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There are two schools of thought on how to teach kids to swim: In one school, you gradually introduce the child to the water, then you might teach the child to float with your hands under her back; you provide flotation devices and gradually teach the child the basic strokes. In the other, you toss the child in the water and see what happens.
As with swimming, so with science fiction: Some writers let readers gradually get used to the future that the author is building, provide devices to help them orient themselves. Others toss you in the deep end. William Gibson has always been of the latter school and, in THE PERIPHERAL he continues that tradition – but here, readers are tossed into two rivers at once. Even attentive readers may get confused or even give up on the novel.
That would be a shame, because there is a lot of interesting stuff in THE PERIPHERAL: An interesting view of the near future history of the USA and the world (it isn't nice: Global warming is having an effect and nearly all people are poor; unemployment is rampant); another view on a later history (much better, after a cataclysmic event called "the Jackpot"); a new take on time travel; thoughts on robotics; the erosion of privacy and more. Most of all there is the concept of the peripheral, which is somewhat like a robot that can be inhabited by a human being. There is also a complex plot and a lot of characters, some of whom are fairly interesting.
But the river keeps rushing and readers (or, at least, this reader) are often too busy trying to keep their heads above water to be able to take in the view. William Gibson is a brilliant writer. Unfortunately, he sometimes uses his brilliance to dazzle rather than illuminate.
§ Peter Flom is a learning disabled adult and a statistical consultant. He has been reading voraciously and omnivorously for 45 years, ever since his mother gave him a copy of A WRINKLE IN TIME.
Reviewed by Peter Flom, November 2014
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