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jeriendhalContinuing my dive through books I haven't read for a decade or more...
Ah, good ol' Will Gibson, a man so cutting edge that these days he'd not writing sci-fi so much as contemporary fiction. But this book, the third of his loosely connected Sprawl trilogy, was still cutting edge back in the late 80's when it was published, when the idea of a future with low lifes having access to cutting edge hardware was still a new idea, not the world we live in today.
Summary: Four disparate individuals, Mona, a white trash, drug addicted prostitute with a hustler boyfriend, Slick Henry, a ex-con trying to expell his demons with his robotic artwork, and Kumiko, the young daughter of a Yakuza don sent to London for her safety, and Angie Mitchell, a top "stim" star who can connect to the Matrix's[1] powerful Voudon inspired "Loa" through just her mind, come together as the creation of a new being in the Matrix's system comes to a head.
"Last I heard Case got married and had four kids..."
-Finn
Review: This is a story about transformations, mostly. Almost everyone in this slim (less than 300 pages) but tightly plotted novel was someone else once upon a time, and many change again. Mona is transformed into an erzatz Angie, then after the novel's climax becomes the real thing (as much as Angie's stim persona could be considered "real"). Slick Henry was once a car thief, then turned into a literally tortured artist after being subjected to horrific psychological therapy in prison. Sally Shears ("Molly Millions" from Neuromancer and the earlier short story "Johnny Mnenomic" [2]) is/was a mostly respectable businesswoman now, drawn back unwillingly into the life of a street samurai. And finally there's Angie, who went form lost little girl to a worldwide star, and who finally is reunited with her love Bobby Newmark from Count Zero in the most bittersweet way possible. Nothing, no one stays static, especially emotionally, though stoic Molly/Sally comes closest.
And niether has the world who's future the Sprawl trilogy once represented, now become close to truth.
It's good a read as it was back in 1989. Gibson is a master of spare but evocative phrasing, painting a weary world, filled with slick stardom that hides the broken machinery of everyday life, where a few outcasts from society can find a measure of hope.
[1] No, not that Matrix. This was well before the Wachowski brothersripped off paid homage to some of Gibson's ideas in their first movie.
[2] Absolultely no relation to the movie whatsoever, aside from the cybernetic dolphin. Srsly.
Ah, good ol' Will Gibson, a man so cutting edge that these days he'd not writing sci-fi so much as contemporary fiction. But this book, the third of his loosely connected Sprawl trilogy, was still cutting edge back in the late 80's when it was published, when the idea of a future with low lifes having access to cutting edge hardware was still a new idea, not the world we live in today.
Summary: Four disparate individuals, Mona, a white trash, drug addicted prostitute with a hustler boyfriend, Slick Henry, a ex-con trying to expell his demons with his robotic artwork, and Kumiko, the young daughter of a Yakuza don sent to London for her safety, and Angie Mitchell, a top "stim" star who can connect to the Matrix's[1] powerful Voudon inspired "Loa" through just her mind, come together as the creation of a new being in the Matrix's system comes to a head.
"Last I heard Case got married and had four kids..."
-Finn
Review: This is a story about transformations, mostly. Almost everyone in this slim (less than 300 pages) but tightly plotted novel was someone else once upon a time, and many change again. Mona is transformed into an erzatz Angie, then after the novel's climax becomes the real thing (as much as Angie's stim persona could be considered "real"). Slick Henry was once a car thief, then turned into a literally tortured artist after being subjected to horrific psychological therapy in prison. Sally Shears ("Molly Millions" from Neuromancer and the earlier short story "Johnny Mnenomic" [2]) is/was a mostly respectable businesswoman now, drawn back unwillingly into the life of a street samurai. And finally there's Angie, who went form lost little girl to a worldwide star, and who finally is reunited with her love Bobby Newmark from Count Zero in the most bittersweet way possible. Nothing, no one stays static, especially emotionally, though stoic Molly/Sally comes closest.
And niether has the world who's future the Sprawl trilogy once represented, now become close to truth.
It's good a read as it was back in 1989. Gibson is a master of spare but evocative phrasing, painting a weary world, filled with slick stardom that hides the broken machinery of everyday life, where a few outcasts from society can find a measure of hope.
[1] No, not that Matrix. This was well before the Wachowski brothers
[2] Absolultely no relation to the movie whatsoever, aside from the cybernetic dolphin. Srsly.
