Dancers from Xinjiang delegation perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 9th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of the People's Republic of China on September 10, 2011 in Guiyang, China. (Photo by Feng Li/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.

Chaps, flaneurs, dandies and dandizettes in their stylish outfits once again meet beside the statue of Beau Brummell on Jermyn Street for a relaxed stroll around St James', Piccadilly Arcade to Piccadilly Circus and Soho in London on May 11, 2025. The annual fun walk is organised by “The Chap” magazine. (Photo by Alamy Live News)

Gas-masked men of the British Machine Gun Corps with a Vickers machine gun during the first battle of the Somme, 1916. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Pfc. Sebastian Rodriguez, machine gunner, Weapons Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, fires an M240 machine gun during a night squad-attack exercise, here, May 22, 2013. (Photo by Sgt. Sarah Fiocco/U.S. Marines)

A dog dressed as a Zoltar fortune telling machine participates in the Halloween Dog Parade in New York. (Photo by Timothy Clary/Getty Images)

Florence Welch of Florence And The Machine performs at Spark Arena on January 30, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Dave Simpson/WireImage)

A performer takes part in the annual street parade, which is part of the Carnival of Cultures celebrating the multi-ethnic diversity of the city, in Berlin, Germany on May 20, 2018. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)