--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Novels set in imaginary futures are…" description: "\"Novels set in imaginary futures are necessarily about the moment in which they are written.\" — William Gibson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/william-gibson-642_books_novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-nece_696347.png" --- # Novels set in imaginary futures are necessarily about the… ![“Novels set in imaginary futures are necessarily about the moment in which they are written.” quote by William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/william-gibson-642_books_novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-nece_696347.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/william-gibson-642_books_novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-nece_696347.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/william-gibson-642_books_novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-nece_696347.png) > “Novels set in imaginary futures are necessarily about the moment in which they are written.” [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imaginary futures reflect the concerns and context of their creation time. **In simple terms:** Fiction mirrors its era. Key Takeaway Consider current issues when reading speculative works. Themes fictioniction culture history literature future Mood reflective analytical Type critical interpretive When to use this quote - reading sci‑fi - writing speculative fiction - teaching literature Key Concepts Postmodernism social critique technological anxiety Questions to Reflect On - How does the era shape the imagined future? - What present anxieties appear in the story? A Different Perspective May overlook future possibilities beyond present concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [In a sense, if you're not getting it wrong really a lot when you're creating imaginary futures, then you're just not doing it enough.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/in-a-sense-if-you-re-not-getting-it-wrong-really-a-lot-when-you-re/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [My first two novels were set in the past, and that freed me up in a lot of ways; it allowed me to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-gilmore/my-first-two-novels-were-set-in-the-past-and-that-freed-me-up-in-a/) [Jennifer Gilmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-gilmore/) > [When I first started, my novels were set in the far future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-sawyer/when-i-first-started-my-novels-were-set-in-the-far-future/) [Robert J. Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-sawyer/) > [At a certain point my novels set. They set just as hard as that jam jar. And then I know they are finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/at-a-certain-point-my-novels-set-they-set-just-as-hard-as-that-jam/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [I suppose that there are many novels that are set during the summer because it's a lonely time of year. Friends come and go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-suppose-that-there-are-many-novels-that-are-set-during-the-summer/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > ['Rainwater' was particularly special because it was a complete departure from the suspense novels. It's set in the Great Depression and based on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-brown/rainwater-was-particularly-special-because-it-was-a-complete/) [Sandra Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-brown/) > [As someone who writes novels that are often set in other periods of time or other ages or other landscapes, there's a certain element…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/as-someone-who-writes-novels-that-are-often-set-in-other-periods-of/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [I've written a detective series myself, set in an imaginary, and slightly futuristic, Chinese city. The novels have an extremely tenuous relationship with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-williams/i-ve-written-a-detective-series-myself-set-in-an-imaginary-and/) [Liz Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-williams/) > [When I start writing a new imaginary future, I have no idea what it is. The characters arrive first. They help me figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-i-start-writing-a-new-imaginary-future-i-have-no-idea-what-it-is/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [The contract between the author and the reader is a game. And the game . . . is one of the greatest invetions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/the-contract-between-the-author-and-the-reader-is-a-game-and-the-game/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [In ordinary detective novels you never see the consequences of what happens in a story in the next book. That you do in mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-ordinary-detective-novels-you-never-see-the-consequences-of-what/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I have often heard that the novel is dead. But I see novels produced, I don't know how many a week, in France. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalie-sarraute/i-have-often-heard-that-the-novel-is-dead-but-i-see-novels-produced-i/) [Nathalie Sarraute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalie-sarraute/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## More by William Gibson > [“We have no idea, now, of who or what the inhabitants of our future might be. In that sense, we have no future. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/we-have-no-idea-now-of-who-or-what-the-inhabitants-of-our-future/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“No," said Blackwell, "she won't, because that would be a violation of the very personal terms I will have established in our conversation. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/no-said-blackwell-she-won-t-because-that-would-be-a-violation-of-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Music was strange that way though; there were people into any damned thing, it seemed like, and if you got enough of them together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/music-was-strange-that-way-though-there-were-people-into-any-damned/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [When I start writing a new imaginary future, I have no idea what it is. The characters arrive first. They help me figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-i-start-writing-a-new-imaginary-future-i-have-no-idea-what-it-is/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Hollis thought he looked like William Burroughs, minus the bohemian substrate (or perhaps the methadone). Like someone who'd be invited quail shooting with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/hollis-thought-he-looked-like-william-burroughs-minus-the-bohemian/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Fiction is an illusion wrought with many small, conventionally symbolic marks, triggering visions in the minds of others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/fiction-is-an-illusion-wrought-with-many-small-conventionally/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [The experience of celebrity is gradually being democratized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/the-experience-of-celebrity-is-gradually-being-democratized/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I don't generate a storyline and then fill it out in the course of writing. The story actually generates in the course of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/i-don-t-generate-a-storyline-and-then-fill-it-out-in-the-course-of/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“What happened to your arm?" she asked me one night in the Gentleman Loser, the three of us drinking at a small table in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/what-happened-to-your-arm-she-asked-me-one-night-in-the-gentleman/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“In Heathrow a vast chunk of memory detached itself from a blank bowl of airport sky and fell on him. He vomited into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/in-heathrow-a-vast-chunk-of-memory-detached-itself-from-a-blank-bowl/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/and-for-an-instant-she-stared-directly-into-those-soft-blue-eyes-and/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [ \[When\] Johnny Mnemonic was coming out and I realized that all the kids that worked in 7-11 knew more - or thought they knew… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-johnny-mnemonic-was-coming-out-and-i-realized-that-all-the-kids/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Andrea maintained that men like Alain lied so constantly, so passionately, that some basic distinction had been lost. They were artists in their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/andrea-maintained-that-men-like-alain-lied-so-constantly-so/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Because he had a good agent, he had a good contract. Because he had a good contract, he was in Singapore an hour after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/because-he-had-a-good-agent-he-had-a-good-contract-because-he-had-a/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) [Explore all 430 William Gibson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Novels set in imaginary futures are necessarily about the moment in which they are written.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Gibson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-necessarily-about-the-moment-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-necessarily-about-the-moment-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/william-gibson-642_books_novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-nece_696347.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/william-gibson-642_books_novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-nece_696347.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/william-gibson-642_books_novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-nece_696347.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Novels set in imaginary futures are necessarily about the moment in which they are written.” — William Gibson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Gibson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Novels set in imaginary futures are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-necessarily-about-the-moment-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/novels-set-in-imaginary-futures-are-necessarily-about-the-moment-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```