Idoru

Rating:
Summary: Near Future Elegance
Review: Despite the cyberpunk/future noir copy on the cover, Idoru is more near-future comedy of manners than thriller, its subtle humor expertly conveyed in William Gibson's increasingly elegant writing.

Even Gibson's earliest stories trumped traditonal cyberpunk in their relentless fascination with the shrinking divide between the human and digital. But in Idoru the cybercowboys of Neuromancer have become a hapless everyman and a fourteen year old fangirl -- the too-cool nihlism and cop-out mysticism of the earlier books replaced by a generous sense of character and absurdity.

Gibson's near-future metaphysical musings fascinate as much as ever, but in Idoru he's hitched them a more sophisticated vehicle than the original Neuromancer trilogy. While the book does end with a traditional Gibson anticlimax, it manages the neat trick of being both an endlessly colorful and detailed travelogue and a tightly-plotted, propulsively paced narrative.

Rating:
Summary: Cyber punk classic
Review: The person who gave us the term "cyberspace" and a pioneer of cyberpunk fiction. William Gibson gives us :"Idoru"

Idoru is a Tale Of two People who don't know each other who end up entangled in the same plot.

Chia Pet Mackinze (Greatest name since Hiro Protaginist(Snow Crash)) is a 14 year old Fan club member for a Band called Lo/Rez "Volunteered" to investigate a rumor involving one of the bands's founders Rez she ends up over her head. Rez it turns out is supossed to marry Rei Toei Japan's biggest pop Idol(thing is Rei is a virtual Being and doesn't exist physically)

Colin Laney is an out of work Info Fisher (he can see Patterns in data and deduce a person's life merely from the info they interact with). When a job at a tabloid network gets him in hot water he somehow ends up working to protect REZ.

Chia and Colin find themselves in a complex plot to cover up something that ends up endangering them both.

The story is fairly simple to follow but still a satisfying read. With interesting characters and switching from Chia and Laney's point of view until they meet (sort of)
Since this is my first Gibson read I still look forward to his classics "Neuromancer and Virtual light and count zero and the rest" if you want to get started in cyber punk fiction it is a good begining and you haven't read "Snow Crash go for it.

Rating:
Summary: The Inquirer Goes Electronic
Review: What a surprise! After reading the glowing liner notes I, well.. Um, expected more. I guess Gibson was trying to expose a possible future where nothing is secret and we're all exposed and used...I just wish he'd done a better job. Please don't misunderstand, the book's tightly written and nicely paced. It was the convoluted (and less than believable) plot lines along with caricatures oops, and I meant to say characters, that I found distracting. The best thing I can say about the book is that I finished what I started, no matter how silly I felt at the end.

Lets' see: the book's got an innocent savant, the calculating and evil "editor" (that has a little tryst with the savant), a brooding 14 year old groupie, a guiless and portentous pop icon, the mysterious sentinel, and some Neanderthal bad guys (yup, the RUSSIANS!! - honest!). Oh yeah, I forgot the Idoru - a techno construct grounded in AI.

Here's the way the book works: the savant is 'web clairvoyant' (my term) and the evil editor from Slitscan (a.k.a. "The Inquirer" (or maybe the NY Post!) wants to use this uh, talent, to find skeletons in the closets of the rich and famous. Once she has the 'goods' (sorry for the cliches - but it's just so fitting!) on people, she goes public and people, businesses or even governments, fall. I quote from the book: "Fame is fleeting". Wow! In our story she REALLY wants to bring down the pop icon and our web savant is the man for the job.

After working for the evil one, the Savant's conscience acts up ('I quit - your fired') and he leaves the evil one's company. But, she refuses to accept the savant's "I'm to innocent to hurt anyone" routine and she blackmails him...seems our innocent savant has a strange past. Her drive for info is oppressive, she REALLY wants to get that pop star!! Must've been during a rating sweep.

Terrified, our innocent savant...runs. Through some (plot) twists of fate, he runs straight to our wraithlike pop-icon where he earns a living by using his skills to PROTECT the star (delicious irony, huh). The evil editor - undeterred - stays in hot pursuit (forget the expense, it's ratings week!) - all the way to Japan.

Enter the kid. Her pop star is in Japan, fixin' to marry the software construct - the idoru - and she's so worried (say it isn't so!!!) that this precocious 14 year old must get to Japan (uses her Dad's airline miles - honest, I'm not making that up!) to go visit another bunch of groupies in Japan to find out the "Truth"...is he really marrying a computer thingee? Love is just boundless, isn't it?

Along the way our groupie accidentally takes up with a cabalistic international smuggling ring that deals sophisticated electronic contraband. This group is marketing a mysterious and most important gizmo to the Ruskies. You should know that at the end of the book, the Russians trade the gizmo - the xp7742 super string theory zero point graviton modulator that can take over the world by controlling the web - for some choice real estate (not kidding)). C'mon, what would rather have, world domination of couple of big islands that you could develop for millions? Well, it turns out that our very strange pop star wants this gizmo to consummate his marriage to the Idoru...neat guy, huh.

Anyway, lot's of cool (if you can suspend logical thinking, the book has some moments) and incredibly unlikely stuff that happens (think "Minority Report") to bring this crew together in a Japanese brothel (some symbolism maybe?...nah, too sophisticated). There's more plot twisting, and a car chase and some fights and everyone lives happily ever after. That's it for me, I'm choking on the plot twists and Gibson's, uh, characters.

Rating:
Summary: William Gibson's best yet
Review: I own all of Gibson's books and have read and re-read every single one of them. WG was the first cyberpunk author I hooked into but not my favorite. Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson imho have a tighter control over their writing and a better flow. Check out Holy Fire and Snow Crash. BS tends to go crazy and lose you in midstream, but he gets you back sure enough. NS is just awesome. Imagine the world 50, no 20 years from now as he envisions it. I think the word you're looking for is Wow.

Rating:
Summary: Idoru: A Great Read
Review: If you liked Gibson's Neuromancer, you'll love Idoru. Even if you didn't like Neuromancer, Idoru is still a good read. Gibson has got it all in this book - AIs, characters having flashbacks, and another great virtual reality world. His character development in this novel was much better and the story was easier to follow than Neuromancer as well.

As the book progressed, I became more intertwined with the plot. I understood the characters better and, more importantly, could see into some of their inner motivations. Gibson creates a wonderfully fictitious but not-too-distant future environment. Whether you're into cyberpunk or you're just a one-time dabbler, Idoru is a great choice for you to read.

Rating:
Summary: Idoru lacks characters or any real personality
Review: "Idoru" is the third piece of Gibson fiction I had read or attempted to read over the past ten years or so. His short stories (Count Zero, Neuromancer) are quite good -- enough to get me to pick up longer novels like this.

I was disappointed with "Idoru" though. One reviewer here on Amazon suggested that the term Speculative Fiction be used now instead of Science Fiction for "SF" and that Gibson's is a good example of speculative fiction. The only problem I have with that is that Gibson's work here is hardly speculative.

The Japan he describes in "Idoru" hardly seems 21st century -- rather 20th century. "Idoru" culture IS alive in Japan these days and yes, it makes a great topic for discussion or a book, but Gibson doesn't seem to be stretching himself to make the book very Speculative (i.e. visionary) or even Science Fiction (SFfy) -- there's hardly as much cyber-pyrotechnics going on here.

The problem with the book is that the characters are poorly developed. Gibson has two protagonists -- Laney and Chia -- which he reveals in alternating chapters -- and they do come together -- but the more Gibson actually involves them in the plot of the story, the more they fizz out. The characters are much more interesting in their flashbacks (here is where Gibson's Speculative Fiction is really good and interesting). When Laney and Chia actually get closer to the climax and goal of the plot, the less we care about them. And the AI "Idoru"? Boring.

I think the success of the novel -- and what would be of interest to anyone who might only have this Gibson novel around them -- is the atmosphere of this world in our future -- but not too far off in the future. Unfortunately, people live in the future and the ones in Gibson's world -- when they actually live their lives -- are boring. Gibson should write books like Proust -- Remembrance of Things Almost to Pass.

Rating:
Summary: Consistency contingent
Review: While reading this book, I sometimes found it troubling the similarities in the sentences and plot with many of his earlier works were more apparent, however there is something new and different this time. I have read that it was not a focused effort to keep these characters and settings for a second trilogy, however I don't actually believe that. What is truly unbelieveable is the fact that Gibson is still able to construct and project some of his views through his characters while not overshadowing the characters themselves. It is not as consistent in the first trilogy, where the twisted mindsets of those running around above and below the planet were dictating the story in an escalating manner, and ignoring the psyche of each character, but as a continuing effort in his craft, Gibson doesn't dissappoint. If the next course is more of the same, I could handle it. I just don't think Gibson could.....

But then maybe I shouldn't have starting reading from the middle...

Rating:
Summary: The epitome of Sci-Fi
Review: If you are not sure what the best sci-fi feels like, read Idoru. This book has it all: drama, sex, tough guys, villains, gadgets, guns, action, humor...I go out on a limb here, but I opine that "Idoru" tops "Neuromancer" in being a completely readable sci-fi novel. A great read for sci-fi and entertainment industry enthusiasts.

Rating:
Summary: Baffling and Bad
Review: Sorry, but this one misses the mark by a wide margin. The setting is clumsily rehashed from the least captivating bits of "The Matrix", and the characters are truly apathy-inducing. Cut through the smug futuristic hipster routine, and you'll discover a whole lot of nothing going on here. Science fiction gets a LOT better than this, folks.

Rating:
Summary: another win for Gibson
Review: Once you get used to Gibson's trademark scene-switching and confusing locations, IDORU works beautifully. It has a fairly lean plot and an elegant device that eventually links the point of view of two rather disparate characters. Once again, the post-apocalyptic/sushi-bar/virtual-reality world sucks the reader in. Some of Gibson's descriptions are simply breath-taking, especially the description of a Venice virtual-reality program that evokes the essence of Venice in winter.

The only problem I had with IDORU is that it didn't go far enough and the action was over before the core concept (artificial intelligence merging with a rock star) ever took hold. It's also difficult to believe that the 14-year-old heroine has the wherewithal to travel to Japan by herself, but that's a relatively minor (hahaha) issue.

All in all, this book is a great one for anyone who enjoys a look at the possible future of computers.