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A review by porge_grewe
Virtual Light by William Gibson
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
William Gibson at his brilliant best.
I have always preferred Gibson's stories when their futures are that bit less distant, and Virtual Light presents a mid-noughties which feels, in that very cyberpunk way, oddly similar to the noughties we had, oddly similar to the present, and entirely rooted in the nineties, to create a genuinely spellbinding vision. Characters are delightful as always, and Gibson manages his usual trick of weaving together their initially disparate stories into a coherent narrative, brining them together for a climax midway through which changes the stakes and the landscape of the narrative, like the PG Wodehouse of sci fi thrillers. A fantastic book!
As an aside, it always strikes me how hopeful Gibson is about humanity. Communities are often genuinely helpful and caring, providing a contrast to corporate callousness, and The Bridge might be the best example of such a community in his work. Even corporations are surprisingly humanitarian - In The Sprawl trilogy, cybernetic limbs became common after another world war, leading to advances which allowed some to take them (or have them forced upon them) for utility, while, here, his version of Augmented Reality (the much more poetic and titular "Virtual Light") was developed to help people with blindness see before getting repurposed for wealthy designers and the like - Gibson's technology always fills a need before becoming profitable, as opposed to the actual modern approach to technological innovation, where very rich people devote themselves to something which looks as much as possible like something cyberpunk-y, and maybe they'll find a use for it at some point. It's something I really like and appreciate about Gibson's writing.
I have always preferred Gibson's stories when their futures are that bit less distant, and Virtual Light presents a mid-noughties which feels, in that very cyberpunk way, oddly similar to the noughties we had, oddly similar to the present, and entirely rooted in the nineties, to create a genuinely spellbinding vision. Characters are delightful as always, and Gibson manages his usual trick of weaving together their initially disparate stories into a coherent narrative, brining them together for a climax midway through which changes the stakes and the landscape of the narrative, like the PG Wodehouse of sci fi thrillers. A fantastic book!
As an aside, it always strikes me how hopeful Gibson is about humanity. Communities are often genuinely helpful and caring, providing a contrast to corporate callousness, and The Bridge might be the best example of such a community in his work. Even corporations are surprisingly humanitarian - In The Sprawl trilogy, cybernetic limbs became common after another world war, leading to advances which allowed some to take them (or have them forced upon them) for utility, while, here, his version of Augmented Reality (the much more poetic and titular "Virtual Light") was developed to help people with blindness see before getting repurposed for wealthy designers and the like - Gibson's technology always fills a need before becoming profitable, as opposed to the actual modern approach to technological innovation, where very rich people devote themselves to something which looks as much as possible like something cyberpunk-y, and maybe they'll find a use for it at some point. It's something I really like and appreciate about Gibson's writing.