Fans of Gibson's work love and hate Virtual Light. In one hand his writing style is still there but the high technology of Neuromancer has been replaced by a less advanced technological culture. Those readers expecting another high adrenaline rush through the matrix almost gave up on virtual light. One of the appeals of Gibson's work is the vision of technology. The world of Virtual light predates the world of Neuromancer by leaps. The Eye phones and goggles take the place of the nerve-splicing and micro bionics seen in his earlier work. The lesser technology almost seems childish in comparison but it does provide an intermediate step for those of us who hope and wish for a glimpse of the matrix as a reality. "Virtual Light" leans more to the characters and plot than earlier work and gives a rich smooth story some times humorous some times sad. The characters take on more than just three dimensions. You can feel them grow and develop as the story continues. Now, if your new to Gibson start with `Virtual Light' then read the sequels `Idoru' and `All Tomorrow's Parties' to get a feel of Gibson's style and technology. Then brace yourself and take the leap to `Neuromancer', `Count Zero', `Mona Lisa Overdrive' and finish up with the collection of short stories that is `Burning Chrome'. On the other hand if you've already read `Neuromancer' or its sequels then try to put aside the lack of technology and just enjoy the story.


Second only to Neuromancer   January 8, 2000
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

This is the first book in the trilogy (Virtual Light, Idoru, All Tomorrows parties), and a good place to start if you are new to Gibson.

In my and most peoples opinion, it is only second to Neuromancer, not because of style or content, but because it's not as revolutionary and original.

William Gibson is excellent in describing characters, technology and environment. This book represents a 'new' style for him (as opposed to Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive). He focuses more on the characters and their travel to the new semi-dystopian world of technology.

At the end you'll want to get your hands on a copy of the sequels (Idoru, All Tomorrows Parties). What the heck! Just buy them too right now!


I read this once before, and it was called Snow Crash   January 6, 2004
 9 out of 37 found this review helpful

While reading this book, I got the distince impression that Gibson got the inspiration for this novel right after he finished reading Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash".

They both have a bad-ass protagonist who is down on his luck (this one is a former cop working a crappy security guard job, Snow Crash has a sword figher/hacker working as a pizza driver). They both have a young female main character (this one has some punk kid, Snow Crash has a courier skater chick). They both have some rich guy trying to take over the world, and only underworld types to stop them (this one has the 'villiage people' from the bay bridge and some mysterios hacker group, Snow Crash has the protagonist's hacker buddies and the mafia).

The plot and characters are basically borrowed from Snow Crash. This book as a *few* memorable parts, but is pretty boring. Snow Crash, however, is an interesting, exciting rollercoaster ride of a book.

Skip this, and go read Snow Crash. If you are jones'in for some Gibson, go read (or reread) the Neuromancer series; it seems that Bill blew his creative load on those ones, because everything he wrote since Mona Lisa Overdrive is garbage.


value it only virtually   July 18, 2004
 8 out of 17 found this review helpful

Well, for those of you who are new on Gibson, be warned, that this is not the book you should start with. Why? If you start with this you'll probably be dissapointed and you'll refuse to read the Neuromancer which would be mistake. What we have here is imaginary world without imagination, characters are not likeable and you'll forget about them on the first day upon completing the final chapter. Cheap moralty and chases from B-rated movies makes this book a lousy trash SF, no matter what anybody else could say 'bout it. Chapters are written in different manner, varying in lenght and breaking the pace of the story more than is necessary. Storyline is rather uninventive without the satisfactory end, or to say with end that is no end at all. Various appearances of countless different and not so interesting characters keeps you occupied with tracking which is irelevant instead keepin' you on your seat wondering what'll happen next. Skip this one and you won't regret it.


Dreck by the alleged master of cyberpunk   April 21, 2003
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

I picked up this book on a whim since the description on the back cover sounded really cool. It sounded like it would be in the vein and vision of James Cameron's "Dark Angel", one of my favourite T.V. shows of all time. Also the No-Cal and So-Cal concept sounded neat. However, the back cover summary turned out to be the best thing about this mess; this novel is terrible.

The main thing I have to complain about with Virtual Light is the author's writing style. It is immensely confusing and short-phrased. After the first few chapters, I felt completely lost, and thought to myself: Who is this? What is that? Obviously Gibson did not feel the need to develop characters. I completely agree with an earlier reviewer who pointed out that Gibson writes as though him and the reader are sharing some kind of inside joke. I have 3 words for Gibson; Background, Character, Development!! One can not get thrown into the middle of a story without any development whatsoever and be expected to figure out things by himself but this is exactly what Gibson does to the reader. I'll admit that Gibson has a very active imagination, however the way he writes frustrates me to no end.

So for those of you looking for a good cyberpunk read, I would recommend looking elsewhere. I'm going to try Neal Stephenson's "snow crash" next, hopefully I won't be as dissapointed.