I have been accused of not reading books that are part of a series in the proper order. This has been the case recently with Gibson's Idoru (sequel to Virtual Light) , Anne Rice's Merrick (crossover episode of her series on vampires and on witches) and now Count Zero, sequel to Neuromancer. I probably started this habit back in school with The Two Towers (because The Fellowship of the Ring was rented out). But is this a crime? Or is chronological order even important in this Decade of the Prequel?

Count Zero is as Gibson as it gets. It plays in a dark future, where the world is ruled by mega-corporations, unnaturally rich individuals and probably even some autonomous pieces of software. Ordinary people are brainless consumers of endless entertainment programs, not so ordinary people lead a wild and dangerous life in both the real world and cyberspace, which has become equally important. The book describes how a mercenary, a young hacker, an art dealer and basically everyone they meet gets caught up in some large scale plot between mega-corporations, unnaturally rich individuals and probably even some autonomous pieces of software.