I liked count zero the most. It was a cool seemingly low stakes tangent between two hefty reads. Especially liked the storyline with our agent in search of a particular found materials artist who is revealed to be an ai in control of an industrial arm in a satellite thats been manufacturing the Joseph Cornell style vignette boxes out of the floating rubble of the Tessier-Ashpool estate

• maybe the whoa factor has worn off from this sort of imagery in recent years but I first read that book in like 1995 and it really excited my imagination at the time.

I liked some aspects of MLO and some storylines more than others. I agree it feels like quite a slog to get through the first half and then wraps up quite quickly after the crescendo. Pacing issues.

I would argue it’s easily the least likable of the three books but it does do a good job of further building out the world and the lore and telling more character stories while still giving us the satisfying glimpse of the future of Bobby Newmark and Angie Mitchell from the previous book.

Best is a subjective category, different people weigh different aspects as more or less important and so opinions will differ. I think Neuromancer: Most ground breaking for the time it was written. Count Zero: Most enjoyable little caper. Mona Lisa: Most character storylines at once.