Over the last few months, I’ve been in conversation with Eddie Rathke from Wolf Newsletter about William Gibson’s Blue Ant Trilogy as part of his ongoing book club. Eddie has taken on the challenge of reading all of William Gibson’s books in order this year, and I joined him for the Blue Ant Trilogy, often known as the ‘Bigend Books.’

Each month, we explored the themes, characters, and plot of Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History, sharing our thoughts on the transition from Gibson’s signature cyberpunk style to a more realist form. I think this shift in tone provided Eddie a refreshing change from what had come before, even though the genre’s underlying concerns are still present in the series.

I’ve linked to the individual Wolf Newsletter posts and embedded the podcast episodes below:

Blue Ant Trilogy

Wolf Pod #009: Patten Recognitions

Welcome to the new episode of the Wolf Podcast.

Today I’m talking with Jay Springett, writer, thinker, worldrunner, and podcaster. You can find him at his website, his Permanently Moved podcast, or on substack at Experience.Computer.

Today, we’re onto Pattern Recognition, the first novel in the Blue Ant Trilogy. We talk about the internet, Gibson’s career more broadly, and a host of other things. Here’s the interview with Gibson that Jay mentions as well.

Wolf Pod #010: Spook Country

Welcome to the new episode of the Wolf Podcast.

Today I’m talking with Jay Springett, writer, thinker, worldrunner, and podcaster. You can find him at his website, his Permanently Moved podcast, or on substack at Experience.Computer. Check out his recent appearance on the Ecogradia podcast! It’s great.

Today, we’re onto Spook Country, which reminded me more of Gibson’s previous novels. And so your mileage may vary with that, but I think it’s a bit of a reversion.

Wolf Pod #011: Zero History

Welcome to the new episode of the Wolf Podcast.

Today I’m talking with Jay Springett, writer, thinker, worldrunner, and podcaster. You can find him at his website, his Permanently Moved podcast, or on substack at Experience.Computer. Check out his recent appearance on the Ecogradia podcast! It’s great.

Today, we’re onto Zero History, the conclusion to the Blue Ant trilogy, which feels like the most Blue Anty of the books in the trilogy.