Sprawl Trilogy

TheSprawl Trilogy, by William Gibson, is considered to be one of the earliest examples of Cyberpunk, and as such is a major Trope Maker for the genre. The first book, Neuromancer, was published in 1984 and widely acclaimed, winning the Nebula, Hugo, and Philip K. Dick awards. It was followed in 1986 by Count Zero, and the final book in the trilogy, Mona Lisa Overdrive was published in 1988. All three have fallen victim to Science Marches On on some level, but remain quite readable.

Each book stands alone, more or less, though there is a distinct overlap in characters and all three share the same setting- the Sprawl. Which is nickname for the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis, a massive city state on the East Coast of the United States. As is to be expected in 80s Cyberpunk, the Sprawl (and, for that matter, Gibson's entire world) is decidedly dystopian in feel. They're set in a world of Black and Gray Morality, after the The Great Politics Mess-Up, but were published in a time when that was considered quite revolutionary.

Set in the same world are the short stories Burning Chrome, which introduced the recurring character "the Finn"; Johnny Mnemonic, the inspiration for the movie of the same name; and New Rose Hotel, which was also adapted into a film.


 * Action Girlfriend
 * A.I. Is a Crapshoot - Wintermute/Neuromancer
 * Badass - Molly Millions/Sally Shears
 * Cyberpunk with a Chance of Rain - The infamous opening line to Neuromancer.
 * Depraved Bisexual - Lady 3Jane
 * Explosive Leash
 * The Great Politics Mess-Up - By means of economic collapse. The Soviet Union is still up and running while America exists in name only as mostly a collection of city-states (for example, the Sprawl itself is an amalgamation of all the cities from Boston to Atlanta).
 * Hollywood Hacking
 * Hooker with a Heart of Gold - Mona, one of the protagonists of the third book.
 * Immune to Drugs - Case, after receiving his new pancreas.
 * Industrial Ghetto
 * Inside a Computer System
 * Japan Takes Over the World - Or, more accurately, its culture.
 * Left Field Description - Gibson is a master of this.
 * Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter
 * Mind Rape
 * Master of Illusion - Riviera
 * Neural Implanting - Trope Maker
 * Playful Hacker
 * Pretty in Mink - Averted Fur and Loathing by noting all furs were from cloning.
 * Private Military Contractor - Turner
 * Science Marches On - Many modern readers have poked fun at the presence of public payphones in "Neuromancer."
 * Sein Language
 * Street Samurai - Molly Millions
 * The Verse - the Sprawl
 * Un Reveal
 * Virtual Ghost - the Dixie Flatline
 * We Will Use Wiki Words in the Future
 * Whatevermancy - The title of the first book.
 * Yakuza
 * Zen Survivor