The Matrix: a world within a world, a graphic representation of the databanks of every computer in the human system; a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate users in the Sprawl alone. And by Case, computer cowboy, until his nervous system is grievously maimed by a client he double-crossed.

Japanese experts in nerve splicing and macrobionics have left him broke and close to dead. But at last Case has found a cure. He's going back into the system. Not for the bliss of cyberspace but to steal again, this time for the big boys, the almighty megacorps. In return, should he survive, he will stay cured.

Cyberspace and virtual reality were invented in this book. It stands alongside '1984' and 'Brave New World' as one of the twentieth century's most potent novels of the future.

1985 Hugo Award
1985 Nebula Award
1984 Philip K. Dick Award
SF Masterworks #156