Idoru

Synopsis

Idoru is a 1996 science fiction novel by William Gibson, published in the United States by G. P. Putnam's Sons. It is the second novel in Gibson's Bridge trilogy, following Virtual Light and preceding All Tomorrow's Parties. Set mainly in a near-future Tokyo rebuilt after a major earthquake, Idoru follows two converging plotlines. Colin Laney, a former data analyst with an unusual ability to detect significant patterns in information, is hired to investigate Rez, one half of the rock duo Lo/Rez, after Rez announces his intention to marry Rei Toei, a virtual Japanese celebrity. Chia Pet McKenzie, a teenage fan from Seattle, travels to Tokyo to learn whether the rumor is true and becomes caught in a scheme involving illegal nanotechnology. Critical discussion of the novel has focused on its treatment of virtual celebrity, Japanese media culture, embodiment, and the relation between physical and digital spaces. Rei Toei has been read as both a media construct and a figure through which the novel examines desire, artificial personality, and the boundary between human and nonhuman identity. The novel's virtual reconstruction of Kowloon Walled City, Hak Nam, has also been discussed as one of the Bridge Trilogy's central interstitial spaces. Idoru received generally favorable contemporary reviews, with critics praising Gibson's style, Tokyo setting, and treatment of media-saturated near-future culture, while some found the pacing or ending less successful. The novel placed sixth in the 1997 Locus Poll Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

Text license: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Details

Type

Book

Release date

September 4, 1996

Genres

cyberpunk, science fiction

Created by

William Gibson

Countries

United States