Review of "Mona Lisa Overdrive" by William Gibson

Having established a pattern of publishing a book every two to three years (the exact opposite of Iain Banks, Philip K. Dick, or Charles Stross), it would seem William Gibson spends his time perfecting his prose, paring down the text to a maximum of detail in a paucity of words.   Packed from end to end with impacting sentences which paint vivid pictures of a devolving near-future America,  Mona Lisa Overdrive is no exception.  The third and final novel of Gibson’s Sprawl series is another masterpiece featuring a narrative drive focused like a laser.  

Weighing in at a light 312 pages compared to much of sci-fi today (looking at you Hamilton, Stephenson, and Reynolds!), it’s obvious that Gibson believes there’s no need to overwhelm with volume to impress.  Quality rather than quantity, the author truly has his finger on the pulse of the language, the neologisms just waiting to be adopted into lingua franca.  Like triple distilled whiskey, the style can be savored, each word lean and sharp, and the most vivid of near-future dystopias swirling into view.  

Beginning roughly seven years after the events of Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive picks up the storylines of some old characters while introducing new ones.  Kumiko is the daughter of a powerful yakuza boss, sent to London to escape Tokyo internecine warfare.  Slick is an ex-con living in the wastelands of a New Jersey landfill, building bizarre robots in an attempt to clear his mind from the chemical brainwash he underwent in prison.  And Mona, a young prostitute, follows Eddy her pimp wherever the drugs take her.  These characters, as well as Angie and Bobby from Count Zero and Molly from Neuromancer, find their lives on a slow collision course that will have all of those jacked in to cyberspace standing at attention.

While there are some shallow fans who consider Neuromancer the only worthwhile offering of Gibson’s oeuvre, readers who appreciate his vision and insight will easily see how this novel advances the series to the next level.  Theme as well as story, Gibson continues to push at boundaries and is rewarded for his effort.  Worthy of notice alone is his ambition to comment upon technology, art, social ills, the environment, and the meaning of being human in a technologically saturated environs.  That he also tells a motivated, paced story filled with highly original ideas moves him to the alpha dogs of the sci-fi pack, no matter the era.  Other than plot threads which may or may not match up in the end, Mona Lisa Overdrive is worth every penny as a satisfying conclusion to what must be considered one of the best sci-fi series out there.

(If you have read the whole Sprawl trilogy and are interested in reading more, you may like to read my essay entitled The Uncertainty of Reality: William Gibson's Sprawl Series.)

Review of "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson

Any long lasting band or artist takes their first forays into the public eye with one hand holding ideas of others and the other hand offering ideas of their own.  As they mature and achieve success, a slow transition can be seen in which their own ideas take over and become the trademark style by which they are known.  Snow Crash is from the former stage in Stephenson’s career.  Flashes of brilliance, particularly in the style he would hone in Cryptomicon, appear throughout the plot and dialogue.  The futuristic ideas regarding political autonomy, ultra-capitalism, and scientific development, some of which now seem so commonplace (virtual worlds and lives), were wholly original at the time this book was published and indicate the creative steps Stephenson would later take in Anathem.  

But at heart Snow Crash is a cyberpunk thriller juiced on action steroids.  Lacking the maturity and depth of his later novels, it is defined by over-the-top characterizations (e.g. samurai wielding pizza delivery guy/computer programmer, fearless skateboard punk girl, robo-dog, etc.), James Bond-style world takeover schemes, as well as (ahem) ancient Sumerian artifacts involving secret symbols that require Indiana Jones-esque detective work to unlock.  That it’s written in such an electric style that never seems to stop is a credit to Stephenson’s natural storytelling ability and is certainly responsible for establishing him as a name in the sf world.  But a story with only flashy plot devices remains a story, nothing more poignant or meaningful below the surface to take it to the next level.  

If you’re looking for an exciting, action packed cyber punk thriller with all manner of interesting gadgets and tech, both virtual and real, as well as scenes from a plausible, not-too-futuristic America, then by all means pick this book up, you won't be disappointed.  This is mainstream Stephenson at his best.  However, if you’re better acquainted with Stephenson’s post-Diamond Age writing, this book may come across a little shallow and leave you wanting a more multi-layered examination of themes which tie into the real world.