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Virtual Light (Bridge #1)

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 · rating details · 10,200 ratings · 232 reviews

2005: Welcome to NoCal and SoCal, the uneasysister-states of what used to be California. Here themillenium has come and gone, leaving in its wakeonly stunned survivors. In Los Angeles, BerryRydell is a former armed-response rentacop now workingfor a bounty hunter. Chevette Washington is abicycle messenger turned pickpocket who impulsivelysnatches a pair of innocent-looking...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published October 26th 1996 by Penguin Books Ltd (first published 1988)

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Dec 29, 2008 Hobie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I felt like Gibson created a cool world for the story to take place in, but then just never wrote the story. A messenger nabs some VR glasses and gets the help of some ex-cop blah... who cares? He just never got me to care about the characters or their conflicts.

I wanted to hear more about the dystopian California-states and the fancy VR itself, but then all Gibson wanted to talk about Berry and Chevette.

3 stars purely because of the world Gibson dreamed up, but if you're looking for a good stor...more

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Oct 30, 2007 Max Ostrovsky rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, fiction

As a teenager, I remember I loved William Gibson. I loved Neuromancer. Now, after reading this book, I'm no longer sure. His writing skills are sound, but just couldn't get interested in a story about some lost VR glasses. I think that Gibson spent too much time creating a world for this story, in this very short book, that he left out what would make it an interesting story.

Eh, that's okay. A friend told me that Neuromancer was the only decent thing he wrote anyway.

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Oct 24, 2007 Monk rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Gibson Fans, Cyberpunk Enthusiasts

Shelves: sci-fi, world_builders

While many others tout the Neuromancer based books (Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive), I must admit this novel is a strong beginning for his next trilogy (though better followups with Idoru and All Tomorrow's Parties could have been better). The story is solid though the ending comes quickly and resolves on a flat note. However, the range of characters and the concepts presented make up for this to a large degree, from Barry, a down on his luck rent-a-cop, to his hypochondriac, hyper-allergenic p...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Doug rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gibson's world-building is characteristically strong. The plot, pacing and development of characters seemed off a step.

A middling effort, but I finished it. I'm not one to finish a book just for the sake of finishing it - something needs to keep me going and this novel did. Luckily it's short length aided in reading one of Gibson's lessor works. Even a lessor work of Gibson's is better than most. Every writer is allowed books that don't quite hit the mark, especially if they, like Gibson, have p...more

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Jun 05, 2013 Charlie is currently reading it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This is the first book of the Bridge trilogy - I've actually read the third book already and liked it a great deal. There was an artfulness to the writing and characterization. This book does seem less polished and lacking some of nuance in All Tomorrow's Parties. But I think many people do not really understand Gibson - they read his books looking for technology and world-building, when Gibson is much more interested in psychology and characters. Specifically, he is describing what the post-ind...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Amarilli73 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Cupo futuro nel lontano 2005 “…tutt’intorno si sentiva il frastuono del commercio serale, il rumore di carte da gioco, la voce di una donna: il tramonto rosa come vino, attraverso teli di plastica che sbattevano come vele in un vento che odorava di cibi fritti, fumo di legna, l’aroma dolce ed oleoso della canapa indiana”, solo ... (continua)

“…tutt’intorno si sentiva il frastuono del commercio serale, il rumore di carte da gioco, la voce di una donna: il tramonto rosa come vino, attraverso teli...more Cupo futuro nel lontano 2005 “…tutt’intorno si sentiva il frastuono del commercio serale, il rumore di carte da gioco, la voce di una donna: il tramonto rosa come vino, attraverso teli di plastica che sbattevano come vele in un vento che odorava di cibi fritti, fumo di legna, l’aroma dolce ed oleoso della canapa indiana”, solo ... (continua)

“…tutt’intorno si sentiva il frastuono del commercio serale, il rumore di carte da gioco, la voce di una donna: il tramonto rosa come vino, attraverso teli di plastica che sbattevano come vele in un vento che odorava di cibi fritti, fumo di legna, l’aroma dolce ed oleoso della canapa indiana”, solo una frase, per rendere l’idea di un libro che è soprattutto opera visiva, sensoriale, dove la trama è portata avanti attraverso gli odori, i rumori, i particolari.

Diciamo che è uno di quei libri che non piace di primo impatto. Ci vuole qualche capitolo per abituarsi all’atmosfera plumbea e desolata (ma neanche troppo, perché poi, leggendo bene tra le righe, appaiono continui guizzi di divertimento, e momenti di puro abbandono ai sogni).

In questo “lontano” 2005, c’è un mondo sopravvissuto alla distruzione, che si difende con le unghie e con i denti, e che ha spazio per più storie e più ambientazioni. C’è il Ponte, una grigia struttura di ferro, cartone e resti di antichi edifici, con un’umanità varia e disperata, ma anche libera e solidale. Ci sono le città, ultramoderne e pericolose, dove nessuno conosce il proprio vicino di casa. C’è il mondo dei messaggeri, ultimi cavalieri su quattro ruote che sfrecciano da un punto all’altro, recando pacchi e segreti. Ci sono le sette neocristiane, quelle che credono che Dio sia nel televisore e pregano, imparando a memoria i vecchi film; ci sono gli ariani; ci sono i seguaci dell’omosessuale Shapely, che con il suo sangue ha dato origine al vaccino che ha salvato l’umanità dall’Aids, per poi essere ucciso dai soliti fanatici e trasformarsi in un martire divino.

Sopra a tutte queste microsocietà si erge una sovrastruttura ancor più confusionaria: polizia corrotta, servizi di sicurezza privati molto più potenti della polizia, gli hackers, pirati venali ed opportunisti.

E in questo caleidoscopio, due protagonisti che non si dimenticano: Chevette, la giovane corriere senza passato e senza sogni, disillusa ma anche capace di amare e di pensare al bene degli altri; Skinner, il vecchio che vive sul Ponte, l’unico che ricordi la differenza tra il primo e il secondo mondo, e che sopravvive vendendo i ricordi di quello che fu.

Come ho detto, non un libro facile, però visivamente ricco, confuso, ma con una confusione che ammalia. Dovrebbe essere considerato fantascienza, ma con spruzzi di poesia qua e là, come se Gibson ne fosse pieno, e si intestardisse a scrivere del futuro, non riuscendo, sull’onda della frase, a trattenersi…
Ma anche la poesia è la poesia di un mondo cupo e violento: “rimase ad aspettare il suo turno, nell’aria che sapeva di caffè appena macinato”. Alla fine, se ne esce quasi storditi, spossati ,però non delusi.

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Jun 23, 2012 Stephen Wallant rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh Yeah! I never was sure if I only liked William Gibson in high school because I was one of those "weird kids". But I picked up Virtual LIght at the Strand, and you know what? Oh it was real. Real GOOD! This wild collapsing bridge, full of strange heads and all kinds of cats. Cross country chases. An unusual bicycle. Guy's trippy glasses. Plus the cop stare! I TOTALLY get the cop stare. I told my old friend he had the cop stare and he had NO CLUE what I was trying to say. So I kept trying to pr...more

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May 21, 2011 Cyndy Aleo rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

A huge William Gibson fan, I honest have to say I had never read anything of his, from short stories to novels, that I ever truly hated. When Virtual Light was released back in 1993, I was there within the week to pay full retail for the hardcover and devour it with my usual relish. By the third paragraph, I realized I wasn't reading the usual Gibson novel, and by the time I was halfway through, I was pretty darn sure that I would never re-read the book. Well, never say never, because I've been...more A huge William Gibson fan, I honest have to say I had never read anything of his, from short stories to novels, that I ever truly hated. When Virtual Light was released back in 1993, I was there within the week to pay full retail for the hardcover and devour it with my usual relish. By the third paragraph, I realized I wasn't reading the usual Gibson novel, and by the time I was halfway through, I was pretty darn sure that I would never re-read the book. Well, never say never, because I've been ill and not able to do much other than read lately, and am trying to read more books to free through BookCrossing. I had truly forgotten everything about Virtual Light, but struggled through just to say I'd read it again before freeing it.

::: NoCal and SoCal, or Gibson As Done By John Jakes :::

Virtual Light is set in 2005, which may have seemed a long way off back in 1993, but makes the book even more painful when you read it "in the present." In Gibson's 2005, California is actually two separate entities: NoCal and SoCal, and the Golden Gate Bridge is little more than an elaborate junkyard civilization comprised of homeless people. We meet our two main characters, Berry Rydell and Chevette Washington, in two very different situations. Berry, a former police officer who was fired for killing a man holding his family hostage, is working as a private security guard when he and his partner are sent out on an assignment and authorized to use deadly force. Chevette is a bicycle messenger who ends up at a party and steals what appear to be a pair of sunglasses from an arrogant partygoer just because he annoyed her.

Of course, this being Gibson, Rydell learns that the communications system was hacked and there really was no need to drive the company-issued SUV through the house they were responding to, and Chevette learns that the sunglasses are more than just sunglasses, wanted by people willing to kill to get them back.

As Rydell accepts a freelance job to pay the rent and Chevette goes on the run after she and a friend from work are attacked for the glasses, the two characters end up working together, which of course, you expected all along. What the glasses are, why everyone wants them so badly, and how Chevette and Rydell get out of the mess they find themselves in is so convoluted and trite that you'll find yourself groaning as you turn each page.

::: When Gibson Isn't Gibson :::

There were so many things wrong with Virtual Light that I almost didn't know where to begin. Gibson, of course, is best known for his novel Neuromancer, the father of all cyberpunk novels. With Virtual Light, he hits way too close to the present for the story to be very believable. The concept of the bridge as a sort of homeless camp set up after an earthquake decimates the area just seems a bit too cutesy and contrived, and the use of a sociology student studying life on the bridge as an expository method seems like a failed lesson right out of Fiction Writing 101.

Gibson's characters are drawn so thinly that not only can the reader not muster up the desire to care about them, I don't think he did either. Chevette's boyfriend is a caricature, placed only as a plot device, and in such an obvious way as to say "Hey! Look at me! You'll see my use later!" Silly little props like a business card Rydell gets during the backstory are such obvious plants that I was almost wondering if they were paid product placement.

As you can imagine, the plot plods along like a dot-to-dot picture. Gibson plops down points A, B, and C, which we will later join up with points D, E, and F, most of the time, in the exact order in which they were presented. Rydell meets an annoying woman on the plane, and OF COURSE they run into her later. Rydell's partner belonged to a religious sect who believes God is in reruns of old movies on television, and of course, they come into play later on. As do the hackers. It's so predictable that instead of anticipating a big climax, you find yourself falling asleep at the end, just wondering when it will all be over.

Virtual Light would have been a disappointing read no matter who the author was, but the fact that it is Gibson makes it a staggering disappointment.

This review originally published on Epinions: http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_V...(less)

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Dec 20, 2010 Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cyberpunk, science-fiction

Gibson explores the possibilities of science fiction as now, and begins to do a few things. First, he begins to explore the possibilities of being a novelist in a larger, more classical sense, because he does in fact take himself pretty seriously as a writer. And secondly, he starts writing books that are only vaguely science fiction, and could pretty easily be mistaken for contemporary fiction.

The plot of the book jumps around at first. It's a bit confusing, but after a few chapters you get th...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Oddmonster rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-punk-fi

Rydell picked up Monica's copy of People and found a picture of Gudrun Weaver and the Reverend Wayne Fallon. Gudrun Weaver looked like an actress in her forties. Fallon looked like a possum with hair-implants and a ten-thousand-dollar tuxedo.

Synopsis: In post-apocalyptic California, two people's lives collide. Rydell, a rent-a-cop who attracts trouble like *ahem* honey attracts flies, and Chevette, just a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time, unaware that she's stepped in it, bigtime, on an...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Moontyger rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cyberpunk, science-fiction

I really love Gibson's writing, particularly his vivid imagery, and this book is no exception. You can see it from the very first page and it really helps to build a world and draw the reader in. (I considered quoting here, but decided to let you read it for yourself.)

The setting suffers from the common flaw of near-future SF in that we've now passed the year this book is set in and the world he's depicted does not exist. But it still feels both real and possible in many aspects.

Unlike most oth...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

The last time I read this book was in the mid-90s. It came out in 1993, nine years after Gibson's Neuromancer, the novel that coined the phrase "cyberspace" and posited a world where we'd all be interconnected through an information network. He was wrong about the virtual reality stuff, but right about almost everything else. If Neuromancer was somewhat predictive of the future, Virtual Light reads like someone had gone to the future of 2005 and sent a postcard back to us.
Reading it now and rea...more The last time I read this book was in the mid-90s. It came out in 1993, nine years after Gibson's Neuromancer, the novel that coined the phrase "cyberspace" and posited a world where we'd all be interconnected through an information network. He was wrong about the virtual reality stuff, but right about almost everything else. If Neuromancer was somewhat predictive of the future, Virtual Light reads like someone had gone to the future of 2005 and sent a postcard back to us.
Reading it now and reading it in 1995 are two different experiences. Back then, I read this and saw a future that was advanced, but full of sickness and decay. I saw some hope because humans had ingenuity, but despair because of waste and pollution. Now, I read it and it seems that we're only a few years away from things like the disappearance of the middle class, the privatization of public space, the adulteration of natural resources, and the occupying of space by squatters who turn unused space into a living space.
It's the future, AIDS has been cured, but new diseases pop up. Journalism and entertainment have merged to give us shows like Cops in Trouble, a show that Fox would be proud to show. Berry Rydell was a cop in trouble because he shot a guy who held his family hostage, and was subsequently sued by said family for his trouble. But in the midst of all this, a new story comes up about a cop who shoots a serial killer that preys on children and Rydell becomes yesterday's news before his story hits the air. Trapped in Los Angeles, Rydell again becomes a victim of circumstance and computer hackers as he gets fired and ends up working as a driver for a bounty hunter in San Francisco.
Chevette Washington lives on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco (the suspension side, not the cantilever side; it makes a difference in the book). She's in her early 20s, a ward of the state who was abandoned by her mother, and who made it from an orphanage in Oregon with barbed wire surrounding it, to NoCal and was taken in by Skinner, an old man who was there when the homeless occupied the bridge. In the book, she's lived there for some time and is a bike messenger. Some guy at a party she accidentally walked into hit on her in an obnoxious way and she stole a pair of very valuable glasses from him to shut him up. These aren't ordinary glasses though. They act as both MacGuffin and object through which social commentary on gentrification is dispersed.
Rydell and Chevette's paths cross. And that's what this book is about. Intersections. Just as the Bay Bridge becomes a living place that used to connect two cities but is now a place where many people's lives connect, we also see what happens when rich and poor meet, when technology and art meet, and when reality and entertainment meet. Gibson not only wrote a good story, but could predict things like the rise and fall of the Euro, the use of drones by law enforcement, and the shrinking of the middle class, and make them only passing mentions in this book to add color and background to the story.
While reading, I saw I had used many of his conventions in stories I have written, but forgotten where they'd come from. Things like jumping in time chronologically, using objects for something different than they had been intended for, and characters with convoluted pasts dealing with the situations they find themselves in now, are themes I recognize in my writing. But ultimately, that's what good writing comes down to. You write something that other writers "steal" without realizing they have "stolen" it. Like the bridge in the story, it all melds together to form a new place, a new setting, and a new way to look at things. This look at the "future" of 2005 helps us to see our present in a new way.
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Apr 22, 2008 Abigayle rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Geeks, nerds and high-tech / Sci-fi types

I really liked this book, more for Gibson's vision and imagination than for the actual story though. The plot was kind of canned, and the action had a strange pace, but there were some genuinely gripping parts. And as ever, the little details about this alternate/future reality that are peppered into the story are a reason in themselves to love Gibson.

And seriously, who wouldn't want to live on the Bay Bridge?

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Jul 03, 2012 Mike Roberts rated it 4 of 5 stars

The last time I read this book was 10+ years ago. After I recently traveled to San Francisco, where a lot of this book is set, I wanted to re-read it. I remember it as being ok, but not his best, and certainly not as good as the last book in this 'Bridge Trilogy' - 'All Tomorrow's Parties'.

I was also a little trepidatious about doing so since a relatively recent re-read of Neuromancer did not hold up to my memories.

It turned out though that Virtual Light is much, much better than I remembered. T...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Nigel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have a couple of distinct memories of this book from the first time I read it: the cop getting into trouble and then getting involved with a TV show about cops who get in trouble; and the vision of the city building itself when Chevette puts on the glasses. What I didn't notice, or don't remember noticing at the time, is that Gibson, compared frequently to Chandler for reasons I never quite cottoned to, is clearly doing Elmore Leonard. It's slightly easier to spot now, because Rydell immediate...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013, science-fiction

It's been years since I read this the first time, and it's certainly not what I'd call one of Gibson's best efforts. But I had to read it again, mainly because Idoru has been sitting around here calling my name, and I really want to read that one again. And then the next - All Tomorrow's Parties.

The downside of Virtual Light is that it's a story about a pair of sunglasses. Sure, they have some added capabilities which I will avoid spoiling for you here, but really... they're just some really coo...more

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May 31, 2009 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This book is not as tight as Neuromancer or Count Zero (I thought Mona Lisa Overdrive was terribly disappointing), but I still have a powerful affection for it because I read it on the train between Bratislava and Krakow and was deeply inspired by the surroundings. It brings up great memories for me, and overall I think its first 20-30 pages are totally beyond brilliant. The rest of it I found very enjoyable, but again, I didn't think it was as spot-on as Gibson's first two novels. Good fun, int...more

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May 29, 2013 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Gibson is always good. Even on his worst days (which, this may be one of them) he's still got better ideas and characters than other authors at their best. But this wasn't great. The world-building took too long and didn't figure prominently enough in the wrap-up to be worth it. Maybe this is because post-apocalyptic cityscapes are old hat now (...that we live in The Future?), so readers (I) don't need chapters of description. You can do a minimum of sketching of a culture of squatters living on...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first William Gibson and cyberpunk book I've ever read, and I really enjoyed reading it for a few reasons.

First, the setting is painted really well. The story is set in a very cool, post-apocalyptic San Franciso of the near future (2005). I would describe it as a very "90s" view of the future, and therefore, kind of dismal as a result. If all those things sound good to you, I highly recommend that you read Virtual Light regardless of what some other reviewers say about the plot. Gib...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Peter marked it as to-read · review of another edition

SUMMARY: 2005: Welcome to NoCal and SoCal, the uneasy sister-states of what used to be California. Here the millenium has come and gone, leaving in its wake only stunned survivors. In Los Angeles, Berry Rydell is a former armed-response rentacop now working for a bounty hunter. Chevette Washington is a bicycle messenger turned pickpocket who impulsively snatches a pair of innocent-looking sunglasses. But these are no ordinary shades. What you can see through these high-tech specs can make you ri...more

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Aug 18, 2010 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

"Virtual Light" is the story of a bike messenger, Chevette Washington, who becomes the target of a manhunt after stealing a mysterious pair of sunglasses from a rude party-goer. Berry Rydell is a former police officer and current rent-a-cop drifting from job to job after losing his job when he killed a suspect in an altercation.

Although lacking in the scope of narrative and astonishing world building of "Neuromancer" and the rest of Gibson's Sprawl trilogy, "Virtual Light" proves to be an enjoya...more

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Dec 25, 2010 Terence rated it 4 of 5 stars

A bit of an unusual start to the trilogy for Gibson. He uses his trademark style for telling you about several characters' unrelated lives that eventually intersect in several ways, some of which you can't see coming in this case. His eye for detail really shines in this book the same way it did in Mona Lisa Overdrive, so pay attention to the little things he references often. He takes some risks that pay off and some that don't (which I won't ruin here,) and the end is a little muddled, but he...more

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Oct 16, 2010 Max Renn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Part two of the William Gibson re-read project. Following quickly on the heels of the Blue Ant trilogy, and not having read the Bridge Trilogy for some time, I am struck by the vigorous naturalism of this book.

It will sound strange, particularly since this book is designed by Harakawa Sisco in what was im sure at the time a very hip but destined to date badly 'cyber' style, but this might actually be the grittiest, most organic of the three Gibson trilogies.

If the Blue Ant trilogy feels more lik...more

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May 30, 2013 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: oro-valley-sci-fi-book-club, genre-sci-fi, 2013-05-pan-reading-spring, 2013-pan-new-to-me-authors, 2013-pan-new-to-me-series, alternate-future, genre-dystopia-or-post-apocalyptic, pcpl-read, stars-4-very-good-or-really-liked

Much to my surprise, I really liked this story. I am surprised because it got off to a rough start for me due to the author's writing style for this book: kind of disjointed and rambling. I'm also not quite sure how this work falls under the heading of science fiction, as it does not include elements of what I understand sci-fi to be. Then again, most post-apocalyptic fiction seems to be classified under other genres, and I guess sci-fi was the closest fit for this story due to the advanced sate...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Isabel rated it 5 of 5 stars

And maybe, in that instant of weird clarity, with Gunhead's crumpled front end still trying to climb the shredded remains of a pair of big leather sofas, and with the memory of Kenneth Turvey's death finally real before him, Rydell had come to the conclusion that the high crazy thing, that rush of Going For It, was maybe something that wasn't always quite entirely to be trusted.

"Virtual Light" was first published in 1993 and is set in 2005. Rydell is an ex-cop and ex-security guard, who has been...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Ryan Schneider rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was introduced to William Gibson in one of my college English survey courses. It's a fantastic futuristic science fiction yarn by one of the all-time masters of the genre. William Gibson is the guy who pretty much invented the Internet (NOT you-know-who), insofar as he conceived of it and wrote about it. A lot of technology is derived from the books which predate it.

In VIRTUAL LIGHT, Gibson has a great time exploring a not-too-distant future San Francisco, in which the Golden Gate Bridge is a...more

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Jan 03, 2010 Brooke rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, science-fiction

Was rather disappointed by this one, and I'm starting to get the feeling that Gibson's been writing the same book over and over. While the technology mattered in Gibson's Sprawl trilogy, Virtual Light seemed more like a on-the-run-from-bad-guys thriller set in a vagueishly sci-fi setting. The tech that was stolen could have just as well been a candy bar. I wanted to find out more about the plan on the tech (to rebuild San Fran after an earthquake), the Bay Bridge community, and all the other int...more

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May 16, 2008 Matthew rated it 3 of 5 stars

i would've given it two stars if it wasn't for the whole refugee squatter village on the bay bridge scenario. otherwise, a bunch of unfulfilled semi-interesting ideas.

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Feb 26, 2011 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

I remember reading this novel and liking it. I don't have a firm recollection of the entire story, but I remember thinking how it was an interesting switch from the "universe" that formed the backdrop of his three earlier works (The steampunk collaboration being a whole different ball o'wax.)

Apparently I wasn't the only one to like it as well. It (as most of his other books) was liked by the SF audience and listed for an award or two. This one was a Hugo finalist and on the Locus Award list, too...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Svetlana rated it 4 of 5 stars

In and of itself Virtual Light is a solid near-futuristic cyber-punk thriller. A fascinating portrait of the bridge made me think of China Mieville's work and that's always welcome.
If I'd read it as a first piece of a stand-alone trilogy, I'd have been awed. Such as it is, I read it straight after Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy and the thing that hit me the most is that speculations (often visionary) of technological developments and of the future of computer-human interface play a disappointingly litt...more

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About William Gibson

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, having coined the term cyberspace in 1982 and popularized it in his first novel, Neuromancer(1984), which has sold more than 6.5 million copies wor...more

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Quotes from Virtual Light

“Well,' Rydell said, trying to pick up his end, 'I was watching this one old movie last night-'

Sublett perked up. 'Which one?'

Dunno,' Rydell said. 'This guy's in L.A. and he's just met this girl. Then he picks up a pay phone, 'cause it's ringing. Late at night. It's some guy in a missile silo somewhere who knows they've just launched theirs at the Russians. He's trying to phone his dad, or his brother, or something. Says the world's gonna end in short order. Then the guy who answered the phone hears these soldiers come in and shoot the guy. The guy on the phone, I mean.'

Suhlett closed his eyes, scanning his inner trivia-banks. 'Yeah? How's it end?'

Dunno,' Rydell said. 'I went to sleep.” — 1 person liked it

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title link	preview: Virtual Light
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22326.Virtual_Light?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167348715l/22326.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22326.Virtual_Light?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Virtual Light by William Gibson[/url]

Virtual Light (Bridge #1)

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