Virtual Light - Hardcover

William Gibson

3.87

25,461 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670840815 ISBN 13: 9780670840816

Publisher: London: Viking, 1993., 1993

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Facts Title: Virtual Light Author: William Gibson Year of publishing: 1993 Virtual Light is the first in the new line of Gibson's novels, set in a more humane future than his earlier cyberpunk novels. Basically, it is a story about bicycle couriers in a near-future San Francisco. Although very keen on the newest achievements of electronic and information technology, this book is more like a 'post-cyberpunk' than a conventional cyberpunk novel. In fact, the book is almost light-hearted, in places. It has a happy ending, nobody important dies, and there are a few outright hilarious moments. Virtual Light contains post-apocalyptic anarchy, protagonists immersed in and dealing with this anarchy, shadowy evil power structures which threaten to wreck them at every turn, memorable supporting characters with one or two gimicks, interesting technological gadgetry and effects, and just a general attitude that says "don't mess wit me, monkey-man!

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Review:

The author of Neuromancer takes you to the vividly realized near future of 2005. Welcome to NoCal and SoCal, the uneasy sister-states of what used to be California. Here the millennium has come and gone, leaving in its wake only stunned survivors. In Los Angeles, Berry Rydell is a former armed-response rentacop now working for a bounty hunter. Chevette Washington is a bicycle messenger turned pick-pocket who impulsively snatches a pair of innocent-looking sunglasses. But these are no ordinary shades. What you can see through these high-tech specs can make you rich--or get you killed. Now Berry and Chevette are on the run, zeroing in on the digitalized heart of DatAmerica, where pure information is the greatest high. And a mind can be a terrible thing to crash.

From the Publisher:

"2005: Welcome to NoCal and SoCal, the uneasy sister-states of what used to be California. Here the millenium has come and gone, leaving in its wake only stunned survivors. In Los Angeles, Berry Rydell is a former armed-response rentacop now working for a bounty hunter. Chevette Washington is a bicycle messenger turned pickpocket who impulsively snatches a pair of innocent-looking sunglasses. But these are no ordinary shades. What you can see through these high-tech specs can make you rich--or get you killed. Now Berry and Chevette are on the run, zeroing in on the digitalized heart of DatAmerica, where pure information is the greatest high. And a mind can be a terrible thing to crash...

"A stunner... A terrifically stylish burst of kick-butt imagination." -- Entertainment Weekly

"Convincing... Frightening...Virtual Light is written with a sense of craft, a sense of humor and a sense of the ultimate seriousness of the problems it explores." -- Chicago Tribune

"In the emerging pop culture of the information age, Gibson is the brightest star." -- The San Diego Union-Tribune

"Although considered the master of 'cyberpunk' science fiction, William Gibson is also one fine suspense writer." -- People

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