A Shi'ite worshiper bleeds after cutting his scalp in a ritual display of mourning during an Ashura commemoration ceremony outside Kadhimiya shrine on December 6, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. Ashura marks the death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson the revered Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq in 680 AD. Shi'ite festivals were prohibited during the time of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein's rule. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

An Afghan burqa-clad woman with children ride a donkey in Kishim district of Badakhshan province on October 12, 2023. (Photo by Omer Abrar/AFP Photo)

Indian tourists walks during heavy snowfall by Dal Lake in Srinagar on January 6, 2017. The sub-zero temperatures has frozen many water bodies in Kashmir and even drinking water taps have frozen at some places. (Photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Photo)

A Muslim woman reads the Quran following noon prayers on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, June 6, 2016. Devout Muslims began to celebrate Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, refraining from eating, drinking, smoking and sеx from sunrise to sunset. (Photo by Tatan Syuflana/AP Photo)

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 chicken seller carries his chickens on his head in the market in Peshawar, Pakistan, August 20, 2015. (Photo by Khuram Parvez/Reuters)

Samba dancers outside Woolwich station celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth Line in London, England on May 23, 2022. Originally due to open in December 2018, the £18.8bn railway links Reading and Essex via central London. (Photo by Jill Mead/The Guardian)

A mobile phone showing the time at noon, is displayed for a photo in front of an almost empty road with low traffic, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, March 31, 2020. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)