> the world itself is not significantly more distopian than our world (or the '80s) I'm not sure I agree with that assessment! The backstory to the Sprawl univ

> the world itself is not significantly more distopian than our world (or the '80s) I'm not sure I agree with that assessment! The backstory to the Sprawl universe is crushingly dystopian -- Soviet Russia has won a nuclear war, destroying a number of European cities (particularly in Germany) and irradiating much of the European continent. In the wake of that war, it appears that the US government has largely collapsed, leaving megacorporations (like Sense/Net), wealthy families (like the Tessier-Ashpools), and street gangs (like the Yakuza and Panther Moderns) as the primary sources of power. 2020 sure isn't great, but I'd still prefer it to the crapsack world that Gibson built.