You know, I remember reading this book in highschool, but clearly I didn't retain much of anything. I remembered it being confusing, muddled and unclear. I certainly couldn't remember what the point of the whole novel was. Certainly, some events were familiar, but on the whole this read-through felt more like reading it for the first time. Maybe I wasn't old enough to appreciate it before, or something, but this book has jumped from being 'a decent read' in my memory, to "Oh holy ****! How did I miss that?!" in a single bound. 
 Gibson's writing is unique. Kaleidoscopic, mesmerizing... it's both beautiful and mind-bending. He doesn't waste time explaining the world or the setting, he just shows it to you with utmost precision, trusting that you'll figure it out. 
 (view spoiler)[For example, he doesn't have to tell us that something happened to the animals. He just shows us the stuffed horse, hair worn away by passing hands, and makes a passing mention of how the Arabs are trying to grow live ones. References to vat-grown meat and the utter lack of pets (no dogs or cats that I noticed) demonstrates this as well. (hide spoiler)] 
 The characters don't get side tracked. Any exposition (and that very little) is natural, directly relevant to the story. No long OOC tangents... it's just a beautiful thing. 
 Gibson's future is gritty and down-to-earth (even when you're in zero-G with one foot in cyberspace). There are no sterilized white corridors here, just piles and piles of tech mulch. In the same way, the characters feel very human (even if they are a bit flat, but this is Science-Fiction). 
 When published, this book won a "Triple Crown", the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Phillip K. Dick Award. It won them for a reason. 
 Easily one of the best books I've read this year. 
 Previously Read: 
 Sometime between 2006-2010? Original Rating 3/5