People take photos in a field of Yellow Desert Sunflowers as wildflowers begin to bloom in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California after a record-setting wet winter of rain, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California, U.S. March 20, 2024. (Photo by David Swanson/Reuters)

Models walk the runway for Sergio Hudson during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Spring Studios on February 13, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)

Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack in the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, February 25, 2022. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)

The cast of Pose (L-R) Indya Moore, Hailie Sahar, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Angelica Ross, and Dominique Jackson speak onstage during the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Monkeys climb onto tourists during the annual Monkey Festival, after officials start capturing monkeys, in Lopburi province, Thailand, on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Patipat Janthong/Reuters)

Giant pandas play in the snow at the Shenshuping Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on January 13, 2022 in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by Chen Xianlin/VCG via Getty Images)

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.

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)