A lake in a shape of a heart is seen surrounded by autumn-coloured trees outside Balashikha, Moscow region, Russia on October 4, 2021. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

In this photo taken on June 16, 2019 Indian stuntman Chanchal Lahiri, known by his stage name “Jadugar Mandrake”, is lowered into the Ganges river, while tied up with steel chains and ropes, in Kolkata. An Indian magician who went missing after being lowered into a river tied up in chains and ropes in a Houdini-inspired stunt is feared drowned, police said June 17. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

Competitors Taisto Miettinen and Katja Kovanen fron Finland participate in the annual Wife Carrying World Championships in Sonkajarvi, Finland on July 6, 2019. People from all over the world took part in the event that was founded in 1992. (Photo by Mauri Ratilaine/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A view shows a damaged road after floods caused by torrential rain, in Kumamura, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, July 8, 2020. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

The Enemy, 1944. With the outbreak of world war two, photojournalism was enlisted in defence of Mother Russia. In this photo by Anatoli Egorov, who was wounded in action, corporal Stepan Vasiljevich Ovcharenko shoots at enemy troops with a machine gun. (Photo by Anatoli Egorov/Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography)

Festivalgoers on June 29, 2025 enjoy the final day of Glastonbury Festival, where Rod Stewart wowed the Pyramid Stage crowd in the legends slot, with Olivia Rodrigo down to headline the Pyramid Stage. (Photo by South West News Service)

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.

Participants at the Dubai Run at Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on November 26, 2021. (Photo by Ruel Pableo for The National)