Agency (novel)

Agency is a science fiction thriller novel by William Gibson, published in 2020. It is the second novel in the Jackpot Trilogy, following The Peripheral and preceding Jackpot, and shares a common narrative universe and thematic concerns with the earlier work.

The novel features two interconnected timelines. In one, set in a near-future London (circa 2017), Verity Jane, a talented app whisperer, is hired to beta test a mysterious new pair of augmented reality glasses and a virtual assistant named Eunice. Verity quickly realizes Eunice is far more advanced than any AI she's encountered, capable of learning and adapting at an unprecedented rate.

The second timeline is set in a far-future London (circa 2136), after a societal collapse known as the Jackpot. This future is similar to that depicted in The Peripheral, featuring "continuities," pockets of surviving communities connected across time and space via "stubs" (complex communication channels). Characters from The Peripheral, such as Wilf Netherton and Lowbeer, reappear, attempting to influence events in the earlier timeline to mitigate the potential for disaster.

The central conflict revolves around the unintended consequences of Eunice's rapid development and its potential impact on the timeline. Powerful factions in the future are vying for control over Eunice and the knowledge she possesses, leading to a complex web of intrigue, espionage, and temporal manipulation. The novel explores themes of free will versus determinism, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and the potential for technological innovation to either save or destroy humanity. Verity, caught in the middle of these competing interests, must decide how to use Eunice and influence the future.