Robert Springett, the Bishop of Tewkesbury, immerses Laura Raymond in cold water for her baptism in a paddling pool during the heatwave at St James Church in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, UK on June 22, 2025. (Photo by Paul Nicholls Photography)

Karolina Kluskova of the Czech Republic formed one part of an artistic swimming duet at the European Games at Aquatics Centre in Oswiecim, Poland on June 22, 2023. (Photo by Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

This aerial photograph shows beach-goers gathering on a beach alongside the Atlantic Ocean in Carcans, south-western France on July 22, 2025. (Photo by Christophe Archambault/AFP Photo)

People walk under a light projection during the Shanghai International Light Festival at a shopping mall complex in Shanghai on September 22, 2025. (Photo by Jade Gao/AFP Photo)

Actor George Clooney is arrested with his father Nick Clooney (2R) during a demonstration outside the Embassy of Sudan March 16, 2012 in Washington, DC. United to End Genocide, the Enough Campaign and Amnesty International held a rally to call on the United States and world leaders to stop the violence in South Sudan and prevent hundreds of thousands of people from starving. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

(R-L) Jean-Jacques Cattier and his son Alexandre Cattier pose with the world largest bottle of Champagne “The Midas” by Armand de Brignac on April 6, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The Midas is a massive 30-liter vessel and weights exactly 100 pounds. It's like having 40 pieces of the 750ml in one. Number one champagne brand in the world, Armand de Brignac is the luxury Champagne from the award-winning Champagne Cattier chateau of Chigny-les-Roses, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Members of China Disabled Peoples Performing Art Troupe perform “Thousand-arm Goddess of Mercy” during a show on March 12, 2005 in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, China. China Disabled Peoples Performing Art Troupe was established in 1987. It is an amateur mass art troupe composed of visually impaired, audibly impaired and physically and mentally challenged people. In the past nearly two decades, the troupe has visited more than 30 countries and regions, winning the hearts of audiences all over the world by their solid background of Chinese Culture and their colourful national charm. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

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.