[.ca] All Tomorrows Parties (ISBN 0425190447)

From Amazon.com:
Although Colin Laney (from Gibson's earlier novel Idoru) lives in a cardboard box, he has the power to change the world. Thanks to an experimental drug that he received during his youth, Colin can see "nodal points" in the vast streams of data that make up the worldwide computer network. Nodal points are rare but significant events in history that forever change society, even though they might not be recognizable as such when they occur. Colin isn't quite sure what's going to happen when society reaches this latest nodal point, but he knows it's going to be big. And he knows it's going to occur on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, which has been home to a sort of SoHo-esque shantytown since an earthquake rendered it structurally unsound to carry traffic. Colin sends Barry Rydell (last seen in Gibson's novel Virtual Light) to the bridge to find a mysterious killer who reveals himself only by his lack of presence on the Net. Barry is also entrusted with a strange package that seems to be the home of Rei Toi, the computer-generated "idol singer" who once tried to "marry" a human rock star (she's also from Idoru). Barry and Rei Toi are eventually joined by Barry's old girlfriend Chevette (from Virtual Light) and a young boy named Silencio who has an unnatural fascination with watches. Together this motley assortment of characters holds the key to stopping billionaire Cody Harwood from doing whatever it is that will make sure he still holds the reigns of power after the nodal point takes place. Although All Tomorrow's Parties includes characters from two of Gibson's earlier novels, it's not a direct sequel to either. It's a stand-alone book that is possibly Gibson's best solo work since Neuromancer. In the past, Gibson has let his brilliant prose overwhelm what were often lackluster (or nonexistent) story lines, but this book has it all: a good story, electric writing, and a group of likable and believable characters who are out to save the world ... kind of. The ending is not quite as supercharged as the rest of the novel and so comes off a bit flat, but overall this is definitely a winner. --Craig E. Engler

This book is pointless:
I'll give it two stars only because as a reveiwer's quote from the cover says, he's a great "stylist." I'm used to think I was a huge Gibson fan, but this book left completely cold. The story lines are pointless, characters poorly developed, and the conclusion is a big yawn. Don't waste your money on this one.

A failure:
Like so many others, I thought Neuromancer was a great book. I also enjoyed Mona-Lisa Overdrive, Burning Chrome, and Count Zero, to varying degrees. Virtual Light ... well, not much of a story there, was there? Idoru was slightly better, but all the trinkets and prose could only barely hide the lack of story; there's not even any real antagonist. In All Tomorrow's Parties the trinkets and prose fail completely. We have seen the bridge before, and it seems the only person who is in love with it is William Gibson himself. "Something big is going to happen" chapter after chapter tells us, but you start to suspect more and more that the author will fail to show us anything. Trust your instincts. Nothing is shown. The "nodal point" is never to be seen, and you get no hint whatsoever about what kind of change has been made in the world, if any, or where it would lead, if anywhere. Gibson fails to provide a conclusion, leaving the end just as hollow as the rest of the book. All we get is some surrealism with the antagonist physically disappearing into the "flow of information" sort of. So we have the Walled City, the Bridge, cameras hanging from balloons, a drug called dancer, a chain of supermarkets with cameras by the entrance. Then we have a bunch of characters moving to and fro on the bridge, discussing it constantly to mirror Gibson's fascination with his own creation, and sometimes killing each other. This is what we are offered instead of a story. I'm glad I read this book at the library instead of buying it.

THE WORST BOOK I'VE EVER READ!!:
There is nothing compelling in this novel. The characters are flat and dull. I was not moved by anyone in the novel. The setting is bland and uninspired. There is no action, suspense, or mystery!!! I cannot even begin to describe how bad this book is as it would take so long and explore so many issues. The fact that people gave this book 4-5 stars says how terribly poor the cyber, cyber-fantasy, cyber-punk genres are!!! In any other genre this book would never see the light of day!!!!

Not much of a story really and a little too weird:
I keep hoping for another book as good as "Neuromancer" but not finding it. I don't think Gibson has another like that one in him. I barely finished this one and in the end was disappointed concluding that I shouldn't have bothered.

Like Pulp Fiction...only post apocalyptic, with computers...:
I had to read this book twice, the first time through, the first 100 pages or so were a little slow. The stories were just a little to spaced apart for me, and having only read Neuromancer, the characters seemed to rapidly introduced. The last half of the book, however, moved so rapidly, and combined all of the seemingly disjointed storylines from the first half into a smooth flowing mind blowing cataclysmic conclusion. Wow. The second time I read the book, which was after reading Idoru, and Virtual Light, (the other two books in the Rydell/Chevette/Colin Laney/Yamazaki/The Bridge saga) I was absolutely floored. This confirmed my hypothesis, Gibson is a Genious, and his works should be on everyone's shelves, regardless of their degree of technophilia.