It took about two-three chapters, but I realized that I had already read Neuromancer before. I finished the book, and I enjoyed it. Both the first and second readings were enjoyable. But one of the things most enjoyable to me was just like in Starship Troopers, and a number of other great Sci-Fi books, things happen behind the novel that prop it up. Never is it said explicitly in the novel that there was a World War, or some kind of culmination of the cold war. I inferred that from the Screaming Fist incident with Corto that at least some sort of conflict occurred. Clearly the world is a much different place than otherwise it should be. This kind of thing makes me enjoy a novel more, because I can imagine a sequence of events that could lead to the events of the novel. The extension of BosWash into BAMA, the sprawl, isn’t even that hard to imagine, and does seem to be the way the megalopolis is headed. Lax laws in space could lead to something along the lines of Freeside, where laws can be taken on by the owners rather than some sort of governmental entity. This is sort of a segue, but it also reminded me of The Postman. The Postman is one of my favorite books of all time, and also used allusion to great advantage. Never does on find out what exactly happened to cause the post-apocalyptic world that the protagonist finds himself in, or what the rest of the world looks like. For all the reader knows, it could be flourishing. But it doesn’t make that large of difference because the story does not involve anything out. Both, or even all three stories, decide to focus on one person and leave out a lot of information that would be informative, but not necessary to the story. It lets the reader fill in the holes. That is my favorite kind of book.