A review by dzengota
Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
2.0
Ultimately what has kept the Sprawl series (especially the last two books) from becoming good is that it is allergic to its own momentum. Having three consistent POVs, super short chapters and religiously cycling through the characters means that right when something interesting is happening with one character, you leave them. This leads to annoying moments early on of using the first few pages of each chapter to just remember what was going on.
This wouldn't be as detrimental if all of the POVs were equally interesting, but they aren't. The titular Mona Lisa's plotline is by far the most interesting, actually delving into an interesting concept that elevates the cyberpunk genre to its place as speculative fiction, instead of just pulp sci fi. Slick Henry's POV at the Factory isn't fascinating but it is well written. Until the end of the book, it comes across more as a mood piece then aggressively narrative. Kumiko's POV, however, is terrible. In practical terms, she is the audience's window into the higher level espionage of the Corporations. But in fictional terms, it means that you have a character who is totally life-less and who is almost never in any real intrigue or danger herself.
This wouldn't be as detrimental if all of the POVs were equally interesting, but they aren't. The titular Mona Lisa's plotline is by far the most interesting, actually delving into an interesting concept that elevates the cyberpunk genre to its place as speculative fiction, instead of just pulp sci fi. Slick Henry's POV at the Factory isn't fascinating but it is well written. Until the end of the book, it comes across more as a mood piece then aggressively narrative. Kumiko's POV, however, is terrible. In practical terms, she is the audience's window into the higher level espionage of the Corporations. But in fictional terms, it means that you have a character who is totally life-less and who is almost never in any real intrigue or danger herself.