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Gibson, William Authors
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William Gibson Spook Country Manuscript Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000584
  • Collection
  • 2006-2007

This collection consists of two versions of the manuscript for William Gibson's 2007 novel Spook Country, a science fiction technothriller that is the second in his acclaimed "Blue Ant" trilogy. (It follows Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognitions and precedes 2010's Zero History). The trilogy has been defined by Gibson himself as "speculative novels of last Wednesday", that is, novels set in the contemporary world but viewed through a science fictional perspective, showing readers the present through a futuristic lens.

The Blue Ant trilogy centers on the character of Hubertus Bigend, an advertising executive and tech magnate who serves as the series' amoral antihero. Though Bigend dominates the trilogy as whole, Spook Country focuses on the intertwining stories of three characters in particular: Hollis Henry, a journalist hired by Bigend to write a story on the phenomenon of 'locative art'; Chinese-Cuban Tito, a member of a family of criminals who gets bound up in American secret intelligence operations; and Milgrim, a drug addict being held in captivity by a mysterious covert operative named Brown. The novel, set in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and explores the uses and misuses of locative technology, the eversion of cyberspace, and the changed political climate of the United States following the attacks. It was nominated for the 2008 Locus award for Best SF Novel, the 2009 Imaginaire Award, and the 2017 Prix Aurora for Best of the Decade.

Both versions are housed in clamshell boxes within the larger enclosure. The first box contains the autographed typescript of the novel, with heavy corrections and copyedits. The second box holds the autographed and corrected unbound proofs.

Gibson, William

Martha Millard Archive of William Gibson Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000161
  • Collection
  • 1977-2002

This collection was originally assembled by Martha Millard, the literary agent of noted science fiction author William Gibson. The collection contains correspondence between Millard and Gibson, agency business correspondence to and from Millard concerning Gibson's publishing career, assorted photographs, and an agency publicity file that includes publicity materials, files of Gibson's book reviews, interviews with Gibson, and articles about Gibson and/or the cyberspace and cyberpunk phenomenons.

Of particular note are a number of Gibson's original writings, which are also housed in the collection. These writings include such important Gibsoniana as his original 1981 outline for what would become Gibson's first novel Neuromancer; a 1984 outline for a never-completed novel, The Log of the Mustang Sally; an outline for Mona Lisa Overdrive(1986); a chronology and notes for The Difference Engine(1987); and copies of Gibson's screenplays for Alien III(c. 1990, unused) and Johnny Mnemonic(1992, 1994).

The Martha Millard Archive of William Gibson is a important collection for exploring not only the development of Gibson's writing career, but the ways in which an author, his agent, and his publishers interact with one another, working together to create and publicize a final literary product. The collection also provides numerous examples of the cultural impact that Gibson, as the coiner of the term 'cyberspace' and founder of the cyberpunk sub-genre of science fiction, has had on his colleagues, fans, and contemporaries.

Gibson, William