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Idoru by William Gibson
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Idoru (edition 1997)

by William Gibson

Series: Bridge Trilogy (2)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5,853461,695 (3.65)76
21st century Tokyo, after the millennial quake. Neon rain. Light everywhere blowing under any door you might try to close. Where the New Buildings, the largest in the world, erect themselves unaided, their slow rippling movements like the contractions of a sea-creature . . . Colin Laney is here looking for work. He is an intuitive fisher for patterns of information, the "signature" an individual creates simply by going about the business of living. But Laney knows how to sift for the dangerous bits. Which makes him useful-to certain people. Chia McKenzie is here on a rescue mission. She's fourteen. Her idol is the singer Rez, of the band Lo/Rez. When the Seattle chapter of the Lo/Rez fan club decided that he might be in trouble in Tokyo, they sent Chia to check it out. Rei Toei is the idoru-the beautiful, entirely virtual media star adored by all Japan. Rez has declared that he will marry her. This is the rumor that has brought Chia to Tokyo. True or not, the idoru and the powerful interests surrounding her are enough to put all their lives in danger . . .… (more)
Member:zilliah
Title:Idoru
Authors:William Gibson
Info:Berkley (1997), Paperback, 400 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:***
Tags:None

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Idoru by William Gibson

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» See also 76 mentions

English (45)  Catalan (1)  All languages (46)
Showing 1-5 of 45 (next | show all)
He is like Chandler or Hammett : he keeps you engaged in the story, but ultimately it’s his capacity to flesh this future world out that keeps you reading. This a bit dated in 2023 -kind of old (cyberpunk having a short shelf life) but not impossibly so.
There is this contraband smuggling character that is annoying from her first appearance till the end, so points off from me for that.
There’s a cool body guard to the rock star in the story -I could see Dave Bautista owning that role.
Overall, fun ride… ( )
  arthurfrayn | Aug 10, 2023 |
awesome. cool. hip.
------------------------
A Book Review of William Gibson's Idoru

Gibson's prose is so solid you can bang your head to it. It is shiny and elegant and compact - like a Macintosh product. Gibson's no-nonsense approach to dialogue is apparent here. It is told in third-person omniscient. There are a lot of interesting characters.

Chia Pet McKenzie. Zona Rosa. Keith Blackwell. Colin Laney.

Gibson has this gift of giving his characters wonderful, hip, names.

The idoru is this virtual superstar in Japan. An idol.

Another character is this aging, world-famous rockstar, adored by millions of teenage female fans. These female fans form fan clubs. CHia is from the Seattle branch of the fan club. ZOna Rosa is from the Mexican branch. Chia is sent to Japan to confirm on the rumor of their famous beloved rockstar marrying the Japanese idoru.

Nanotechnology is involved.

And Colin Laney, the 'quant' ties all these threads together.

Gibson's Idoru is catered to those who have already read his other works - Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, etc. Though of course you can read it on its own. One develops a taste for Gibson's style. It then turns into an addiction. And soon one finds oneself having withdrawal symptoms. Right now, I am aching for that novel following this one (All Tomorrow's Parties) which I cannot find in the bookstores here in Manila

Mar 20, '11 10:44 PM
---------------------- ( )
3 vote rufus666 | Aug 14, 2022 |
This page turning piece of fiction left me wondering whether or not there was any substance underneath the excitement. Gibson is an excellent painter of worlds and moods. But the plot is thin and the characters like store models, detailed on the outside but hollow on the inside. Overall, I would be happy to read another Gibson novel if one came into my hands, but I am not motivated to seek them out. ( )
1 vote eri_kars | Jul 10, 2022 |
This is the 6th bk I've read by Gibson. I read "Neuromancer" 1st & was excited by the CyberPunk genre b/c it seemed like an important new development in SF. Since then, it's become a bit hackneyed for me. In fact, I've kindof long since written off Gibson as being not such a great writer. NONETHELESS, I started reading this, knowing that I'd enjoy it for all the same reasons that I've ever enjoyed CyberPunk: its environment of near-future technical sleaze - &, yes, I immediately became engrossed & read it rapidly - eagerly enjoying it. While reading it, I was thinking something along the lines of: "Gibson's better than I give him credit for" - & there ARE plenty of interesting ideas. BUT, then, I finish reading it & it's like nothing about it sticks w/ me much. Gibson's basically a pulp writer & I LIKE pulp writing. However, some pulp writers, like Hammett & Dick, impress me not only w/ their ideas but also w/ their prose. Gibson never quite succeeds in doing that. But, what the fuck, I still like his writing alot - I just can't bring myself to give him a 4 or 5 star rating. ( )
  tENTATIVELY | Apr 3, 2022 |
Plus another half a star. Might have made the full 4 stars if I had not had a week's break just before finishing the book. Found I had lost track of most of the characters - which was a shame as had been really involved up to then. So my fault. Also I nearly cried when the book finished without more involvement with the nano builders.... or did it? I love the open ended writing where neither place nor characters are quite pinned down. ( )
  Ma_Washigeri | Jan 23, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 45 (next | show all)
Gibson's latest future no longer has the shocking power of a decade ago, but it is more cleverly politicised, and as fast, witty and lovingly painted as ever.
added by andyl | editThe Guardian, Stephen Poole (Oct 3, 1996)
 

» Add other authors (14 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
William Gibsonprimary authorall editionscalculated
Brolli, DanieleEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Forte, FrancoContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Giorello, GiulioContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Peter RobertTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Werner,HoniCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Zinoni, DelioTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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CLAIRE
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After Slitscan, Laney heard about another job from Rydell, the night security man at the Chateau.
Quotations
"I like your computer," she said. "It looks like it was made by Indians or something."

Chia looked down at her sandbenders. Turned off the red switch. "Coral," she said. "These are turquoise. The ones that look like ivory are the inside of a kind of nut. Renewable."

"The rest is silver?"

"Aluminum," Chia said. "They melt old cans they dig up on the beach cast it in sand molds. These panels are micarta. That's linen with this resin in it."
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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21st century Tokyo, after the millennial quake. Neon rain. Light everywhere blowing under any door you might try to close. Where the New Buildings, the largest in the world, erect themselves unaided, their slow rippling movements like the contractions of a sea-creature . . . Colin Laney is here looking for work. He is an intuitive fisher for patterns of information, the "signature" an individual creates simply by going about the business of living. But Laney knows how to sift for the dangerous bits. Which makes him useful-to certain people. Chia McKenzie is here on a rescue mission. She's fourteen. Her idol is the singer Rez, of the band Lo/Rez. When the Seattle chapter of the Lo/Rez fan club decided that he might be in trouble in Tokyo, they sent Chia to check it out. Rei Toei is the idoru-the beautiful, entirely virtual media star adored by all Japan. Rez has declared that he will marry her. This is the rumor that has brought Chia to Tokyo. True or not, the idoru and the powerful interests surrounding her are enough to put all their lives in danger . . .

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Penguin Australia

2 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 0140241078, 0241953529

 

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