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.

Faithful wearing face mask pray during the Arafah prayer ceremony ahead of Eid al-Adha, at the Tehran university’s mosque in Tehran, Iran, 30 July 2020. Iran will not hold the Eid al-Adha prayers and ceremonies over the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in the country. (Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/EFE)

An Indian woman performs rituals near the body of her husband who died of COVID-19 in Gauhati, India, Monday, September 28, 2020. India’s confirmed coronavirus tally has reached 6 million cases, keeping the country second to the United States in number of reported cases since the pandemic began. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

Devotees wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), carry a chariot of Pachali Bhairab amid the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 21, 2020. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A woman wearing a traditional costume attends the celebrations marking the National Flag Day and the Day of Kyrgyz national “Ak-kalpak” hat at the central Ala-Too Square in Bishkek on March 4, 2021. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

Erica Daly, a District Nurse Team Leader at Mersey Care NHS, stands in front of the “Liver Bird Wings”, an artwork by Paul Curtis on a wall within Liverpool's Baltic Triangle on April 29, 2020. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)

Indian army training cadets perform “Kalaripayattu”, an ancient martial art from Kerala, during a combined display ahead of their graduation ceremony, at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), in Chennai, India on September 8, 2023. A combined display of training proficiency was organized at the OTA as a prelude to a passing-out parade of cadets. The combined display marks the culmination of the adventure training and showcases the skills and expertise of armed forces display teams. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/EPA/EFE)

An Israeli policewoman calls out as behind her Israeli right-wing activists scuffle with a Palestinian man at the archaeological and religious site of the Tomb of Samuel at the Nabi Samuel village between Ramallah and Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank on September 2, 2022. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP Photo)