An Indian girl cries as a medical worker collect her swab sample for COVID-19 test at a rural health center in Bagli, outskirts of Dharmsala, India, Monday, September 7, 2020. India's coronavirus cases are now the second-highest in the world and only behind the United States. (Photo by Ashwini Bhatia/AP Photo)

Using digital editing, designer Anton Repponen places Manhattan buildings in desolate landscapes, “inviting viewers to see them as if for the first time”. Here: 8 Spruce Street/New York By Gehry. Photo by Anton Repponen/The Guardian)

Japan's ON-ART Corp's staff repaints the company's eight metre tall man-operated walking dinosaur robot “TRX03” at the company's studio in Tokorozawa, Japan, December 6, 2016. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Photographer holding digital camera during photoshoot of fashion model. (Photo by grinvalds/Getty Images)

A handout picture provided by Global newsroom of Czech Martin Sonka (C) leading Nigel Lamb (top) of Great Britain and Yoshihide Muroya of Japan (down) along the Mount Fuji prior the third stage of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Chiba, Japan on June 1, 2016. (Photo by Predrag Vockovic/EPA/Global Newsroom)

Dancers Marion Krebs and Judy Ness, right, pose as batter and catcher in front of the Chicago White Sox dugout before start of game with Detroit at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Ill., September 18, 1959. White Sox won, 1-0, to move within two games of clinching the American League pennant. (Photo by AP Photo)

In this handout image supplied by Qatar 2022 The Al-Rayyan stadium is pictured in this artists impression as Qatar 2022 World Cup bid unveils it's stadiums on September 16, 2010 in Doha, Qatar. It has been designed to include a “media facade” that includes a membrane that acts as a screen for projections; news, commercials, sports updates and current tournament information and matches. (Photo by Qatar 2022 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.