William Gibson's novel Count Zero, the sequel to Neuromancer and the second book in the Sprawl trilogy, is a thrilling and action-packed work of science fiction. While the action is still very much there, the novel doesn't feel as polished as Neuromancer and seems to have lost a little of that je ne sais quoi that Neuromancer had. The subject matter and plot are still great, but the prose doesn't have quite the same weathered, smooth feel that Gibson so carefully cultivated in his first novel.
Neuromancer was produced after a great deal of revision and reworking by Gibson. He labored over Neuromancer to get it just right, and he succeeded. The language of Neuromancer is very clipped, only stating that which needs stating and then moving on, not sparing extra time to discuss nuance or detail. Count Zero feels much more like a conventional novel, and the reason seems to be that the dialogue and descriptive passages don't have that extremely brusque, almost arid feel to them. If Neuromancer is a dry, windblown desert plain with the occasional verbal yardang, then Count Zero is a dry scrubland. Similar, but not quite as intense.
This novel also falls prey to a classic Gibson problem, his inability to write convincing female characters. Turner and Angie show up at Rudy's house and Turner sleeps with Rudy's girlfriend Sally the first night. This is the kind of situation that can only happen in a novel written by a guy. Sally's character is intelligent, caring and thoughtful. She takes care of Angie and Turner when they show up, and she's been living with Rudy for some time. She doesn't seem like the sort of character to immediately jump into bed with some strange guy she's only just met. If they'd had a few weeks to get to know each other and get close, this might have been more believable. But as Gibson wrote it, it doesn't work. Marly's character has similar flaws. She seems almost helplessly enthralled with Alain, even though she knows he's a lying, manipulative loser who tried to pass a forged artwork through her art gallery. But apparently, women just can't help themselves around men they love, at least according to Gibson. Most real women probably would have either cut ties completely with someone like Alain or turned him into the police. Few would have continued pining for him as Marly does.
All in all, Count Zero is a little of a let down after reading Neuromancer. It feels much more like a conventional science fiction novel. However, that isn't to say it's not good. It's as good as the best science fiction, and still very entertaining. Just not quite as iconic as Neuromancer. That said, I am still looking forward to reading the last novel in this trilogy, Mona Lisa Overdrive. I'm very curious what Gibson will choose to do to finish out this series.