William Gibson Resident Scholar Profiles TOP SCHOLAR: Melvin Cartagena SCHOLARS:
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Review Summaries
"After a short and troubled career as a cop in Tennessee, tough guy Berry Rydell moves to LA, becomes a security officer, and takes a free-lance job in the San Fran area. A teenage bicycle messenger named Chevette stole some high-tech VR glasses on a whim from a courier who shortly after turned up dead. Everyone's after the girl, who lives among the homeless and small businesses on the closed-down Bay Bridge (an environment which features in several other Gibson novels). Rydell and Chevette are thrown together by circumstances, battling his boss, some renegade Russian cops, and other baddies. There's also a charming spoof of a gated religious community living in trailers and worshiping the light of the cathode ray tube. The showdown takes place in virtual reality. This novel is a zippy scifi noir."
David Loftus, Resident William Gibson Scholar
"Berry Rydell, rent-a-cop, and Chevette Washington, a bicycle messenger, living in post-apocalypse California, are on the run from a very bad man who they just acquired an interesting pair of specs from."
Christine G., Resident William Gibson Scholar
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Overall Review
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Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 30% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%
Tone of book
- cynical or dry-wit
- very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Tech./$$$/Info hunt
Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying
- computer/database
Robots, Computers, VR
Yes
Robot, PC, VR Plotlets:
- virtual reality
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
- bodyguard
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- bulging muscles
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Earth setting:
- near future (later in 21st century)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- none/very little science jargon needed
- some scientific explanation
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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