I have often noticed that very lauded, very clever authors as they get older can write books that are increasingly difficult to access. The concepts remain just as brilliant as they ever were, perhaps moreso, but the time and effort dedicated to conveying how the conceit makes sense in the brain of the author to the reader isn’t really there. In some cases, it feels like books produced later in certain authors’ careers are technical and intellectual exercises to delight the person who creates them first and foremost, and stories that are read by others second. Certainly, this was what I felt when I finished reading Agency, the latest book by sci-fi juggernaut, William Gibson.
Gibson is one of the heavyweights of speculative fiction writing (see this article on the difference between speculative fiction and science fiction). He is credited with largely kicking off the cyberpunk genre with his 1984 novel Neuromancer while also introducing the idea of a virtual world that is so real as to mimic the actual thing – this space; actually termed ‘the matrix’ (and if you’re wondering, yes, it was one of the major influences for The Matrix film franchise). He termed the word ‘cyberspace’. He is a Big Deal. By all accounts, he is also a lovely, lovely person.
I was excited to review Agency because it had several intriguing elements; alternative history in which Hillary Clinton won the 2016 US Presidential Election, time travel, and AI. However, in none of the marketing material, nor in any part of the book, was there the indication that this was in fact a sequel to The Peripheral, which came out in 2014. To me, this seems a colossal mistake as I was left confused at various points through the book, feeling as though I was being introduced to various characters or scenarios in which I was expected to have foreknowledge, and with little effort made to assist me in understanding the nuances of those elements. Turns out, I was supposed to have background knowledge. It really detracted from my capacity to immerse myself in the text, as I was continually struggling to anchor myself within the world and the conceit. That being said, perhaps Gibson could have provided more ‘catch up’ for the reader. ‘The Jackpot’, an apocalyptic outcome in the future world, is never fully explained to the reader in Agency whereas it is in The Peripheral (I looked it up), but it would seem an easy and important thing to remind readers of.
Agency swings between two worlds; a future London where there is an oligarchy of the wealthy elite, that has discovered the ability to travel back through time by interacting with the computer systems of the past, and one of the ‘stubs’—an alternate past created by this travel. The novel alludes to the fact that the progression of the ‘stubs’ has some form of influence over the future world, but no explanation that I could discern emerged as to how that was possible. Equally, I was unclear about the creation and influence of the stubs. They are described as a plaything of the idle rich, but the amount of time and energy the characters in future London spend trying to ensure the stubs don’t unfold into disastrous events seems disproportionate—I never got a significant sense of the consequence to failure other than disappointment.
The novel’s central concern seems to be what AI truly means—the idea that a human-created machine can have true sentience and thus have a genuine identity and autonomy. The fact that Eunice (the name of the AI who was somehow introduced into the ‘stub’ by future London in a way that wasn’t entirely clear to me for reasons that weren’t entirely clear to me) is fighting for her agency to be asserted, independent of her creators or people who would use her to nefarious or selfish ends, is an interesting debate and one that is increasingly prescient as we come closer and closer to the creation of such an entity.
The Peripheral is currently being made into a TV series for Amazon, and I’m optimistic. Despite my lacklustre feelings regarding Agency, I can acknowledge a brilliant conceit and a brilliantly intricate world when I come across them. These foundational elements underpin a story that could have been told with more clarity. It’s why I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the series’ release, and why, if asked, I might recommend people watch it instead of reading the book.
Agency is from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Will you be picking up Agency? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A thrilling dystopian novel imagining a world where Trump lost the election, from the master of science fiction
San Francisco, 2017. In an alternate time track, Hillary Clinton won the election and Donald Trump’s political ambitions were thwarted.
London, 22nd century. Decades of cataclysmic events have killed 80 per cent of humanity. A shadowy start-up hires a young woman named Verity to test a new product: a ‘cross-platform personal avatar’ that was developed by the military as a form of artificial intelligence.
Meanwhile, characters in the distant future are using technological time travel to interfere with the election unfolding in 2017…
