Idoru

Rating:
Summary: Idoru, the best after Neuromancer
Review: Gibson's last work proves that he continues in the top of the Sci-fi writters of the present.

Rating:
Summary: Too quiet.
Review: The story wasn't too bad, but I couldn't finish it! I tried like crazy to remain interested in this book! I thought Neuromancer wasn't great, but I liked the concept. At least Neuromancer had SOME action in it! This one is a loooooooooooooooooooong conspiracy, I really kept wishing would go somewhere. I got through over half the book before I just couldn't bring myself to pick it up again! The characters are boring, but the story was kind interesting... but it took forever to get anywhere! I wouldn't recommend this one if you like fast-paced novels. This one builds a little too slowly.

Rating:
Summary: OK light reading, but little besides an interesting setting
Review: IDORU is the first novel by William Gibson that I have read and I thought it was a decent piece of light reading. It kept me occupied while I sat in airports over this past holiday season and was interesting enough to pass time. However, IDORU offers little plot, and is more an exploration of Gibson's future world and technology than a coherent story.

I was pretty disappointed, having thought that Gibson's books were classics of science-fiction for more than a pretty setting. Nonetheless, IDORU was sufficiently entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Review of Idoru by William Gibson
Review:

I enjoyed Idoru not only because it is a good science fiction book, but also because it is a good story with an interesting plot. I found it fairly easy to read and it kept my attention. Compared with many of the sci-fi novels I've read, this one was refreshingly direct. I never felt slowed down by excessive descriptions of odd technologies or confused by scientific jargon. (If you're a huge fan of the strange futuristic environments, it does take place in twenty first century Japan, and there are plenty of extraordinary elements to keep you entertained. After all, it's a science fiction novel!)

The main plot line of the novel is centered around a rock star who wants to marry an entirely virtual woman, and the people who are investigating this strange situation. Colin Laney is a man who has been hired by the rock star's employees to find out what exactly is going on, and Chia McKenzie is a fourteen year old girl from the rocker's fan club who has been sent to Tokyo to find out if her idol is indeed marrying a virtual creation. Gibson follows these two on their way through Tokyo, and while doing so creates a fabulous picture of bizarre clubs and exceptional buildings that have sprung up in Japan since it suffered a huge earthquake.

One of the best parts of the book is Gibson's way of describing the settings and situations. Having also read Neuromancer, which is considered Gibson's best achievement, I can say that I enjoyed Idoru a great deal more. It is written in a much more straightforward style, and I simply found it easier to understand and more interesting than Neuromancer.

As far a sci-fi novels are concerned, Idoru has its share of computer related and technological scenes. Many important incidents occur online, and having an entirely virtual character of course requires advanced technology. In my opinion Idoru is a perfect book for a science fiction fan or a fan of William Gibson's work. It is also an excellent book if you are just looking for a good novel to read in your free time.

Rating:
Summary: Gibson covers new ground!
Review: To summarize:

A hapless specialist, recently put out of a job due to unfortunate circumstances mostly beyond his control, is drafted by a creepy looking, scarily bent henchman with a dodgy past and a weird lieutenant to serve a mysteriously motivated and surrealistically wealthy celebrity who is actually being manipulated by an artificial intelligence reaching for transcendence. Along the way he is persued by an indescribeably ruthless and brutal shadow organization on account of a balance of power shifting prototype mcguffin, is aided by a bizarre and tightly-organized techno subculture, and teams up with a plucky white trash girl swept into a parallel plotline, all while surrounded by stainless steel German countertop appliances epoxied to the wall, funny-named Japanese products encased in polycarbonate, and robot trucks poking their way through streets strewn with bubblewrap.

Gibson's sort of like the Ramones: their work all sounds the same, but they're still fun to dip into every so often.

Rating:
Summary: Simple, witty, and fun
Review: Idoru is my favorite book of Gibson's. Unlike the more modern writing style in Neuromancer, the writing in Idoru is direct and clear. The plot is simple but fast paced, the characters likeable, the setting and ideas purely Gibson. The ending, of course, is excellent. Definitely worth a few bucks and a few hours.

Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced and edgy
Review: Set in the same world as Virtual Light, not long afterward (but not quite a sequel), Idoru is a slightly better ride. I found it to be somewhat more of a page-turner, and it kept up a hastier pace.

The characters seem a bit more likeable than in Virtual Light; Yamazaki makes a stronger mark than in the other book, and Colin Laney is just a guy who can't figure out why his talents should mean as much as they do to the people around him. Chia McKenzie is a headstrong kid out of her element, but likeable. The bad guys aren't as nebulous but instead are a present threat; among them are the Russian mafia and Laney's truly witchy old boss who wants her pound of flesh.

It's really pretty close to call, but I prefer this one just a hair over Virtual Light. Of course neither is Neuromancer, which I still consider to be Gibson's crowning achievement. Idoru is a great read, especially for a Gibson fan.

Rating:
Summary: Spin Control
Review: Takes tech themes and mixes them, but really a story about spin doctor control really eg Tony Blair and Alistair Cambell. Uses some characters from Virtual light book so dont read this on its own.

Rating:
Summary: On the other hand...
Review: As I scanned the other reviews of this book, I found that I couldn't agree less with many of them... but did agree with parts. Don't know what that says about different peoples' perceptions of this book.
I'll start by saying I liked all of Gibson's previous work and I liked Idoru, too. I was a little stunned to read some people who seemed to find it went on too long, as the hardback edition I read is under 300 pages (large print, breaks between chapters.) The plot is admittedly simple: rock star plans to marry a virtual reality character. When do computers become alive? --- recurring theme for Gibson.
Rather than tell it from the POV of these two lovebirds, he alternates chapters between the book's two main characters. One, Chia, is a teen fan. One, Laney, has the the strange talent of... to put it in contemporary terms, he can separate the signal from the noise when websurfing. (That >would< be a useful skill!)
Things I liked? While the plot is straightforward, I preferred it to more overarching books that start out well and have things crumble by the end. There have been plenty of those. Second, I found the charactrers all well defined and appealing, especially Laney, a sort of everyman who ends up in the middle of a lot of weird stuff.
And of course, there's Gibson's writing, powerful and at times even hypnotic. Each chapter reads like a story unto itself, but they do all move towards a clear resolution. Even the title seemed like a subtle commentary on the story. ("Idoru" = "I adore you", perhaps?)
I give it a big thumbs-up.

Rating:
Summary: through thick and thin
Review: It was stated in the Book Review that Gibson's reality was "part hell and part paradise".The same is true of his writing. While at times his spontaneous, in-the-moment style is both powerfully engaging and magnetically provocative, the majority of the novel's immediacy simply stutters. It is so choppy that it feels like a film in fastforward; the words are so hopelessly muddled and distorted that they simply blur together, while the images are so abstract that the reader frantically grabs onto the ones that he can. The rest he just lets fall behind, because he must be prepared for what's next. Gibson's speed is extreme, but Idoru becomes both a race against plot with an earnesty for more, and a race against one's attention span, with a lustful desire to simply finish the book.

Idoru truly IS a hellish paradise.