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The author of the ground-breaking science-fiction novelsNeuromancerandVirtual Lightreturns with a fast-paced, high-density, cyber-punk thriller. As prophetic as it is exciting,Idorutakes us to 21st century Tokyo where both the promises of technology and the disasters of cyber-industrialism stand in stark contrast, where the haves and the have-nots find themselves walled apart, and where information and fame are the most valuable and dangerous currencies.
When Rez, the lead singer for the rock band Lo/Rez is rumored to be engaged to an "idoru" or "idol singer"--an artificial celebrity creation of information software agents--14-year-old Chia Pet McKenzie is sent by the band's fan club to Tokyo to uncover the facts. At the same time, Colin Laney, a data specialist for Slitscan television, uncovers and publicizes a network scandal. He flees to Tokyo to escape the network's wrath. As Chia struggles to find the truth, Colin struggles to preserve it, in a futuristic society so media-saturated that only computers hold the hope for imagination, hope and spirituality.
Love between a rock star and his computer-generated bride It has been a long time since I have read any Science Fiction, much less any William Gibson. It was a genre that I had gradually dropped out of, due to a general shift in interest. So, it was with some trepidation that I approached "Idoru." I was happily surprised.
"Idoru" is not a great book, not a classic along the lines of "Neuromancer" or "Count Zero." But not every book needs to be a classic to be good, and "Idoru" kept my flipping pages long past my bedtime, a good sign for any novel. The characters are interesting, and the investigative nature of the story keeps the blood flowing. Mixing psychic powers and cyberspace was as imaginative blend of fantasy and future.
Gibson is a renowned futurist, and even though this book was written 10 years ago the world still seems to be marching in this direction. We have yet to achieve any significant form of nanotechnology, and the forecasted computer-generated celebrities haven't appeared, but nothing in "Idoru" is completely out of bounds. The use of the Kowloon Walled City as the inspiration for a cyberspace community was inspired.
I was very impressed with his portrayal of Japan and the Japanese characters. Having lived in Japan for several years, I must say he got it exactly right. I was prepared to flinch when they moved onto Tokyo, but it never happened.
Amusing story but I am left bewildered about Rez and Rei Toei This book is a non-typical story of an aging rock star named Rez who wishes to marry Rei Toei, an idoru, a Japanese computer program of a beautiful woman (it's a bit more complicated than that). This outrageous premise is not explored to an extent that I personally would have liked. Many questions left unanswered there. Maybe Gibson intentionally wanted it to be that way.
The heart of the story, however, lies with Chia and Colin Laney. Chia is a teenage female fan from the Seattle chapter of Rez's fan club and travels to Tokyo to learn more about this "rumor" of Rez's engagement with the idoru. Laney is a guy with a talent for finding "nodal points" on computerized data for a particular person. Laney is hired to find the nodal point for Rez, to perhaps foresee what will happen to Rez.
Positives about book: 1. The construction of the future world and its metropolitan technologies and businesses is detailed and does not seem far-fetched.
2. I wanted to know more about what a nodal point is. I had to read to the conclusion of the book (from Laney's analyzing of Rez's fan-based data) to find the results.
3. The Walled City: the happening cyber place to be
4. The Blackwell character: mammoth, badly-scarred bodyguard of Rez
Problems: 1. Rez and the idoru. Gibson does not flesh out Rez enough, who is a minor character in the story. He just seems to be the stereotype of a rock celebrity who is mega-rich, flaky, capricious, and spoiled. A positive side to Rez is that he did not turn to drugs in his stardom nor ever was arrested for anything. So he's a goody-goody rocker--ever-popular and aging respectfully. He seems to have a fresh crop of female fans every several years.
To me Rez's love of the idoru needs more explanation because it is the driving force behind what's happening to Chia and Laney. How did Rez come to be enamored of this idoru, and what does she offer him? Does she provide cybersex for Rez or inspiration for his music to take on a new dimension? Does he want to exist in virtual reality with his love forever? I believe the book would have been better if Gibson wrote more about the relationship between these two "lovers."
2. What the heck is a nodal point again? I feel like an idiot. But I will have to do another reading to answer this question.
Perhaps this book will be better if I do reread it thoroughly. Or maybe if I read the sequel book it will help clear the muddiness.Reads like a screenplay (Written for Worm's Sci Fi Haven by Dagny Taggart, more of her reviews can be read here: www.wormsscifi.com/haven)
Colin Laney is a special kind of private investigator. He is an investigator in the John Nash/Beautiful Mind sense: he can look at random bits of information that surround a person or event, and tell you what the information focuses on, what's going to happen, what you can do to change what will happen, to your advantage, of course.
Laney has been retained by the security team of Rez, the lead singer of Lo/Rez, the latest Japanese superband. Rez has fallen in love with Rei, who is an "Idoru", a 100% virtual media superstar. Makes me think of the movie Simone. Rez has announced to the world (and his fan club full of adoring teenagers) his plans to marry the Idoru. It is believed that Rez was coerced into this plan. Laney has been hired to prove it and expose the guilty party.
Meanwhile, Chia, an American teenager has also heard the marriage announcement, and she goes to Japan as an emmissary of the American Lo/Rez fan club. Chia visits with both American and Japanese fan club members via her computer, in the virtual world (can you say "Matrix"?). Chia feels she is getting deeper into some kind of conspiracy, and she knows it revolves around Rez, but she is only able to get tiny bits of information. Also, the virtual reality she visits is being inhabited by the Idoru.
William Gibson is certainly an ingenious product of the modern world. Typically, when I say "product of the modern world", I do not mean that as a compliment. But all the movies that this reminds me of, such as "The Matrix", "Simone", and "Wag the Dog", they all came out at least 3 years after this book was published in 1996. That means Gibson created the virtual world, The Matrix, first. Bravo to him.
Plot wise, I had a good time. Lots of suspense, some absolutely beautiful virtual environments, a bit of quick confusion at the end. However, after a while I started to wonder, except for the eccentricity bit, why would anyone care that a famous singer would want to marry a nicer, cuter, and female version of Agent Smith? Seriously? Yes, it's very eccentric and avant-garde, but what's the harm? What's the big deal? Why the big hissy fits?
Good job on cyber-punk. Fun romp. Reads like a screenplay. Not much depth. I didn't see how the Idoru was "more than he'd ever seen, enough to break a man's heart", or "the things that bother Rez aren't the things that bother most people', like the teaser in the just jacket promised.
