Rating: 
Summary: A mind-blowing book!
Review: Personally I am not a regular science fiction reader -- I had heard good reviews about Noon's Automated Alice, and while on the prowl for it at a local library, I ran into Vurt instead. The story sucked me in right off the bat, and I finished it in three days. Noon creates another world entirely without having to bring about drastic changes between real-life Manchester and his of 1998. The differences are subtle, but enough to paint an entirely different portrait -- the characters and memorable and likeable, despite various unusual and often taboo quirks he gave them. I can't completely explain why I liked this book so much. Noon's voice for the narrator and lead character Scribble was one that the reader felt empathy for; the situations and feathers were painted with such detail that they were impossible not to picture. Best of all, when I was done, I thought about the book for days. A definate must read -- you have to read it to even brush getting the gist of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Vurt - Cyberpunk at it's best!
Review: Vurt, by Jeff Noon, is one of the greatest cyberpunk novels I have read. We are set on a journey to find Scribble's long lost sister Desdemona through a world of colorful drug feathers. These feathers are stuck in the back of the throat in order to induce a sort of hallucination or virtual reality, or "Vurt." Blue feathers induce the feelings and emotions of nice sweet dreams, black feathers show the person both love and pain, and yellows are something practically no one can find. The yellow feather is the most dangerous and deadly drug feather, a person may not come out of it alive. First the reader is led into a world of Vurt-You-Want stores and a dark, drug-addicted society. Society has been addicted to the feathers for some time now in the novel, while some characters are trying to get the same feelings they got from the feathers from things more herbal, like some of the drugs we have around today. We are surrounded by serious characters with goofy names like Beetle, Twinkle, and The Thing-from-Outer-Space. While the characters may have unusual names, they bring Vurt to life with each of their own unique personalities. Beetle is the group leader and has a strong, and rather mean personality, which makes it easy for him to keep the Stash Riders in order. Twinkle started off as the youngest Stash Rider and has shown her dedication to the group. The Thing-from-Outer Space is an actual alien that was from a yellow Vurt feather. The Stash Riders are like the groups of kids in the short story "Cyberpunk" by Bruce Bethke, because they all are rebelling in one-way or another. The characters in both short story and novel don't want to conform to society. As I read I kept wanting more, and Noon gave more. The novel kept me so intrigued that I had a hard time putting it down. My mind was on a constant imagination trip while reading this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: This book is a dazzling journey which plunges you into a psychedelic, grimy near-future ruled by anarchy. Jeff Noon possesses an incredible creativity that at times creeps you out with its perversity but never fails to stagger you with its power. It would be very interesting to get a cup of coffee with this guy and have a conversation with him. In a nutshell the book is about a man who loses his sister in another dimension of sorts (called a vurt) only accessible through use of a rare and highly dangerous feather drug. His quest to find her is an unusual and thoroughly exciting ride even if I'm not quite sure what deeper message it is trying to send. 'Vurt' is well worth reading for its truly unique nature and its ability to draw you in and hold you under its spell. It is that rare novel which cannot be adequately described - it must be experienced.
Rating:
Summary: The most true-to-life science fiction ever
Review: I am not the world's biggest science fiction fan, but Jeff Noon just may have converted me to his world. This book was just a little something I picked up to bide my time in the airport, and it quickly turned into something that rarely occurs in my life... a favorite book. Noon's portrayal of this bizarre world where feathers take you to alternate universes is not so far off from the truth, and the allegory of Vurt is so perfect in its expression and imagination that it's hard to escape the world of Vurt once you've put the book down. And you won't ever want to put it down. The characters are real and imaginary at the same time... reading into their lives is like falling in love with your fantasies. Read it now... it's cheaper than drugs and there's no come down. I promise.
Rating:
Summary: First rate debut for Jeff Noon
Review: Move over Virtual Reality - this is Vurt, a state of mind, an existence between reality and dreamland, solidly unreal, a way of life for the unpure, the ultimate combination of altered states and computer games. To enter Vurt requires a feather, the flights coloured: blue is pleasure, legal and safe; black is horror and/or love, illegal and dangerous; pink is for porno in all its forms; silver is for the makers of feathers, used as a tool; and yellow, no escape, play to the end or die.
Original is too insipid an adjective to describe Jeff Noon's first novel - seminal, promethean, the prototype of a new genre of science fiction. The style of writing is reminiscent of Gibson, clear, sharp, and immediate. Explicit, concrete and ultimately real images contrast with the confusion of the protagonist Scribbles, from whose perspective we search through the world and creatures of Vurt for his sister, Desdemona. He is assisted or obstructed by a mongrel caste of single-minded characters whose roles are determined by the nature of their involvement with Vurt.
The world depicted in the novel is disturbing, psychotic and insidious, and the overall impression is as psychedelic as the cover. A fractal read, addictive and highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: More Punk than Cyber
Review: "Vurt", or should I say "VURTual reality" is, in one way, indeed the central theme of this book ... but with a twist!"Vurt" gives a fresh and new perspective on the realm of cyber punk. Drugs, or feathers, are superbly described and also include the alternative reality of drugs intrinsically, i.e. an experience more than merely a "rush". With the easy and down-to-earth usage of his language, Noon slowly guides the reader into the plot. Excellent, compelling and a bit confusing in the beginning. But rest assured that before the book is finished you will have become entirely engrossed in this wonderful and wierd universe. The book itself is a feather to be swallowed, a life to follow, a reality to merged with and an experience to become engulfed in. Thumbs up for Jeff, way to go!
Rating:
Summary: Like Drugs
Review: Vurt takes you down, in, out, and through a drug warped reality of the future. Always entertaining and intoxicating. Vurt gives you access to another world....Go visit!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: This is most definately one of the best books there are to read out there. The plot pulls you into the Vurt, it's amazing. This is Noon's best work, no doubt.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointing read
Review: I bought this book on the strength of winning an Arthur C. Clark award and the customer reviews on Amazon.com.
It didn't work for me. The characters were thin and the plot was plodding and stiff.
I will consider more carefully the recomendations on Amazon.com.
Rating:
Summary: A Feather Full of Dreams
Review: "A young boy puts a feather into his mouth..." From the first sentence of the book, I was drawn in. I forced myself to read only one chapter at a time, to actually consider what I'd read and let it sink in, and that made this book that much richer. To me, it heralded back to Clockwork Orange. The Stash Riders (made up of Scribble, Beetle, Mandy, and Bridget) have their own vocabulary grown from the world they inhabit - where feathers can hold their fondest dreams or worst nightmares, where the worst poison comes from dreamsnakes, where pure is poor, and where shadowcops lurk above every all-night Vurt-U-Want. Scribble is a young man, not so out of the ordinary, who wants nothing more than to have his sister back again. That want drives him to a destiny he'd not even considered, gaining and losing almost everything in the process. I'm enamoured with this book. It stays on my nightstand so I can hear Scribble tell his story whenever I want. Let Jeff Noon take you into his tangibly ethereal world.
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