The one comment I'd make is that it's not just the order the books were written in, but also the order they're read in. I just happened to read Gibson's Count Z

The one comment I'd make is that it's not just the order the books were written in, but also the order they're read in. I just happened to read Gibson's Count Zero (when it came out) before Neuromancer and found that I preferred it... because as you say themes repeat. I enjoyed both, though MLOverdrive not so much. Have you read the Expanse series? That seemed to have noticeably distinct themes through the second and third books, but I think based on style the authors split exposition and conclusion up.