W F Howes to reimagine William Gibson classic works in audio

W F Howes, RBmedia’s UK audio publishing brand, has acquired six classic works by William Gibson, who pioneered the science fiction sub-genre known as “cyberpunk".

Acquisitions editor Kay Farrell bought UK/Commonwealth audio rights for six of Gibson’s books from John Berlyne at Zeno Agency Ltd. The audiobooks will be released ahead of Apple TV+’s forthcoming screen adaptation of Neuromancer (Gollancz/Harper Voyager/Gateway).

Having already published Neuromancer in audiobook format, the deal will see W F Howes bring to life the remaining two titles in The Sprawl Trilogy, comprising Count Zero (Gollancz/Gateway/Arbor House Pub Co) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (Gateway/Bantam Dell Pub Group/HarperCollins), as well as the complete Bridge Trilogy, which includes Virtual Light (Penguin/Bantam Dell Pub Group), Idoru (Penguin/Putnam Pub Group) and All Tomorrow’s Parties (Penguin/Putnam Pub Group). The acquisition also includes Gibson’s Burning Chrome short story collection (Gateway/Gollancz/Arbor House Pub Co), in which he first coined the term “cyberspace”. The six titles will be published throughout 2025.

Apple TV+ recently announced its 10-part adaptation of Neuromancer as it bolsters its long-form sci-fi output. The series will be co-created by Graham Roland and JD Dillard and will star Callum Turner and Briana Middleton.

Farrell said: “William Gibson is one of the most influential living writers of speculative fiction, a true digital visionary of his time whose work has dominated the sci-fi genre for decades. When we launched Neuromancer, it unsurprisingly proved to be an instant hit with audio fans, so we are delighted to be bringing a wider range of William’s brilliant novels to the audio format at a time when there will be a great deal of buzz around the author and his work.”