Off Topic: Pattern Recognition is a Gibsonian hymn to jetlag Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Off Topic: Pattern Recognition is a Gibsonian hymn to jetlag Maths grenade! Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 7 Jun 2022 It's fitting, I think, that I first read about Pattern Recognition in the book review column of Edge Magazine. 20 odd years later, in my memory at least, the book and the magazine as it was in that part of the early 2000s cannot fully be separated. Pattern Recognition, like Edge, was serious but also bright-eyed - in love with the futuristic possibilities of the new present, always willing to drop everything and scarper to Tokyo, and drawn, in a way that it clearly found troubling, to glossy and expensive things. Pattern Recognition is a novel by William Gibson. It's the first of a trilogy - like the Ramans, Gibson cannot help but worry out his preoccupations in threes; he's at it again at the moment - and it's also Gibson's 9/11 novel. It's deft in that regard - it captures the echoing numbness of global shock in all its billowing strangeness. But it's also interesting for Gibsonians because this is Gibson, for what felt like the first time, exploring the present rather than the future. This was almost predictable. The previous two trilogies of books had seen Gibson move steadily back in time from the cyberpunk horizons of Neuromancer. Idoru, Tomorrow's Parties, the clock spins backwards and then with Pattern Recognition we're suddenly here. Early 2000s, London, Tokyo, Moscow et al. A protagonist who flies on 747s and couch surfs at the home of a director friend who makes music videos and owns Apple computers. Ad agencies, government agencies, a particular agency - Blue Ant - that may be on its way to becoming a bit of everything. If you've been itching for William Gibson to tell you his thoughts on the Michelin Man, on the best thing about the interior of a civilian Humvee, your ship has arrived. Subscribe to Eurogamer to read this article Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 27 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Feature From abandoned board game to birthing a genre: Football Manager at 40 Kick off. 21 Feature How I became an Elden Ring detective It started with a save game... 26 Latest Articles Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Jelly Deals Logitech's G Pro X gaming headset is its lowest-ever price during Amazon's Early Access sale Prime Members can get it for just £52. Jelly Deals Save over £500 off the retail price on this beefy ASUS TUF Dash gaming laptop from Amazon Under £1080 for an RTX 3070 laptop. Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store