The Future is Now in William Gibson's "Zero History"

William Gibson will be reading at the U Village Barnes and Noble store at 7 p.m., tonight.

Time has caught up with William Gibson. The author who coined the term "cyberspace," with 1981's Burning Chrome, now writes noirish present-day techno-thrillers. In his latest, Zero History, the Father of Cyberpunk focuses on the fashion industry and military contracting.

The plot is deeply silly. Former rock (or possibly punk) singer Hollis Henry is somehow (it's not too clear how) pressured into going back to work for Hubertus Bigend, the flamboyant and vaguely sinister boss-type previously seen in Pattern Recognition (2003) and Spook Country (2007). Henry's mission? To uncover the creator(s) of Gabriel Hounds, a clothing line so exclusive that only a few thousand people have even heard of it.

Henry is joined by returning character Milgrim, he of the single name, now drug-free thanks to Bigend, and Henry's former bandmate Heidi Hyde, a charmingly foul virago and divorcee. The story, and characters, careen around Europe, clues dished out on street corners like promotions for a new energy drink.

Along the way, Gibson name-drops brands like he's getting paid for every Saab and Apple reference. The story wears more logos than a Tom Cruise movie, dangling dongles, Neos, and iPhones across chapters and countries, all in service to Gibson's (via Bigend) interest in branding, marketing, and trends.

Gibson's near-obsessive attention to detail is what saves Zero History from banality. His interest is sincere, his characters serious. Gibson's characters aren't commentators on their own situation; he doesn't provide the self-referential laugh-track of a Christopher Buckley or Gary Shteyngart novel.

What Gibson does provide is a style that has been polished to a bright, brassy finish. Zero History flouts the convention of a complete sentence, and eschews such mundane trivialities as grammar and syntax. Dialogue skips and stutters between characters. Descriptions of places and things are idiosyncratic, poetic and impressionistic instead of photographically literal. In Gibson's prose, a car chase is a moment of dangerous beauty: "Threads burst in the straps across Milgrim's lap and chest, black shapes birthing instantly, a conjurer's trick, hauling him upright."

At this point in his career, Gibson could probably write a recipe for pie, and it would be compelling. While not Gibson's best story, Zero History is still great speculative fiction from a writer who continues to hone his craft.