May 25 2007

Idoru

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 12:59 am

Idoru – William Gibson

This is a sequel to Virtual Light, which has left me wanting to get a copy of All Tomorrow’s Parties to finish the trilogy.
One of the main concepts in this book is information analysis; taking a large volume of data from multiple sources, and attempting to ascertain facts not contained within that raw data, on a specified subject, be it a human or a corporation…
Rather than returning to deity worship, this novel has the idol as a pop star, who is intertwined with a semi-sentient being, who was created from computers.
Once again, Gibson has several plotlines weaving in and out, though this time the common factors are a little more obvious. That isn’t intended as a jibe at all, simply that the characters are all set on converging paths a little earlier on than in his previous books.
This book is more plot driven than pure hardcore cyber punk, but I still found it very enjoyable.

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May 25 2007

The Difference Engine

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 12:40 am

The Difference Engine – William Gibson

Instead of the future this time, we have a book set in Victorian times, however Gibson (& co-author Bruce Sterling) has the Victorians achieving a lot more technological advances than happened in ‘our’ reality. As his earlier books are seen as the start of cyber punk genre, this book is similarly seen as one of the starters of the Steam Punk classification.
It took a while to get into (the jumps in narrative viewpoint can spin you out a little), and I felt the ending could have been compressed a great deal, however I’m still glad I read it.
The main split with our history is the acceptance of the multiple uses of analytical engines (though obviously mechanical, as opposed to electrical/silicone based), and therefore mass production of said items. Police (& therefore state) intelligence is compiled and used to curtail the activities of subversives, though those of high class are given a wide margin of error before any attempt to limit their activities.
Fans of American history may well be interested in this alternative playing out of events, which sees Britain strengthen their global position, to the cost of the USA.
The main aim of most of the protagonists within this story is to get their hands on a series of punch cards (that’s like a CD or hard disk drive for those unaware of how data used to be stored & processed) that don’t actually contain the routines that people assume.

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May 17 2007

Virtual Light

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 4:06 am

Virtual Light – William Gibson

Having finished Neuromancer, I was definitely ready for more Gibson. This book is also classed as cyber punk by some, but I found the characters to be more tangible and felt like I actually cared what happened to them more than in Neuromancer.
Virtual Light is the first of three novels set in a not-too distant future, in San Francisco. The famous Golden Gate bridge has been unofficially reassigned as a place for the homeless, rejecters of contemporary society and criminals to live and do their business. Rydell, a policeman, is assigned to stop a burglary in a high class home, but all is not as it seems, as when he arrives on the scene, he catches the gardener and wife (NOT the gardeners) in flagrante delicto!
The role of the media and multi-national corporates are in focus in this book, with ‘Cops In Trouble’ (a somewhat trashy, tabloid reality TV show) wanting Rydell as their beau (of the moment), but once again, events conspire to severely complicate the cop’s life.

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May 16 2007

Neuromancer

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 6:28 pm

Neuromancer – William Gibson

If you’ve not heard of this book before, you WILL have seen films that are influenced by it. You are using the internet, or more specifically the world wide web to read this blog, which was reasonably accurately predicted by Gibson, who named it PAX.
Although often lauded as the first real high quality Cyber Punk novel, don’t let this put you off if you don’t normally enjoy reading computer-orientated sci-fi novels. The book was published in 1984, and reading through the chapters now, you can’t help but tick off all the technologies that have caught up with the predictions.
If you want a crude analogy, imagine Tron, but with sex, drugs & death being the online punishment for hackers who attempt to break through the ICE (beefed up firewalls) at important corporate sectors. That is quite a lazy description though, so please don’t think any less of the book itself, I’m just struggling to describe the book in an apt way.
One of the unyet fulfilled visions of our future in the novel is that instead of keyboards/tactile feedback units, users interface with PAX via a neural interface – forget a 22″ Widescreen monitor with a Dolby Surround sound system, as far your brain is concerned, you are IN PAX itself, not just passively looking at it.
The main character in the book is called case, and we follow him in his trips both in the real world, and online, as he attempts to destroy an Artificial Intelligence. People live their lives with a great deal of assistance from medical and hi-tech implants, and life certainly doesn’t appear to be simpler in the future that Gibson imagines.
If you read this book, and start thinking about the films in the trilogy of The Matrix, or pretty much any immersive techy-based film, don’t forget to remind yourself this book pre-dates most of them by almost 20 years!

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