Notes From My Desk: Neuromancer is for Boys

So I tried to read Neuromancer by William Gibson the other night.  And just… no.  I was reading it not as any part of any semi-official online challenge, but more as a bucket list kind of challenge.  I have a poster in my house that I got from the British Library that shows the history of science fiction through a network of swirling mass of loops.  I love this poster, as I do love science fiction.  Now.  I love science fiction from Now.  The idea I had was to try and read books on this poster, or under the genres of the poster.  Neuromancer is supposed to be a definitive work of cyber punk, so I thought I would like it.  

Yeah, well I shouldn’t have thoughts.

It was gritty and dark, and while that sounds good on the surface, it wasn’t really the kind of book I like to read.  The book delved into futuristic drug use, the main character was a drug dealing antihero of sorts (I think, I really didn’t get that far before I put the book down).  But it made me think about how women/girls rarely seem to come out and directly say they like science fiction.  Is it because this (and star wars/star trek and other masculine shows) are what we think of and associate with science fiction?  Dystopian is a sub-genre of science fiction, but it is well regarded within the female reading community.  So well regarded, that books that are not dystopian and are simply YA science fiction are labeled dystopian (like Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Beta by Rachel Cohn).  

I think we should take back the genre, ladies.  Or just share.  You know, whatevs.  But the fact is that older science fiction appeals more to the male masses.  Sadness.

Final Thought: ??? I dunno, I read twenty pages lol

Happy reading,