Gibson’s strengths here are the world building and setting, and the, as usual, his uncanny ability to tap into social dynamics, particularly around deviations and evolutions of language. A kind of occupy movement springing up from a natural disaster in this near future is captivating.

Hanging on from this is a pretty handwavy Macguffin. The titular virtual light doesn’t really get explained in a satisfying way, as to why it’s driving so much plot. But I think the plot is the side show regardless. Most of the enjoyment hinges on being and experiencing the world in the presentation of the book.

It’s one of the more enjoyable experiences I’ve had with Gibson. His writing comes a long way, in terms of dialogue especially, from the Neuromancer days. That said, it sure drags sometimes because of how subjective the interest can be, with the plot not serving as a hook. Then again, it’s a pretty short book, so you aren’t waiting around for long, either.

3.5 rounded up

The hype surround this is well deserved and I don’t think I have all that much to add to the conversation. I want to read Huckberry now, as it may enhance my experience. Even still, this is undeniably clever and has the hallmarks of Everett’s satirical mode, swinging from comedy to tragedy, keeping it always in line with larger thematics and strong messaging.

I suspect I’d have liked this more had I read it solely from the page. I can’t really imagine experiencing The Trees as an audiobook, since the generation of the fiction coming from me, rather than the telling of the story to me, as in an audiobook, felt quite important to the impact of that story. I think doing the audiobook here along with the book slightly robbed me of the same… organic? experience.

Regardless, this reminded me of O Brother, Where Art Thou? Very high praise, from me. That movie is brilliant and this work is just as much, if not more. I do wonder what it’s like, if you’re familiar with the book it’s in conversation with.

Probably even more slow than the first in the trilogy, the tech and insights into social constructs resonates all the more deeply today. The emotional complexity in this are more fulfilling than any other Gibson novel I’ve tried yet, too. To marry that with the seemingly vapid and ephemeral of celebrity, intimacy, and a more organic and analog cyberspace—really made this feel like Gibson’s chops were shining through.

Even more bold that it’s in a cyberpunk near future, where people expect propulsive action. The counter culture vs mono culture feels much more rich and nuanced. Not simply rebellion and fight co opting, but tapping into the general intellect in many ways. Where the previous Virtual Light has little to no ramifications on the plot or, really, the social aspects the book interrogates, the high tech part of the low life milieu here is integral to how everyone interacts with their phone, their social media, and the commodification of data that comes with influencers being big business.

The book does fall down somewhat in the usual areas. Most predominately a not altogether convincing portrayal of marginalized cultures, much like rastas in Neuromancer. But it is more developed here too. If I were more familiar with the culture I could critique it better. As is, it just feels off. For a while this book remained four stars, but I just felt it came together so well, and in such a different way than most cyberpunk books, that I just really wanted to set it as a cut above.

4.5 rounded up

This felt like the least convincing of the three, mostly because it is so frenetically paced and relies on the reader already being aware of the characters, that it attempts to be a much more plotty novel, when the other two aren’t like that pretty much whatsoever. But the real issue, for me, was that because of this change-up, each character didn’t feel very situated in the setting anymore, whereas that area was where they excelled in the previous books. So, basically it made the finale feel incongruous with the others.

That said, there’s fun to be had here. Though the characters aren’t that well developed, the people who read primarily for plot will finally be satiated. And thematically, the interplay between the books feels as taut as ever. Surprisingly optimistic even, in a kill your darlings kind-of-way.

The strength of this, for me, was from how thematically sound it is. Focused on repression, our two detectives are diametric opposites. A tight lipped and taught woman and main character, the other emotional and an anxious ball of a man. They catch a case at a community that has pulled away from technology, the brutal, sexual nature of the death unearths the characters’ past while pitting them against the community itself. Then there’s the subjugates themselves, who are… “reformed”, extremely violent offenders which live close by and help out the townsfolk with free labour.

There’s repression everywhere and I feel the messaging was nuanced and landed well. The prose work and other aspects do feel quite commercial and vary from believable to not so believable dialogue, convenient plot beats, and a will-they-won’t-they. Without the thematics it would have been fairly forgettable, but it is a stand out, and it’s a fast paced police procedural ride.

3.5 rounded up

A wild truly SFF mashup, with fantasy elements and science fiction both. Sentient and genetic inheritance of god-like powers, nothing is really off the table, giving it a sense that anything could happen, which only grows as the story goes on and becomes more bombastic.

Unfortunately, this nonsensical attitude both helps and hinders it. It becomes a very fun ride, but also cherry picks what elements from the start end up being explored, and which become uncomfortable tropes. The characters took a back seat as the action unfolds and they were the things that made the book so engaging, since it’s pretty much impossible to predict what to expect. It is so gonzo the reader needs to be invested in plot twist surprises, rather than the characters, and I am not that kind of reader.

It is a really fun book, and it does manage to hit some themes. But I would have liked it if it fleshed out those aspects along with the characters, who felt, if anything, somewhat denigrated, for the sake of some antagonistic plot beats.

This story is really elegant. Focusing on a man simply ascribed as Journeyman, in an isolated rural community post-event disabling all tech from working, save for a strange nuclear drill, we follow a simple moral dilemma. An outsider enters the otherwise well community and entangles himself in the personal life of the MC. Fallout ensues.

It’s just executed really, really well, though. Characterization is great. I have always enjoyed ideologues done well. Here it is the crux of the well turning plot. It’s also hard to pin down. It’s weird enough that you’re never completely sure about anything, so it’s mysterious, which in turn whets the appetite for more information about the world building, done organically. It’s easy to picture the strange world, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

By far and away the best work I’ve read from Chuck, so far. There are some staples of his I typically am not impressed with: a fantastical element that tends to feel like it facilitates deus ex machina moments, a penchant for shock factors (particularly when it comes to gore and sex), and interesting themes that take a back seat to the shocking and large twist.

This, though, actually complete worked for me, despite it having all of those features. In a near(ish) future, we hear from day timers and night timers and other weird self ascribed, seemingly, titles—the life of Rant is described. His intersections of a life hit on so many organic and important themes for today. Post-Covid, their post-outbreak world makes more sense, as does the radicalization and distillation of children birthed post catastrophe. The rural poor and home life, as well as his bypassing of social norms. All of it is interesting and convincing.

But where it actually goes to feels as organic as the Fight Club movie, and even more: it’s really, really fun. The world building is wild and drives the plot beats. The timeline is so complex, important plot beats tend to be reiterated, which is slightly annoying, but also a necessity. It’s my only quibble. It’s hard to talk about more of it without it being massively spoiled, and not knowing anything really fuelled my enjoyment of this.

Way more tight than Dark Matter, which feels like it blows its load as soon as the final twist is revealed. This structure and the series of complications per timeline is immensely more interesting. Tight pacing, lots of suspense, and a cinematic quality I really like. Fantastic.

There are sections of this I enjoyed very much, and it is undoubtedly inventive and stylish. But it also vacillates to pretty long sections I found fairly boring. This is probably a byproduct of dual authors, or perhaps their being enamoured with aspects of the life I am not. For instance, historical inaccuracy is a bit too granular, as is the verisimilitude, for my tastes. If I was more interested in the period though, it would have probably not felt like a drag at all, so it’s somewhat hard to rate.

For fans of steampunk, this is not necessarily a slam dunk. It’s more literary than more genre fiction, and it doesn’t bother being concerned with expectations the readers may have as such. There’s plenty of great writing here too. It’s just getting to the sections that were both great and I found of interest. I am not a historical fiction reader either, I’d say, so the fact it kept me going at all may be a feat.