History Literature / ThePeripheral

* MerchantPrince: Wilf's London has mostly abandoned actual government as being what caused the jackpot. Instead, it's largely ruled by "the klept" (presumably short for "kleptocracy"); the families of those who survived the jackpot by being the most ruthless {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s. Lev's family is old klept, although the only reason Wilf is comfortable around him is that he's not personally very good at it.

* DepopulationBomb: Through a incessant series of both natural and man-made cataclysms, famine, plague and societal collapse, jackpot wiped out 80% of the global population before enough technology was developed to stabilise things.

* WhiteSheep: Lev, Zubov, [[{{Downplayed}} to an extent]], anyway. Being the scion of a ruthless, murderous line of Russian oligarchs, he doesn't exactly try and distance himself from the "[[CorruptCorporateExecutive family]] [[DiabolicalMastermind business]]", but instead is an IdleRich (''[[Fiction500 very]]'' rich) layabout and family man who finds all the scheming a little awkward and embarrassing.

''The Peripheral'' is a 2014 CyberPunk science fiction mystery-thriller novel written by Creator/WilliamGibson. Set in multiple futures, it tells the story of Flynne Fisher, who takes a job piloting a security drone in what appears to be a video game, but is actually the future (or rather, the ''further'' future). To make matters more complicated, she witnesses a murder and now someone's trying to kill her in the past while she must connect to the future through a cyborg-like avatar called a peripheral to help her employers in the future solve the case. [[MindScrew It's a lot]].

This is Gibson's first sci-fi novel since ''Literature/AllTomorrowsParties'' in 1999, and [[GenreBlending combines multiple genres]] such as [[TimeTravel time travel]] [[ScienceFiction science fiction]], [[CyberPunk cyberpunk]]/[[PostCyberPunk postcyberpunk]], {{Whodunnit}}, and the {{thriller}}. The sequel, ''Literature/{{Agency|2020}}'', set in yet another AlternateHistory, was released in January 2020. The two books are the first part of the Literature/JackpotTrilogy.

This is Gibson's first sci-fi novel since ''Literature/AllTomorrowsParties'' in 1999, and [[GenreBlending combines multiple genres]] such as [[TimeTravel time travel]] [[ScienceFiction science fiction]], [[CyberPunk cyberpunk]]/[[PostCyberPunk postcyberpunk]], {{Whodunnit}}, and the {{thriller}}. The sequel, ''Literature/{{Agency|2020}}'', set in yet another AlternateHistory, was released in January 2020.

* AlmightyJanitor: A variant. Lowbeer is officially a mere Detective Inspector for the Metropolitan Police. In actuality, she's [[spoiler: "[[TheDreaded The Adjudicator]]", an almost mythological figure who is the [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner sole law-enforcement authority]] with power over the 22nd century's kleptocratic overlords.]]

This is Gibson's first sci-fi novel since ''Literature/AllTomorrowsParties'' in 1999, and [[GenreBlending combines multiple genres]] such as [[TimeTravel time travel]] [[ScienceFiction science fiction]], [[CyberPunk cyberpunk]]/[[PostCyberPunk postcyberpunk]], {{Whodunnit}}, and the {{thriller}}. The sequel, ''Literature/{{Agency}}'', set in yet another AlternateHistory, was released in January 2020.

This is Gibson's first sci-fi novel since ''Literature/AllTomorrowsParties'' in 1999, and [[GenreBlending combines multiple genres]] such as [[TimeTravel time travel]] [[ScienceFiction science fiction]], [[CyberPunk cyberpunk]]/[[PostCyberPunk postcyberpunk]], {{Whodunnit}}, and the {{thriller}}. The sequel, ''Agency'', set in yet another AlternateHistory, was released in January 2020.

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!!''Agency'' contains examples of:
* BenevolentAI: Eunice. After some subtle prodding from the future, [[spoiler: she winds up developing into the most powerful intelligence on the planet, being able to carry on a conversation with anyone at once and determined to avert the jackpot]].
* FlyingCar: Turns out that Lowbeer's [[CoolCar armoured, invisible, luxurious command centre on wheels]] also comes with a (similarly cloaked) detachable quadcopter that can lift it into the skies of London on command.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Twice. Flynne lives in the late 2030s/early 2040s and Wilf lives in the early 2130s.

* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld: {{Implied}}. In Flynne's time, there are a few hints that China is now the dominant world superpower, such as the prevalence of [[TheAllegedCar crappy Chinese cardboard cars]], while in the 22nd century it's noted that China was well-prepared for the Jackpot, and is now advanced almost to the level of a HigherTechSpecies -- it's believed that Chinese technology is responsible for the series' TimeTravel mechanics, and even Lowbeer, who is capable of using London's {{Nanomachines}} to pull off ''near-godlike'' feats, admits that she is baffled by the country's tech.

* CosyCatastrophe: The Jackpot was this for some, hence the name: while crop failures, war, and natural disasters wiped out 80% of the population, the rich kept getting richer. [[PrivatelyOwnedSociety And richer]]. [[RuleOfThree And richer.]]

* CrapsackWorld: Flynne's time period is actually not too long before an actual apocalyptic event, so this is to be expected. Nearing the mid-21st century, the local economy is pretty much reliant on illegal drug manufacture. Ironically, Wilf's post-apocalyptic London is actually quite nice, since there are lots of opportunities for anyone who survived the Jackpot, given that 80% of humans died. [[SolarPunk Everything is clean and eco-friendly]], as well as high-tech.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Pretty much anyone eaten up by Assembler nanobots. [[spoiler:Aelita gets her face eaten in by them as she gets devoured from the inside out when she is murdered]]. And towards the end, [[spoiler:Hamed and Sir Henry both get eaten down to the bone by the nanobots.]]
* [[CyberPunk Cyberpunk]]/[[PostCyberPunk Postcyberpunk]]: It is a William Gibson novel after all. This novel has a unique rural cyberpunk setting in Flynne's era, where she lives in a CrapsackWorld of a United States shortly before an apocalyptic event known as the Jackpot occurs. Ironically, Wilf Netherton's post-apocalyptic London isn't a crapsack world and is much more PostCyberPunk, with a clean, eco-friendly, advanced world at the dawn of the 22nd century... However, the global population has been significantly reduced by the Jackpot, so there aren't many crowds. The story itself is a noir-like murder mystery involving shadowy characters.

* MerchantPrince: Wilf's London has mostly abandoned actual government as being what caused the Jackpot. Instead, it's largely ruled by "the klept" (presumably short for "kleptocracy"); the families of those who survived the Jackpot by being the most ruthless {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s. Lev's family is old klept, although the only reason Wilf is comfortable around him is that he's not personally very good at it.

* {{Nanomachines}}: The reason why Wilf's London is so clean and efficient, and that society was able to recover from the Jackpot, was the development of the 'Assemblers', nanobots that can complete huge architectural projects, reshape buildings at their owners' will, pass solid objects, [[{{Intangibility}} including people]], through each other, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick consume a human body down to the bone, leaving the surroundings untouched]].

* PrivatelyOwnedSociety: Governments didn't survive the chaos and destruction of [[DepopulationBomb the Jackpot]]. Filthy-rich {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s ''did''. This is unsurprisingly the result.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler: While she's initially only interested in the past for the sake of protecting Flynne, as a witness to Aelita's murder, Lowbeer decides to contact her past self and attempts to manipulate historic events on a larger scale in order to prevent the worst of the Jackpot in Flynne's universe]].

* BenevolentAI: Eunice. After some subtle prodding from the future, [[spoiler: she winds up developing into the most powerful intelligence on the planet, being able to carry on a conversation with anyone at once and determined to avert the Jackpot]].

* DisappointedByTheMotive: Lowbeer is displeased to discover that the scheme the villains were concocting, which resulted in murder, kidnapping, and multiple attempted assassinations, nearly caused a global financial crash in an alternate timeline and involved powerful figures within London was merely [[spoiler: a literally cutthroat real-estate scam.[[note]]The '[[FuturePrimitive patchers]]' were tricked by Al-Habib into creating a massive floating island from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch using nanotechnology, while he was planning to murder them so he and Sir Henry could sell the island off to the highest bidder. [[/note]]]]

* DisappointedByTheMotive: Lowbeer is displeased to discover that the scheme the villains were concocting, which resulted in murder, kidnapping, and multiple attempted assassinations, nearly caused a global financial crash in an alternate timeline and involved powerful figures within London was merely [[spoiler: a literally cutthroat real-estate scam.[[note]]The '[[FuturePrimitive patchers]]' were tricked by Al-Habib into creating a massive floating island from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch using nanotechnology, while he was planning to murder them so he and Sir Henry could sell the island off to the highest bidder. [[/note]]

* DissapointedByTheMotive: Lowbeer is displeased to discover that the scheme the villains were concocting, which resulted in murder, kidnapping, and multiple attempted assassinations, nearly caused a global financial crash in an alternate timeline and involved powerful figures within London was merely [[spoiler: a literally cutthroat real-estate scam.[[note]]The '[[FuturePrimitive patchers]]' were tricked by Al-Habib into creating a massive floating island from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch using nanotechnology, while he was planning to murder them so he and Sir Henry could sell the island off to the highest bidder. [[/note]]

* AntiClimax: What fiendish plan were the villains concocting, that resulted in murder, kidnapping, multiple attempted assassinations, and nearly causing a financial crash in an alternate timeline? [[spoiler: A, literally cutthroat, real-estate scam.[[note]]The '[[FuturePrimitive patchers]]' were tricked by Al-Habib into creating a massive floating island from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch using nanotechnology, while he was planning to murder them so he and Sir Henry could sell the island off to the highest bidder. [[/note]] Lowbeer is [[LampshadeHanging rather disappointed]] to discover this.]]

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Played with. Wilf is clearly attracted to Flynne, partially due to his view of the past as superior to and more genuine than the present, and they end up HoldingHands quite a bit in London, [[spoiler: but he ultimately [[CannotSpitItOut never mentions it to her]]. He and Flynne both find lovers in their own timelines, which is probably for the best, considering that only data can time-travel.]]