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 wild water monitor (Varanus salvator) is seen swimming between colorful popcorn snacks at a Lumphini public park in Bangkok, Thailand on March 27, 2022. (Photo by Matt Hunt/Neato/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman takes a selfie with “RoboThespian” at Robots, a major new exhibition at Science Museum in London, England on February 7, 2017. Exhibition showcases 500-year history of robots, with over 100 robots and the largest collection of humanoid robots ever displayed. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

An unidentified man brandishes a gun during a protest against a new citizenship law outside the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, India, January 30, 2020. The gunman went live on Facebook to warn he was taking his “final journey” before firing at the protest. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

A woman dressed in an alien space suit carries an American flag and a sign that reads “Women's Revolution 1971” as she marches in a Women's Liberation demonstration on Fifth Avenue in New York, August 26, 1971. (Photo by Marty Lederhandler/AP Photo)

A model presents a creation from the JianShangYun collection by Chinese designer Shuo Jiang at China Fashion Week in Beijing, Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

A horse- drawn carriage rides along the race course through the Thuringian Forest in Oberhof, Germany, 05 January 2017. Winter found its way to Saxony, Saxony- Anhalt, and Thuringia. In some regions it can get as low as negative 20 degrees overnight. (Photo by Martin Schutt/Zentralbild/DPA)

In this photo made late Saturday, August 9, 2014, in Keelung, Taiwan, a traditional Chinese dance troupe performs during a parade marking the beginning of the Chinese folklore's mid-summer's Ghost Month Festival. Fourteen days into the seventh month of the lunar calendar, August 9, in 2014, marks the traditional Chinese Ghost Month where the gates of the underworld are opened and spirits of the deceased are set free to roam the world of the living. The month long festivities are aimed to please the roaming spirits. (Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)