Virtual Light by William Gibson

Like many, I've been regaled with praises of Gibson's Neuromancer masterpiece, flagshipping the genre of cyberpunk, as influencial in the literary world as Bladerunner is to everything else. But I thought it'd be a good idea to save his biggest hit for later, and I don't regret my decision. Virtual Light is amazing, rapidly immersive and exciting, with mood shifts that champion the pulp-noir typists of yester year.

Taking place primarily in the San Francisco bay area in the the future year of 2005, Virtual Light tells the story of an ex-cop and ex-rent-a-cop named Berry Rydell. At no real fault to himself, he finds himself at the bottom, taking a freelance job with some associates of the security company he'd been fired from, to do their dirty work. This job coincides him with a once-homeless bike messenger, Chevette Washington, who lives in a makeshift hut, piled at the top of the golden gate bridge.

In fact, the bridge has turned into an autonomous zone for the lower class. And when the lower class collides with the powers in place, crimes and frames for crimes are inevitable. This is how Chevette finds herself with a pair of Virtual Light glasses, containing a coorporation's top secret plans to rebuild San Francisco with endlessly working nanobots, as they were doing in Tokyo.

I love the setting of a dystopian future because everything is familiar but different, parodied with a shifting nature. Every scene is dangerous a dangerous feast for the imagination. Every character with the privilege for double agency takes what they can get. If you are not big shot, then the best you can hope for is a job in the business of reality tv.

While I wouldn't say the story here is perfect, I had a wonderful time with it and rapidly consumed the rest of this Bridge trilogy. So be ready for reports on Gibson's Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties.