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.

The sun rises over the River Brue on the Somerset Levels as temperatures in parts of the south west drop below freezing, on January, 20, 2015. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Wire)

Children play football in Bujumbura, Burundi on March 19, 2015. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

Two female soldiers have their picture taken by an army colleague at Mangyongdae. (Photo by Gavin John/Mediadrumworld.com)

An eight-year-old St Bernard with the longest canine tongue in the world, measuring 18.58cm (7.31in) in length, as recorded by the Guinness World Records: Amazing Animals, in South Dakota, USA. (Photo by Kevin Scott Ramos/GWR/PA Wire)

The first autonomous and electric shuttle of PostAuto Schweiz in the old village of Sion, Switzerland, June 2016. (Photo by Ruben Sprich/Reuters)

“Grit and Glamour”, a retrospective of the late British photographer Elsbeth Juda, who fled Nazi occupation and came to England in 1933, is at the Jewish Museum, in London, until July 1, 2018. Here: Shelagh Wilson, Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, 1951. (Photo by Elsbeth Juda Archive/Victoria and Albert Museum)

A prototype of the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Starship launch vehicle stands during an event at the SpaceX launch facility in Cameron County, Texas, U.S., on Saturday, September 28, 2019. Elon Musk gave space fans an update Saturday evening on the status of “Starship”, the next-generation vehicle his SpaceX plans to use to eventually take humans to Mars. (Photo by Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters)