William Gibson, author of the extraordinary multiaward-winning novel Neuromancer, has written his most brilliant and thrilling work to date ...
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Jan 09, 2009
Brooke
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Mona Lisa Overdrive is the third book in Gibson's Sprawl trilogy, and it's the most fully-realized of the three. The plots of Neuromancer and Count Zero followed the same pattern, and Count Zero really only served as a bridge between the first and third books. Mona Lisa Overdrive flips back and forth between four subplots which weave together nicely, both with each other and with the previous two books. The characters start to matter a little more and feel more like real people than 2D plot-pupp
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Aug 28, 2008
Dale
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So my friend John commented that, given the fact that I was "currently reading" Mona Lisa Overdrive and had Count Zero marked as "to read", it seemed like I was reading the trilogy backwards. To which my only response is "Trilo-what-now?"
The edition of MLO that I read is the exact same one as the cover scan in the GoodReads database. Yes, I know, it's too small to make out any small details. So you'll have to trust me when I say that there is no indic More...
The edition of MLO that I read is the exact same one as the cover scan in the GoodReads database. Yes, I know, it's too small to make out any small details. So you'll have to trust me when I say that there is no indic More...
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Nov 29, 2008
Kate
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The Count returns! It’s a fantastic ending to the trilogy. Angie – the girl with the ability to mentally connect to the internet – is back. As is Sally or Molly as she’s known in Neuromancer. New characters come in – Kukimo – a young, Japanese girl; and Mona – a young American junkie. There’s the damaged Slick Henry who builds fabulous, huge automatons to exorcise his demons. The plot is fun – 3Jane is jealous of Angie – now an international simstim star – and plans to kill her and replace
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Feb 08, 2012
Donovan
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If you have read the first two books of The Sprawl series (Neuromancer, Count Zero) then you must read this as it wraps everything up nicely. I feel it is necessary to read the first two novels for this to make sense as Mona Lisa Overdrive references these and the book is already full of Gibson's well known multiple plot lines without throwing in references outside of the book - it ould just do your head in. I feel this is the best of the three books due to the way it wraps things up. It is full
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Feb 05, 2012
John E.
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A real-world allusion in this novel akin to the Joseph-Cornell-like boxes in Count Zero is the artist who builds mechanized sculptures, who was inspired by the founder of Survival Research Laboratories…
William Gibson's lesser achievements are still better than the best work of many other authors. But, regarding this novel and its predecessor--that is, volumes two and three of what came to be called the Sprawl trilogy--I more or less agree with the Science Fiction Encyclopedia entry o More...
William Gibson's lesser achievements are still better than the best work of many other authors. But, regarding this novel and its predecessor--that is, volumes two and three of what came to be called the Sprawl trilogy--I more or less agree with the Science Fiction Encyclopedia entry o More...
Mar 27, 2011
Andreas
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The Sprawl Trilogy consists of:
* Neuromancer
* Count Zero
* Mona Lisa Overdrive
Gibson invented the cyberpunk subgenre with this plot-wise loosely connected series of books and he revitalized SciFi in the process. His sparse, cool prose and his approach to characterization mark the writing of many of his successors, probably chief among those Neal Stephenson.
His descriptions of cyberculture have aged well, since he was wise enough not to be too sp More...
* Neuromancer
* Count Zero
* Mona Lisa Overdrive
Gibson invented the cyberpunk subgenre with this plot-wise loosely connected series of books and he revitalized SciFi in the process. His sparse, cool prose and his approach to characterization mark the writing of many of his successors, probably chief among those Neal Stephenson.
His descriptions of cyberculture have aged well, since he was wise enough not to be too sp More...
Feb 26, 2011
Mike
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Yes, that's not a mistake, I gave "Mona Lisa Overdrive" a full "5.0" when I left "Count Zero" at a theoretical smidge below (but used the "4" in goodreads stars). That's not because (as I explained in the "CZ" review) "Count Zero" was not good, it just didn't surpass "Neuromancer". Subjective as charged, but that's my version and my review :-)
I remember being surprised at how Gibson extended the "world" o More...
I remember being surprised at how Gibson extended the "world" o More...
Feb 11, 2011
Douglas
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I am re-reading my old paperbacks. So I am either in my dotage or I just managed to get them out of the box and onto some new bookshelves. It is almost embarrassing to admit the impact that the Sprawl series had on me when they came out. My early college years. These were the definition of smart cool for me. Smart, because it was SF, and the dumb cool couldn't grasp it. Cool, because it was cool. Drugs, leather jackets, mirrored shades, European or Japanese branded everything. Plus, my f
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Feb 05, 2011
Paul
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When I started reading William Gibson's novels and short stories, I did not realize that they were component parts of larger stories. When I read Count Zero, for example, I did not realize it was part of the Sprawl trilogy, along with Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive, or that All Tomorrow's Parties was part of the Bridge trilogy, along with Virtual Light and Idoru. So I read them all out of order, and when I'd see references to the Sprawl (the domed concentration of Eastern Seaboard cities)
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Jan 04, 2010
Rebekah
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Really this is not new for him, but it has been a while since I read some of his work. This time I experienced Mona Lisa Overdrive. The story jumps between about 4 or 5 folks and they slowly coalesce to a single plot. A plot that mirrors the drug induced state of some of his characters. The future ideal of sensory immersion was interesting. I don’t know if I ever really understood some of the biosoft and microsoft technologies, but then again I think some of it was meant to just be understood as
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Jul 11, 2010
Rickswan
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At first I wasn't digging the writing style of Mr. Gibson. I had tried to read Neuromancer and some perverted bits conjoining with his scatterbrain form of writing turned me off. However, I had downloaded the coolest song from one of the best scenes in the Matrix: Reloaded entitled, "Mona Lisa Overdrive" by Juno Reactor. I thought it was a totally B.A. title, and upon looking up the title of the song on the internet one day, I discovered the title originated from this cyberpunk book. S
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Jun 22, 2010
Matt
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"Mona Lisa Overdrive," the third novel in William Gibson's critically acclaimed Sprawl trilogy, is a compelling and thought-provoking read full of great action and the typical trippy cyberspace romps that readers became accustomed to in Gibson's first two novels.
Set seven years after "Count Zero," the second book in the trilogy, "Mona Lisa Overdrive" follows four different story lines that, much like is the case in "Count Zero" interlock towards More...
Set seven years after "Count Zero," the second book in the trilogy, "Mona Lisa Overdrive" follows four different story lines that, much like is the case in "Count Zero" interlock towards More...
May 19, 2009
Chris
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I loved Neuromancer, liked Count Zero, and didn't finish Mona Lisa Overdrive.
I gave up on this about 75 pages in. It wasn't bad, per se, I was just bored and uninterested, and my "To Read" shelf is too long to spend time on a book I'm not into. Besides, I've got a stack of library books to get to, and those things have due dates, you know?
Perhaps its a bit unfair, like loving the bands first album and then not liking their second because it isn't enough like More...
I gave up on this about 75 pages in. It wasn't bad, per se, I was just bored and uninterested, and my "To Read" shelf is too long to spend time on a book I'm not into. Besides, I've got a stack of library books to get to, and those things have due dates, you know?
Perhaps its a bit unfair, like loving the bands first album and then not liking their second because it isn't enough like More...
Jan 07, 2011
Victoria
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I read this one because a client suggested it for the book I'm writing on analysis of plot, and boy, was he right. This is a plot to be analyzed. It's also one of the very few books I've read that was published in the last thirty years that actually deserves its reputation for strong writing.
Now, the multiple plot threads are convoluted enough that the Climax doesn't quite explode the way it should---there's simply too much to explain---and the arch-villain doesn't come across as quite More...
Now, the multiple plot threads are convoluted enough that the Climax doesn't quite explode the way it should---there's simply too much to explain---and the arch-villain doesn't come across as quite More...
Nov 21, 2011
Kurt
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Apr 04, 2011
Corey
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Well This is certainly a way to finish off the Sprawl series. It's a bit of a shame that more of the first book wasn't really tied into it. Other than the fact that story of the first book happened, little else really comes of it. I'm not to sure I like how everything went overly spiritual. I knew that's how things were going to go down by the end of Book 2, but I don't think it played out as well as it could have.
Also, the ending of this one felt a bit thrown together. The other two b More...
Also, the ending of this one felt a bit thrown together. The other two b More...
Jan 07, 2012
Isabel
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Angie called pause again, rose from the bed, went to the window. She felt an elation, an unexpected sense of strength and inner unity. She'd felt this way seven years earlier, in New Jersey, learning that others knew the ones who came to her in dreams, called them the loa, Divine Horsemen, named them and summoned them and bargained with them for favor.
. . .
Bobby had told her about a general consensus among the old cowboys that there had been a day when things had changed, although th More...
. . .
Bobby had told her about a general consensus among the old cowboys that there had been a day when things had changed, although th More...
Aug 09, 2011
Chupa
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While I enjoyed this book, I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in fewer/longer sittings. Coming back to it after a hiatus of a few days often had me scratching my head for a few paragraphs, or even back-tracking to figure out why so-and-so was in a particular situation or even who so-and-so was. For this reason I'm giving the story an extra star as I really didn't give it as much attention as I would have liked.
One aspect that really stood out was Sally Shears (Molly Mi More...
One aspect that really stood out was Sally Shears (Molly Mi More...
Jul 24, 2011
Todd
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I liked this better than the first two books of the Sprawl Trilogy, mostly because it feels like Gibson finally figured out what jacking into the matrix was actually like. His descriptions are clearer, and he does a much better job explaining what's going on, who people are, and what everything adds up to. I feel that I should just go back to Neuromancer and Count Zero and read them right away. Alas, I don't have time for that right now. He has moments of brilliance in his descriptive language,
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Nov 25, 2010
Bondama
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This is the book that started it all, folks --- Gibson virtually invented Cyber-Punk and, together with Bruce Sterling, Steam Punk.
This is one of the most important, unforgettable books I've ever, ever encountered. Worth at least three re-readings. It's the very, very best of what science or speculative fiction should be - thought provoking, grateful to its predecessors (Phillip K. Dick, etc.) and imminently readable. I would recommend this book even to people who never go near sc More...
This is one of the most important, unforgettable books I've ever, ever encountered. Worth at least three re-readings. It's the very, very best of what science or speculative fiction should be - thought provoking, grateful to its predecessors (Phillip K. Dick, etc.) and imminently readable. I would recommend this book even to people who never go near sc More...
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May 02, 2011
Charles
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An outstanding ending to the "Sprawl" trilogy. Years ago, Neuromancer introduced me to cyberpunk and I've loved it ever since. In MLO, Gibson is at the top of his game in terms of characterization. They each had such a distinct voice. The personalities were almost infectious. It normally takes a much longer book for me to feel so attached. As the conclusion to the trilogy, it tied up quite a few loose ends. It also left me hoping for a fourth, but we all know that won't happen. Also, s
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Oct 19, 2011
Kat
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In Mona Lisa Overdrive, the third and final novel in William Gibson’s Sprawl trilogy, it’s been seven years since Angie Mitchell (from Count Zero) was taken out of Maas Biolabs and now she’s a famous simstim star who’s trying to break her designer drug habit. But a jealous Lady 3Jane plans to kidnap Angie and replace her with a cheap prostitute named Mona Lisa who’s addicted to stimulants and happens to look like Angie.
In a dilapidated section of New Jersey, Slick Henry makes large a More...
In a dilapidated section of New Jersey, Slick Henry makes large a More...
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Dec 07, 2011
This starts off promising. The prose doesn't have quite the same manic, jazzy crackle that Neuromancer did, but it's better than count zero, more evocative, and for the first 100 pages or so, the characters actually manage to be pretty engaging. Unfortunately the whole thing is hampered by a meager plot which features far too much dicking around in the sprawl and not nearly enough dicking around in cyberspace, which is really where he lets loose in his writing. Mona Lisa Overdrive really shows
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Jan 14, 2012
Laura
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I didn’t realize that this was part three of a trilogy when I originally picked this up, and there was a major sigh of relief when I found out that technically all three entries in the Sprawl trilogy can be read as standalone. Which is interesting, because as I read this one, it did feel like a spin-off dealing with the fallout of Neuromancer. There are some parts that I wasn’t as filled in on, but these two books work together for me.
Mona Lisa Overdrive was a lot easier for me to ge More...
Mona Lisa Overdrive was a lot easier for me to ge More...
Nov 08, 2009
Nicholas
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I can't tell if I'm too stupid to read William Gibson, or if he doesn't spend enough time explaining his cyberpunk universe.
At least with this book I can fall back on the world I was already introduced to in "Neuromancer", so some of the burden of keeping up with his story is lightened. Neuromancer was both really exciting and incredibly obnoxious because Gibson rarely stops to fully explain the jargon and weirdness of his near-future world. His stories seem to be trying to More...
At least with this book I can fall back on the world I was already introduced to in "Neuromancer", so some of the burden of keeping up with his story is lightened. Neuromancer was both really exciting and incredibly obnoxious because Gibson rarely stops to fully explain the jargon and weirdness of his near-future world. His stories seem to be trying to More...
Jan 17, 2010
Lindsay
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I wasn't certain when I started this book that it was the third in a trilogy, of which I'd read the first but not the second part, so that contributed to my being a bit confused. I also think the book's structure does it no favors in terms of accessibility, since there are a ton of characters, all in different parts of the world doing very different things, seeming to inhabit entirely different social and technological universes, so switching POVs every chapter among these very disparate charact
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Sep 04, 2008
holy_fire
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the final book in the Sprawl-trilogy reunites us with Molly Millions and other characters from the previous two books...
short plot description: set after the events in "Count Zero" we follow several seemingly unrelated plots. Kumiko Yanaka is the daughter of a yakuza boss and send to London to get her out of harms way. There she meets an older Molly Millions who is blackmailed into kidnapping Angie Mitchell, now a famous SimStim-star with a drug problem. Slick Henry is a co More...
short plot description: set after the events in "Count Zero" we follow several seemingly unrelated plots. Kumiko Yanaka is the daughter of a yakuza boss and send to London to get her out of harms way. There she meets an older Molly Millions who is blackmailed into kidnapping Angie Mitchell, now a famous SimStim-star with a drug problem. Slick Henry is a co More...
Apr 17, 2008
Hank
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 29, 2012
Brad
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This review was written in the late nineties (for my eyes only), and it was buried in amongst my things until recently when I uncovered the journal in which it was written. I have transcribed it verbatim from all those years ago (although square brackets may indicate some additional information for the sake of readability or some sort of commentary from now). This is one of my lost reviews.
It all comes together. Fifteen years after Molly, Case and Armitage crash the Tessier-Ashpool par More...
It all comes together. Fifteen years after Molly, Case and Armitage crash the Tessier-Ashpool par More...
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Aug 12, 2011
Stanislav
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I bow before W. Gibson's ability to create sense of certain environment, of polluted narrow streets, London, wastelands, cyberspace. I still think Neuromancer was somehow better, but loved how various characters from Neuromancer and Count Zero played their parts here. It really got hold of me and didn't let go until the last page was read.It seemed more user-friendly than previous parts, but maybe that's just me getting used to the Sprawl slang...
