Rating: 
Summary: The most vision-inducing novel I have ever encountered
Review: The colors on the cover of Jeff Noon's "Vurt" are something of a clue to what lies inside: a technicolor dreamworld where the pace of life approaches that of a video game. But we're not in Kansas anymore from the opening pages: the world Noon spins is one of robo-crusties, shadowgoths, fleshcops, and, of course, the feathers.The basic plot is a little convoluted, but it basically involves an underground culture similar to the drug culture today (I have heard that Noon drew on the Manchester drug/rave scene to create his hollow lanscapes of urban decay and drugged-out escapism). In this culture there is a group of "stash riders", our heroes, who lounge around tripping on feathers which send you into a virtual reality when they are placed in the mouth. Scribble, the protagonist, is trying to go far enough into the "vurt" to find answers about the disappearance of his sister. More than any other book out there, "Vurt" deserves to be made into a movie. Its insanely intense visuals would just now be able to be translated onscreen, thanks to computer technology. But at the same time it is fun to imagine your own versions of pivotal scenes, such as someone dying by melting into luminous fractals. The pacing of the story is so breakneck that it almost leaves you breathless to close the book at the end. And after Noon's hilarious descriptions of some of the people and things in the book, I have very detailed images of them in my mind. I recommend this book to anyone interested in cyberpunk, the drug culture,, or movies like "Strange Days" and "The Thirteenth Floor".
Rating: 
Summary: A great story with some cyberpunk apsects...
Review: I have to admit I was really turned off by the whole feathers thing at first. But Jeff Noon has a way of bringing you into the story even if you do agree with some core issues. Anyway as the story goes we have a group of British stash riders who are living day by day life on the edge. Feathers are used to take you to another world, another plane of existence, sometimes good, but always with consequences. The main character scribble is on a mission of love. Unfortunately, yes this love is physical and when you find out how it may disgust you. This book centers around the lost of a loved one due to a yellow feather (don't worry you will find out more about yellow feathers and other feathers as you read the book.) We have a thing, a van, shadowcops, and a lot of feathers. Not to mention numerous instances which will remind you of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland? Honestly this book was a much better read then I first thought it would be. I did see how it could be classified cyberpunk, but it seemed to lack the technology aspect, or at least did not have as much. It has a very well done story line with some incredible plot twists. The feathers bugged me a little and at times reminded me of what I thought an LSD trip would be like. All and all it has been an enjoyable book. If you haven't read it before, read it. If you are like me and have read it at least once, then maybe once is enough. It all depends on your tastes.
Rating:
Summary: For the selected few, the find of a lifetime
Review: For those who enjoy being challenged by what they read, enticed into a world so different that one can actually relate to it, then Jeff Noon's novel Vurt is for you. Do not despair if others have rated this work poorly; this is only because they are not willing to open their minds and revel in the totality of this book's genius. Vurt is an awesome read that will make your head spin, sending ideas and messages much appreciated if you can only interpret them. Although I cannot openly give this book to all of my friends, those whom I knew would appreciate it returned it with much praise. Vurt comes with a well warning, but like English Voodoo (you'll find out about this later) will also captivate your mind with some truly amazing literature. Vurt deserves every laude it receives.
Rating:
Summary: Post-Cyberdelica
Review: If you haven't read Vurt, stop everything and read it now. There is nothing like finding a lush universe o'er brimming with clever characters and novel concepts, word play and mind play, sex and drugs. If this sounds like it's up your alley, you owe it to yourself to read it.
And if you have any questions while reading, just ask the Game Cat...
Rating:
Summary: Absolutly the best book i have ever read
Review: This book is a jem. It is so good i continue to want to read it over and over. I recomend this book highly to everyone. But be warned go into it with an open mind, some of the subject matter is a little...welll...different. Noon is an amazing writer the words just roll of your tounge as you are reading it. A very fast read but right when you are done you will want to read it again and again...trust me...read this one!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book!!!!
Review: This book is a must read, for anyone. Albeit it touches on some shady subject matter but if you go in to it with an open mind and just let Noon's writing take you away you will glide right through this book and want to read it again as soon as you finish! I absolutly loved this book. Noon uses words so smoothly it is amazing! He is a great writter. There are two other books that go along with this one, NYMPHOMATION, which is the prequil to this and POLLEN which is the sequil to VURT. Both of them were good as well but VURT stands out and shines. I highly recomend this book and encouage all to read it
Rating:
Summary: Super Story Vurt Machine
Review: A lot of people seem to equate Jeff Noon with the cyberpunk movement, which seems strange to me. He does not write about technology as we know it. His characters are not all semi-cliched noir folk. He does write about the future. And things happen quickly. That must be the connection. Jeff Noon writes about people. Real people doing outlandish things that make sense in a surreal-kind of way. That's surreal in it's original meaning: hyper-real; emotionally real. Also, the story is very good. Start with Vurt, get hooked, keep moving on through his stories. Go now, do it. Now.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Brain Candy
Review: I devoured Vurt in just under three hours. What does that mean? Hmph. Okay, it's not particularly long. What ELSE does it mean? It means that it was riveting. Entertaining. Amusing. Full of what-happens-next moments. Interesting enough that I come here a day later and add any and all Jeff Noon books I can find to my Wishlist. So what do I have to say about it, and why do I call it brain candy? Well, in comparison to some of the best sci-fi writers (Ellison and Bradbury come to mind, but of course that's my opinion), it's long on style and short on meaning. I don't look at the world in a significantly different way after reading this book; I don't feel as if it shed light on the nature of "reality" in any sense. But what style! This is a world, full of Vurt-U-Wants, robotic mutts, and sultry mind-reading Shadowgirls, that I ultimately want to learn more about. It's told by a character that I want to succeed; even though his quest is to bring back a sister with whom he is incestuous and I abhor that kind of behavior, I still root for him. (I think that makes me impressed with Noon's skill. It might also make me worried.) That's why I call it brain candy. The main pull of this story is the style with which Noon crafts his world and the people who populate it. It makes for a book that is entertaining, easy to read (although it may be confusing at the start and definitely warrants a second reading), and satisfying on the level of spectacle. If you've gotten this far, you may be wondering exactly what I'm trying to say. Simply, that I recommend Vurt ever-so-highly to those who enjoy flash and excitement in their sci-fi. If you're looking for a more thought-provoking read, you might be better off looking elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Noon Starts at the Zenith
Review: My god, this book is amazing, fantastic, the pinnacle that other writes should aspire to but don't. Why don't people try to write like this? Maybe because it takes intellegence and wit and (most of all) originality. The only problem with this book is that Mr. Noon's later work makes this look like drivel. He just gets better and better, so get in on the ground floor. Read Vurt and be cool.
Rating:
Summary: Edgy, but brilliant first novel in a series
Review: Vurt is the first book in a series by Jeff Noon, and, perhaps sadly, the best. Why sadly? To answer that you need to look at Vurt's big strengths.
The first book sets up a dark, gritty, drug-soaked world of crime, socially-acceptable human-canine interbreeding, and virtual-reality feather-trips (the titular "Vurt" feathers) for which the user pays an unusually heavy (but always fair) price. It's a world he explores in the horrific detail of someone who has regularly walked the grimy backstreets of a large city (Noon lived in Manchester) of a friday night, with its music booming out of the windows of passing cars, kebab wrappers on the breeze, and streetlights that never quite penetrate the darkness. He also sets up a compelling mythology, as strange terminology is thrown at you in the middle of a furiously paced scene and explained chapters later when the action's calmed down, if at all. It raises questions, and provides some, but not all, of the answers.
The entire book is written in a uniquely lyrical style, where words are thrown into the mix for their texture, collided together for aesthetic reasons, but then made real by the nature of the world he weaves.
True sci-fi afficionados will point out the book borrows (as many do) from Gibson, and others: its a fact that Noon is not shy of admitting. Overall, though, Vurt is a brilliantly written book that pays its sci-fi dues where it has to, and succeeds on its own merits.
What a shame, then, that the grittiness never quite returns in the other books, that the drug-fuelled pace of Vurt is never quite matched. (Maybe it happened when Jeff Noon moved to Brighton? Maybe he felt the Gibson influence was just too strong.) In later books, the clever wordplay trips itself up, as Noon becomes obsessed with the process rather than the result. Shock tactics employed to great effect in Vurt become gratuitous somehow.
Whatever. This is supposed to be a review of Vurt, not the whole series! Pick up a copy of this book and savour the storytelling, because it's unique. Read the others, or don't... but at least you have found a writer who was, for this story at least, brilliantly on form.
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