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Agency
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Non-member price: $31.64
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Publisher's Summary
"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".
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What listeners say about Agency
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- willb
- 30-03-2020
For me, Agency is his best since Neuromancer
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.
3 people found this helpful
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- Alex
- 17-08-2020
the butthurt is real
Brain dead leftists go back in time to change the 2016 election result, prevent Brexit and thus save the world from total destruction. Tedious. This is the audiobook form of a twitter rant that should have been deleted before it was posted. Bootlickers rejoice, this one is for you.
1 person found this helpful
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- Mr D Alford
- 06-02-2020
A long time coming
The wait for this book release nearly killed me. Still, worth it though. A very enjoyable romp. If you liked Peripheral, you’ll like this. Now, Audible, whilst I wait for Gibson’s next book, can you arrange audio versions of all his back catalogue, please?
9 people found this helpful
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- Brooksey
- 23-06-2020
meh
Great narrator. Not a great book. The previous book had more of an interesting plot, set in nearly the same world with some of same characters.
1 person found this helpful
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- David K.
- 26-04-2020
ZZZzzzzzzzz......
“Agency” is the follow-up to “The Peripheral” and, though that hadn't been up to Gibson's previous standards, the conceit of linked but separate futures and “stubs” was intriguing enough to make me look forward to listening to this continuation. I wish I hadn't bothered; it was the literary equivalent of a pre-packaged salt-beef sandwich — the packaging and brand made it look so tasty but one bite showed it was nothing but by-the-numbers fare, which I only finished because I had paid for it and was still hungry afterwards. The problem is that Gibson is a writer whose ideas are so very good that they make up for his lack of skill in creating a sense of urgency and danger, even when that's what he is straining to do. This is not so bad with printed books as the reader's own enthusiasm helps to keep the pages turning. But with an audiobook, it's the narrator dictating the pace and, though Lorelei King has a genuinely pleasing voice and style, she didn't manage to make even the chase sequence seem remotely exciting. Compare this with a master of narration like Michael Jayston; with seemingly no effort, he manages to make sections of Le Carrés “Smiley“ books crackle with relentless pace and gravity. The material helps, of course, but the narration is crucial. I never thought I would find myself saying this about a William Gibson book but I really can't recommend this to anyone expecting something worthy of his name and reputation. Fingers crossed for a return to form next time.
1 person found this helpful
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- Clare
- 22-12-2020
Excellent follow up to the Peripheral
I almost didn't buy this title due to the negative reviews but having just finished the Peripheral, which I really enjoyed, I wanted to find out what happened next. I certainly didn't regret it! I would certainly recommend reading the Peripheral first - or re-reading it before this if you read it some time ago. Most of the story is set in a different 'stub' to the first book, but what an intriguing stub it is with lots of links to recent political events on both sides of the Atlantic. Excellent crossover of characters and moves those characters on very well too. Can't wait for the next instalment.
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- Kevin Gilmartin
- 25-05-2020
Too convoluted. Should've been a series
Disappointing and unfulfilling. The narrator works well with bad material, so it scores high there, but otherwise this is not the standard I expect from a master like William Gibson. For such a short book there's just too many things going on at once to fully flesh them out. Too many characters, from multiple timelines, with different world events happening in each one but which aren't really explained all that well. The first 25% of the book is excellent, with UNISS becoming a great character and the relationship between her and Verity developing really nicely. Then the next three quarters of the story are essentially a big complicated car chase. There's to many concepts here which have been jammed together into one short tale, when this could've made a really, really intriguing trilogy. Edit: reading some of these other reviews I see that this is a follow up to Peripheral. There was no indication on the Audible store that this IS in fact part of a series. With that new information received I'm giving it an extra "benefit of the doubt" star on story.
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- jonb@armslength.co.uk
- 20-04-2020
I like Gibson but this feels tired
nothing really new here, tedious action with no discernable stakes. Disappointing lack of ideas. Def not his best.
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- T. Proudfoot
- 08-04-2020
classic Gibson
A great follow up to The Periphery, with some of the same characters appearing. If you like that you'll love this.
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- olishaw
- 03-04-2020
Book 2 of 3 ?
Good continuation / extension to this world, but felt a little flat at the end, setting up a third book
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- Kai
- 17-03-2020
Disappointing
The lead character is just carried along by the story. No real conflict or struggle.
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- Austrich Person
- 28-02-2020
Sharp and conjuring
The first few moments took much effort to convince myself that the rest will be worth listening to, the readers voice being the polar opposite of the Neuromancer narrator. But it works, and very well. It's easy to lose track of characters, and reasons for why this or that action is being taken. Could have been shorter. Everything else is brilliant, giving you ample food for thought. The image of the world William Gibson imagines is often too real for comfort, and relative agency becomes a theme one begins to appreciate all around.
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