. Familiar, yet deliciously different.
Rating:
Summary: Gibson is getting worse by the book ...
Review: I have read all books by Gibson since 1984 when Neuromancer came out. I have to say that while he has a very good way with words and language. He also picks up current treds and presents plausible extrapolations into the future. But I have to say that as he goes on he projects less and less into the future and covers more and more the near term future. By itself that would not be a problem but his visionary thoughts and implications on life for the characters are becoming fewer and fewer. Any reasonably creative college kid could come up with similar ideas.
His story in the book is very linear and I felt myself waiting for a sudden twist or turn that never materialized.
This will probably be the last book that I buy from him right after it comes out and pay a premium for a hardcover. Save your money for the paperback if you are a fan of his and then keep your expectations low. Marc
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Bad Guys
Review: First Gibson book. Picked up two older paperbacks because overall the thing was a decent read. However, what was sci-fi about it? The old calculators? The footage? The Michelin Man? I didn't get the footage. How bored are these people? Somehow, I needed more hooks to believe it. Cayce was a stick cartoon with clothes. Most of the other characters were mediocre bad guys. I still gave it a four for 9/11 attempt and Macintosh references.
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