Neuromancer is a seminal work of cyberpunk, but I'd say that it codified (or maybe just typifies) a lot of the tropes and themes of the genre that were to follow. I would actually go with Stand on Zanzibar as the one that truly predicts the social and political changes of technology and globalization that cyberpunk was to embody, though it's often more difficult to follow and darker than Neuromancer.

I own a copy but haven't read it yet. Heard very mixed things about it, from it being a masterpiece to it being boring or overrated. I'd like to hear your (and anyone else who's read it) opinions on it, maybe without any significant spoilers. Obviously I'll read it and come up with my own conclusion as to whether it's good or bad, but I'm curious.

Everything depends on taste but I love Neuromancer, it's really good at building a complicated world that isn't overburdened and I find the notion that it is "boring" kind of crazy! It almost reads like a thriller. Immediately one of my favorite books when I picked it up. It's certainly of our time, one of those books that you won't believe was written when it was. And it doesn't really feel dated, we might still be heading towards the world it portrays, hard to say... haha

Thanks for the reply. I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick and had almost the exact experience you describe with world building. I'll definitely give Neuromancer a read when I finish the three or so books I've started but not finished (it's not an issue of boredom - I'm just very busy at the moment).

The Windup Girl is pretty new and is good as well. Although it touches on more environmental/corporate standpoints, but they all relate to each other anyways.