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Agency

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Agency

By: William Gibson
Narrated by: Lorelei King
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"One of the most visionary, original, and quietly influential writers currently working" (Boston Globe) returns with a brand-new novel.

In William Gibson's first novel since 2014's New York Times best-selling The Peripheral, a gifted "app-whisperer", hired to beta test a mysterious new product, finds her life endangered by her relationship with her surprisingly street-smart and combat-savvy "digital assistant".

©2020 William Gibson (P)2020 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Technology Thriller
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I have waited a long time for Gibson to really hit his straps again. Way back in '84 when I read Neuromancer for the first time, it triggered my brain plasticity, much as a VR headset does for many first time users today. In Agency, Gibson took me for a ride I didn't know I wanted and his premonition about pandemics couldn't be more apt. His handling of a powerful AI was exciting for me and the "forks in the road" almost reminded me of Aldiss's Barefoot in the Head.
The narrator did a pretty good job with the accents and characters, but I'm picky and some pronunciations annoyed me a little, but that is a small thing as I found it an enjoyable experience and I'm looking forward to more like this from Mr Gibson.

For me, Agency is his best since Neuromancer

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I’ve only one criticism in that the ending is a little flat but considering there’s another book incoming that’s not unexpected.
Loved it otherwise, great voices and accents , maintained consistency ; involved and explains well.

Awesome ! Almost better than the first

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This book was largely, pretty good. If you like the peripheral, this was more of the same, I really enjoyed the peripheral and most of Gibson's work. However, this book had an unbelievably cringy ending, where a Deus Ex Machina type effect solves all of the problems off screen. Without going too deep into spoilers, it was obviously politically motivated and aggradizing of a particular person (Hilary Clinton). It was just awkward and embarrassing. (for the record, I hate Trump and I'd vote Dem if I lived in America, this doesnt make this any less cringe)

Ending so bad I regretted the whole book

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Really wanted to like this but couldn't. The story is overly, and unenjoyably convoluted. It could have been told in half the space /time and not lost anything important. There are minor characters that serve no purpose, interactions that are not explained, and the back story and setting is frustrating. A huge event is going down but we learn a fraction of it? Why bother include it at all?! A missed opportunity overall for a potentially unique and significant story.
Should mention that the voice acting is exceptional though.

Unfortunately cumbersome

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