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 tomtit bird flies past a squirrel running on a fence after a snowfall in a park in Almaty, Kazakhstan, January 12, 2016. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A partial solar eclipse is seen as a labourer works at a construction site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 9, 2016. (Photo by Samrang Pring/Reuters)

A bakery worker rides a bicycle as he carries fresh bread on his head in Cairo, Egypt, February 9, 2016. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)

A dog walker on Longsands beach before sunrise in Tynemouth, UK on April 1, 2016. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

Cocoa pods are seen on the ground at a farm in Ile-Oluji village in Ondo state, southwest Nigeria March 29, 2016. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

A subway worker walks away after a train departed the station in central Pyongyang, North Korea May 7, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A participant holds balloons before the Annual March against Homophobia and Transphobia in Havana, May 14, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)