Neuromancer

Neuromancer is a 1984 science fiction novel by Canadian author William Gibson, the first book in his Sprawl trilogy. It is considered one of the best-known works in the cyberpunk genre and the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award all at once. Set in the future, the novel follows Henry Case, a washed-up computer hacker who is hired for one last job, which brings him up against a powerful artificial intelligence.

Plot
Case was the sharpest data-thief in the matrix—until he crossed the wrong people and they crippled his nervous system, banishing him from cyberspace. Now in 2024, a mysterious new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run at an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, a mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case is ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) An interesting setting in Chiba City, which adapts cultural and scientific innovations from the 1980s in a futuristic setting.
 * 2) The concept of AI and mind-hacking substances in literature were never explored until this book came around.
 * 3) A lot of the predictions that Gibson made, including "social networks" for people to communicate over the Internet, came true.
 * 4) Likable characters, including its main protagonists Case and Molly, the latter previously appearing in "Johnny Mnemonic," Gibson's first short story.
 * 5) Gibson's writing style is excellent, with very good imagery in the way he describes settings and characters.
 * 6) Humorous lines and dialogue, as well as pop culture references throughout the book that don't feel forced or included only as juxtaposition.
 * 7) It's an iconic book that started the cyberpunk genre, which combines "low life and high tech" by featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.
 * 8) The book also started the usage of "cyberspace" as a term to describe the Internet.
 * 9) It's also a good display of writers developing their themes further after an initial exploration, with Gibson building off of the ideas of dystopian science fiction from his short stories "Burning Chrome" and "Johnny Mnemonic."

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The middle of the novel has some moments that seem to be filler, as the plot doesn't really go forward for a while until it picks up again.
 * 2) Some of Gibson's predictions turned out to be inaccurate - portable telephones are considered a "fad," for example.