A man in “Red Army” garb hits the pavement during a simulated attack during a re-staging of part of the Long March in Jinggangshan September 14, 2017. The scene brings alive an extraordinary chapter in China's history that established the supremacy of Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist Party. Deep in the mountains of Jinggangshan in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, a classroom of bank tellers participates in an ideological boot camp that plays into Chinese President Xi Jinping's drive to further consolidate his grip on power. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A mahout guards the elephants during the annual Vrischikolsavam festival, which features a colourful procession of decorated elephants along with drum concerts, at a temple in Kochi, India, November 18, 2017. (Photo by Sivaram V/Reuters)

A woman reacts with flour over her face while playing a game with cake-making ingredients as part of local festivities marking Myanmar's 70th Independence Day in Yangon on January 4, 2018. The country is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its declaration of independence from British colonial rule. (Photo by Ye Aung Thu/AFP Photo)

Brides display their hands decorated with henna around a bride as she poses for her own photographer during a mass marriage ceremony in which, according to its organizers, 70 Muslim couples took their wedding vows, in Ahmedabad, India, February 11, 2018. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

People react as a Canadian man wearing only a pair of shorts orders a drink from a fast food outlet in Gangneung Curling Centre on day 10 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 19, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A housewife whose family lives in a shanty cooks beside a road in Manila, Philippines May 25, 2016. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

A Muslim boy takes part in Friday prayers on a street outside a mosque in Mumbai, India, June 24, 2016. (Photo by Shailesh Andrade/Reuters)

William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.