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adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After the first 20 pages I realized this is less of a sci-fi and more of a surreal thing, and once I accepted that, it flowed better. Eventually I liked that in this book you just don't get how this universe is working. But that's a problem too, because you're not sure about the weight/consequence of things that happen. I didn't really feel the pain of the characters, but sometimes I felt their disgust.
[minor spoilers from here on about what kind of ending the book has, but not about what it is]
I really liked the ending, it was a great visionary scene with a non-traditional ending, but the last two pages were superfluous, they explained something I didn't want explained, and it had no bearing on characters or story. The book should end at that minor fourth wall break at the end. It would be a perfect way to end it.
It was a very enjoyable read with a great (then botched) ending, but it's missing something for me to be really great. Maybe if the book had more of that ending scene (it has some in the middle), and less of characters just running around getting stuff and random people helping them because why not. Maybe the universe of the book is already so surreal it couldn't really top it in the drug scenes. But then again, it's kind of the point I guess.
[minor spoilers from here on about what kind of ending the book has, but not about what it is]
I really liked the ending, it was a great visionary scene with a non-traditional ending, but the last two pages were superfluous, they explained something I didn't want explained, and it had no bearing on characters or story. The book should end at that minor fourth wall break at the end. It would be a perfect way to end it.
It was a very enjoyable read with a great (then botched) ending, but it's missing something for me to be really great. Maybe if the book had more of that ending scene (it has some in the middle), and less of characters just running around getting stuff and random people helping them because why not. Maybe the universe of the book is already so surreal it couldn't really top it in the drug scenes. But then again, it's kind of the point I guess.
This book is a fever dream. Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? No. Would I read it again? Possibly…I almost want to dive back in on page one just to try and make some sense of it all. Which is pointless as I know this style of book well by now and it’s best to let most if not all its quirks wash over you. I enjoyed many elements of this. It felt like the love child of Irvine Welsh, Philip K Dick and Christopher Nolan with a sprinkling of Vandermeer or Mieville🤔 as much as I loved how adventurous it was, how multi- dimensional it was and damn right weird, there are some uncomfortable things that I really hope don’t reflect Noon’s beliefs…see trigger warnings. Other than that I’d have liked the characters to have been a bit fuller, with a real sense of identity. Absolutely mad reading here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Violence
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reading this book was a little like chewing glass. Really thought it might be a good idea but likely to leave you with a mouth full of sand.
That metaphor makes about as much sense as 90% of the book, and that's not including the weird incest, alien creatures and strange interludes.
I think I need to just stop reading books with a vague computer science basis because I don't enjoy them.
OH SHIT I FORGOT THE DOGS??????? THe DOG sEX?? and Dog PEoplE??
(I was gifted a copy of vurt by @angryrobotbooks)
That metaphor makes about as much sense as 90% of the book, and that's not including the weird incest, alien creatures and strange interludes.
I think I need to just stop reading books with a vague computer science basis because I don't enjoy them.
OH SHIT I FORGOT THE DOGS??????? THe DOG sEX?? and Dog PEoplE??
(I was gifted a copy of vurt by @angryrobotbooks)
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
This is a brilliant and hugely original urban fantasy with hints of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Dhalgren by Samuel R Delaney.
The narrator/ protagonist Scribble and his mates Beetle, new girl Mandy, shadowgirl Bridget and The Thing-from-Outer-Space are the Stash Riders; they buy and use feathers which provide shared hallucinogenic experiences akin to playing computer games. Pink feathers are pornovurts, blue feathers offer safe desires, black are bootleg vurts, "one sliver beyond the law" and yellow feathers are the most extreme, offering experiences you can't jerk out of: "if you die in a yellow dream, you die in real life." Scribble is searching for his sister Desdemona, who got left behind in the vurtual (sic) world; he needs to find the right feather and re-enter the world to bring her back.
So the story is a classic hero's adventure in which Scribble, a superbly flawed hero, aided by his friends, must enter another realm, presided over by Game Cat, perform tasks, build up knowledge, win things of value, rescue the princess and return to the real world. Perhaps there is a bit of Orpheus going down to the underworld to rescue Eurydice. It's a story of heroism and sacrifice. There are twists. (To be honest, I got a little bit lost in the middle of the book: it;s a complicated plot.)
The world-building is gradual and brilliant. The streets of Manchester form a real backdrop to a world people by 'pure's and hybrids between humans and shadows and robots and dogs and vurts. There's a lot of action. There are cops and robocops and shadowcops, there is sex and there are drugs and there is rock'n'roll, there are car chases and shoot-outs and The Thing-from-Outer-Space. There is 'dripfeed' (state benefits) and 'droidlocks' (dreadlocks on a robocrusty) and The Haunting (a sort of deja-vu which muddles rality with vurt) and Cortex Jammers and pedheads (pedestrians) and jerkouts and Karmachanics. It is a vivid combination of the real and the surreal, the everyday and the fantastic. It works superbly.
The narrator/ protagonist Scribble and his mates Beetle, new girl Mandy, shadowgirl Bridget and The Thing-from-Outer-Space are the Stash Riders; they buy and use feathers which provide shared hallucinogenic experiences akin to playing computer games. Pink feathers are pornovurts, blue feathers offer safe desires, black are bootleg vurts, "one sliver beyond the law" and yellow feathers are the most extreme, offering experiences you can't jerk out of: "if you die in a yellow dream, you die in real life." Scribble is searching for his sister Desdemona, who got left behind in the vurtual (sic) world; he needs to find the right feather and re-enter the world to bring her back.
So the story is a classic hero's adventure in which Scribble, a superbly flawed hero, aided by his friends, must enter another realm, presided over by Game Cat, perform tasks, build up knowledge, win things of value, rescue the princess and return to the real world. Perhaps there is a bit of Orpheus going down to the underworld to rescue Eurydice. It's a story of heroism and sacrifice. There are twists. (To be honest, I got a little bit lost in the middle of the book: it;s a complicated plot.)
The world-building is gradual and brilliant. The streets of Manchester form a real backdrop to a world people by 'pure's and hybrids between humans and shadows and robots and dogs and vurts. There's a lot of action. There are cops and robocops and shadowcops, there is sex and there are drugs and there is rock'n'roll, there are car chases and shoot-outs and The Thing-from-Outer-Space. There is 'dripfeed' (state benefits) and 'droidlocks' (dreadlocks on a robocrusty) and The Haunting (a sort of deja-vu which muddles rality with vurt) and Cortex Jammers and pedheads (pedestrians) and jerkouts and Karmachanics. It is a vivid combination of the real and the surreal, the everyday and the fantastic. It works superbly.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know if the later works of Jeff Noon grant him the status of full-fledged virtuoso, but his debut novel is one mad and insanely thrilling ride. A work of genius.
Set in a dystopian Manchester, this book focuses on Scribble, a drug-addled young man and his search of his sister Desdemona, lost to the "Vurt" universe; a series of shared virtual realities in which the user can feel pain or pleasure. Vurt World is only accessible through the use of different types of colored feathers. Scribble's quest proves more difficult that expected. Along with his gang, the Stash Riders, he encounters bizarre and hostile characters and insurmountable obstacles.
I never wanted Vurt to end. It is one of those books that have the potential to revolutionize a genre and inspire generations of artists. Truly a game-changer.
The bleak and sinister atmosphere of Jeff Noon's Manchester coupled with the humorous, often melancholic and psychotic tone, the exceptional diversity of compelling and original characters and the mind-numbing features of the 'Vurtverse' will never cease to fascinate me. Any fan of Weird fiction/Cyber-punk/Fantasy/sci-fi should thoroughly enjoy this.
Set in a dystopian Manchester, this book focuses on Scribble, a drug-addled young man and his search of his sister Desdemona, lost to the "Vurt" universe; a series of shared virtual realities in which the user can feel pain or pleasure. Vurt World is only accessible through the use of different types of colored feathers. Scribble's quest proves more difficult that expected. Along with his gang, the Stash Riders, he encounters bizarre and hostile characters and insurmountable obstacles.
I never wanted Vurt to end. It is one of those books that have the potential to revolutionize a genre and inspire generations of artists. Truly a game-changer.
The bleak and sinister atmosphere of Jeff Noon's Manchester coupled with the humorous, often melancholic and psychotic tone, the exceptional diversity of compelling and original characters and the mind-numbing features of the 'Vurtverse' will never cease to fascinate me. Any fan of Weird fiction/Cyber-punk/Fantasy/sci-fi should thoroughly enjoy this.