When comparing Neuromancer vs The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, the Slant community recommends Neuromancer for most people. In the question“What are the best cyberpunk books?” Neuromancer is ranked 2nd while The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Neuromancer is:
Neuromancer lays much of the foundation of Cyberpunk as a genre in terms of language, themes and setting. The term "cyberspace" gained enough significance through this book that it is still being used to describe Internet. Cyberpunk staples such as megacorporations, anti-heroes as protagonists, artificial intelligence and high-tech, low-life neon-filled cities that never sleep take their iconic shape here. Its significance was acknowledged by it becoming the first novel to win the Nebula, the Hugo, and Philip K. Dick Award science fiction awards.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro A seminal work in the cyberpunk genre
Neuromancer lays much of the foundation of Cyberpunk as a genre in terms of language, themes and setting. The term "cyberspace" gained enough significance through this book that it is still being used to describe Internet. Cyberpunk staples such as megacorporations, anti-heroes as protagonists, artificial intelligence and high-tech, low-life neon-filled cities that never sleep take their iconic shape here.
Its significance was acknowledged by it becoming the first novel to win the Nebula, the Hugo, and Philip K. Dick Award science fiction awards.
Cons
Con The way technology is described is somewhat dated
To describe technology Gibson uses language that might have been considered futuristic back in the day, but seems out of place in today's technological world and vision of the future.