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.

An Afghan driver stands amid boxes of dry food next to his damaged truck at the site of an accident near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman, Pakistan on August 20, 2021. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer Network)

A puma rolls and yawns on frost-covered ground in Laguna Amarga, Torres del Paine, Chile in the first decade of December 2025, pausing briefly after several hours of rest before continuing on her way. (Photo by Sara Jenner/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A preserved Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) that was collected by the Natural Resources Conservation Board (BKSDA) as evidence is burnt in Palembang, Indonesia on March 18, 2022. (Photo by Novaa Wahyudi/Antara Foto via Reuters)

Deers walk past Indonesia's honour guard as they wait for the arrival of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul Aziz at the presidential palace in Bogor on March 1, 2017. Cheering crowds welcomed King Salman on March 1 as he began the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Indonesia for almost 50 years, seeking stronger economic ties with the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. (Photo by Adek Berry/AFP Photo)

Soldiers try to attach the balloon to their car, June 1944. (Photo by Jared Enos/Mediadrumworld.com)

A boy sits on his father's shoulders to look at strawberries at the 7th International Strawberry Symposium on February 18, 2012 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

These girls are all smiles as they celebrate surviving A-level results day in Birmingham, England on August 15, 2019. The A Level is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom. (Photo by SnapperSK/SnapperMS)