As our story continues on from Count Zero we go off on a crazy ride round the world with a whole bunch of new characters and some of the old favourites as well.
And this story really does bounce around as our various characters all begin in different places doing very different things.
All in all a super good end to a super good trilogy. I’ll definitely be back to read more William Gibson in the future.
Like the preceding Neuromancer, William makes you make some effort to keep up, and once again, it’s effort well repaid.
Adding insult to injury, this is the second copy i’ve tried of this book and they’ve both been rather badly edited. I’m not sure whether the original book is like that or if it’s the fault of the copying it over into ebook format. Anyway, i’ll judge it on the idea that the original doesn’t have all the punctuation and grammar faults and judge it as a damned good book, because, for all it’s faults in that area, it was well worth muddling through and making the effort for a really good story and characters.
Other thing to note: don’t expect to begin where you left off with Neuromancer either, because you won’t be. Instead you’ll be thrown around here there and everywhere in between with general hints and a few characters from Neuromancer popping up and/or in or maybe just getting a mention in passing.
Anyways, all is good and i’m straight into Mona Lisa Overdrive.
Written in such a similar way to the Hardwired Trilogy, in that it hops around a fair bit and you have to pay attention else you’ll soon find yourself lost in the matrix. So i wouldn’t suggest even trying this book if you’re one of those readers who needs their words spoon feeding to them.
But for those of us who like to pay attention and use our brains a bit when we’re reading, this is a great book and certainly pays back your efforts.
Probably not a good book for amphetamine/coke addicts in recovery as the main protagonist is a full on speed freak.
It’s sooo good the first thing i did when i finished it — even before i wrote this review — is begin to read Count Zero. I’ll see you there when i finish it.
Having recently restarted my meditation practice, which is going really well, i thought it about time to give this a read.
I would firmly put this book on the shelf for anyone interested in Zen and deepening their practice: lots of little nuggets of info in here, well presented and easily read.
Also contains a good list of further resources at the back of the book.
I once wrote in another book review that “maybe we could all use a dose of ‘silly’ now and again”; likewise, this is a fun short story that will certainly give you a nice little dose of said silly that you didn’t even realise you so desperately needed in this totally messed up world that you take so seriously.
A rat bites a werewolf in the subway, and yes, just like being bitten by a werewolf things also begin to change when you bite werewolves: even if you are just a tiny subway rat.
All good fun, and with the usual non-stop flowing writing that Kathleen’s so good at.
So stop reading the newspapers over breakfast and getting all depressed about things you can’t do anything about, go download this short story and read it instead, then phone in sick and have a nice, silly day off from your serious lives.
A man dies who isn’t who he claimed to be. Left behind is a wife, daughter and step son of the imposter, and also an ex-girlfriend and the family of the man who he claimed to be.
In steps Kido to figure it all out for everyone, a lawyer whose own life is a bit on the rocks. Kido becomes obsessed tracking down the real Daisuké and figuring out who the imposter really was and why he would do such a thing. And while the tracking goes on through the book Kido begins to question his own life and failing marriage.
In Kido’s searching for the real Daisuké and the imposter’s true identity we are taken on a journey about life itself: who are we really if we can just jump into someone else’s past and assume the rest of their life as our own?
This book is a must for everyone who wants to improve their lives in any way at all.
James dives deep into how our human brains work and how we’re hardwired, and gives great, sound advice as to how to use this hardwiring to our advantage instead of being mindless slaves to it. I just wish i’d read this 40 years ago, but, it’s never to late to change and i look forward to the benefits that this information can bring to my life moving forward. I would even go so far to say that his book should be essential reading at all schools: the sooner people can get this stuff into their heads the better their lives and their futures would be.
It’s definitely a keeper and a book that i know i’ll be re-reading some time in the future once i’ve done some work on it all. In the meanwhile i just have to get on with the process as i’ve got some annoying habits to be rid of and good habits to build.
I repeat, once again, this book is a must.
I am at a loss as to how many 5 star reviews this book has. I can only imagine that it’s from people who never read fiction but play a lot of chess and are over-extending their enthusiasm for the game by proclaiming any book that mentions a chess game as a masterpiece of writing, regardless.
One can only imagine all the fingerless-glove wearing, train-spotters who read books about people on trains and give them 5 star reviews just because there’s a train in the book: Thomas the Tank Engine has so much to answer for.
All i can say is that i managed to finish it, but it isn’t anything to get excited about in any way: unless you have wet dreams about chess games.
The suggested drug abuse and dependency never actually materialises. Sure, Beth has her moments of alcohol exploration as most teenagers do, she even tries a bit of pot at a party — OMFG 
— and sometimes she even takes a tranquilliser or two to get to sleep; but i’d hardly call any of it drug abuse as she only manages to lose one game of chess due to having a bit too much wine — ever — and then she never drinks again for the rest of the book.
It’s like the gender/sex discrimination it reportedly deals with: i would imagine that most women would gladly be the first in the queue to have a few grumpy old men being annoyed at being beaten at chess by them instead of the real gender/sex discrimination real girls and women have to deal with every day.
And — shock and horror for middle class suburbia — there’s even the suggestion that Beth may be a lesbian, or at least bi-curious. Oh the wildness, call the morality police before it all gets too far out of control!!!
To put it all mildly, it’s all very nicely portrayed and sanitised for the middle class, chess playing, people of it’s day. Even the children’s home is positively idyllic compared to what a real one is like — and yes, i was in a children’s home.
I really don’t think this book has aged well at all.
All in all, a disappointment, but if you like listening to chess matches on Radio 4 and don’t like anything too risqué then it may just get you a little tingly where it matters.
After all the shenanigans of the first three books, Reese moves into her new home, Rose Point, a dilapidated run down castle.
Gone are all the nasty people wanting to enslave, imprison and kill her and Hirianthial, and in their place she is given a castle full of staff, the new horses and dogs, plus some Eldritch peasants to Lady it over and win to her side, all while preparing for the winter holiday season and all the protocol and guests that that entails for her new status — not to mention her upcoming wedding.
Admittedly the plot may sound a little dull after the earlier books, but it actually works really well and it’s a really nice and enjoyable ending to this tetralogy, though technically it should be read before the “Epilogue” at the end of Laisrathera as the wedding comes after the events of this book.
All in all, this whole series is well worth a read.
This is a super good book and builds on the first two books perfectly: yeah, you guessed it, it all kicks off with the Eldritch.
It appears that when you get to book 4, A Rose Point Holiday, that it fits in just before the Epilogue at the end of Laisrathera, so you may wish to pause this book at that point and read the fourth book and then come back to the Epilogue: your choice, as always.
All said and read: great writing, great pacing, great characters, just all round good sci-fi with a nice hint of fantasy tropes courtesy of the Eldritch.
And as with the first two books, i’m going to dive straight into the next book, A Rose Point Holiday. I think it says a lot for a book series when you just pile straight through all the books without any inbetweenie reads.