Iraqi paramilitary troops fire towards Islamic State militants during a battle with Islamic State militants on the outskirts of the ancient city of Hatra near Mosul,Iraq April 26, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A couple ride a motorcycle along a street during snow in Altay, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, November 8, 2015. Picture taken November 8, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Afghan children watch the Kabul view as they stand near to a victim's grave who lost her life in the recent attack on Sayyid al-Shuhada school in west Kabul, Afghanistan, 11 May 2021. Following a terrorist attack on a girls school in Kabul on 08 May that killed some 80 person and injured more than 100, the Afghan government declared 11 May as a national mourning day. (Photo by Hedayatullah Amid/EPA/EFE)

Young women dressed in traditional Japanese clothing celebrate Coming of Age Day at Buddhism temple in Tokyo on January 9, 2023. It is a day to recognize and congratulate individuals who have reached the age of majority (20 years old). On this day, young people who have turned 20 are officially recognized as adults and on the responsibilities and duties of adulthood. (Photo by Taidgh Barron/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The sun rises over the River Brue on the Somerset Levels as temperatures in parts of the south west drop below freezing, on January, 20, 2015. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Wire)

Children play football in Bujumbura, Burundi on March 19, 2015. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

A jogger runs on the bank of Donaukanal channel in central Vienna, Austria, September 5, 2016. (Photo by Heinz-Peter Bader/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.