He is like Chandler or Hammett : he keeps you engaged in the story, but ultimately it’s his capacity to flesh this future world out that keeps you reading. This a bit dated in 2023 -kind of old (cyberpunk having a short shelf life) but not impossibly so.
There is this contraband smuggling character that is annoying from her first appearance till the end, so points off from me for that.
There’s a cool body guard to the rock star in the story -I could see Dave Bautista owning that role.
Overall, fun ride… ( )

awesome. cool. hip.
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A Book Review of William Gibson's Idoru

Gibson's prose is so solid you can bang your head to it. It is shiny and elegant and compact - like a Macintosh product. Gibson's no-nonsense approach to dialogue is apparent here. It is told in third-person omniscient. There are a lot of interesting characters.

Chia Pet McKenzie. Zona Rosa. Keith Blackwell. Colin Laney.

Gibson has this gift of giving his characters wonderful, hip, names.

The idoru is this virtual superstar in Japan. An idol.

Another character is this aging, world-famous rockstar, adored by millions of teenage female fans. These female fans form fan clubs. CHia is from the Seattle branch of the fan club. ZOna Rosa is from the Mexican branch. Chia is sent to Japan to confirm on the rumor of their famous beloved rockstar marrying the Japanese idoru.

Nanotechnology is involved.

And Colin Laney, the 'quant' ties all these threads together.

Gibson's Idoru is catered to those who have already read his other works - Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, etc. Though of course you can read it on its own. One develops a taste for Gibson's style. It then turns into an addiction. And soon one finds oneself having withdrawal symptoms. Right now, I am aching for that novel following this one (All Tomorrow's Parties) which I cannot find in the bookstores here in Manila

Mar 20, '11 10:44 PM
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This page turning piece of fiction left me wondering whether or not there was any substance underneath the excitement. Gibson is an excellent painter of worlds and moods. But the plot is thin and the characters like store models, detailed on the outside but hollow on the inside. Overall, I would be happy to read another Gibson novel if one came into my hands, but I am not motivated to seek them out. ( )

This is the 6th bk I've read by Gibson. I read "Neuromancer" 1st & was excited by the CyberPunk genre b/c it seemed like an important new development in SF. Since then, it's become a bit hackneyed for me. In fact, I've kindof long since written off Gibson as being not such a great writer. NONETHELESS, I started reading this, knowing that I'd enjoy it for all the same reasons that I've ever enjoyed CyberPunk: its environment of near-future technical sleaze - &, yes, I immediately became engrossed & read it rapidly - eagerly enjoying it. While reading it, I was thinking something along the lines of: "Gibson's better than I give him credit for" - & there ARE plenty of interesting ideas. BUT, then, I finish reading it & it's like nothing about it sticks w/ me much. Gibson's basically a pulp writer & I LIKE pulp writing. However, some pulp writers, like Hammett & Dick, impress me not only w/ their ideas but also w/ their prose. Gibson never quite succeeds in doing that. But, what the fuck, I still like his writing alot - I just can't bring myself to give him a 4 or 5 star rating. ( )

Plus another half a star. Might have made the full 4 stars if I had not had a week's break just before finishing the book. Found I had lost track of most of the characters - which was a shame as had been really involved up to then. So my fault. Also I nearly cried when the book finished without more involvement with the nano builders.... or did it? I love the open ended writing where neither place nor characters are quite pinned down. ( )