I Read Books: Mona Lisa Overdrive
Like in Count Zero, Gibson follows a number of characters; Mona, a teen prostitute who resembles Simstim star Angie Mitchell who gets involved in a plot to kidnap Mitchell; Angie Mitchell herself, who has/had biochips in her brain that allowed her to talk to the AI voodoo gods of the matrix; Slick Henry, an ex-con whose memory forming abilities were messed with in prison who builds robots in the wilderness and finds himself caring for Count Zero (Angie’s ex) and a computer he’s plugged into called the Aleph; and Kumiko, the daughter of a Yakuza chief who has been sent away because of a gang war.
All of them find their lives twisted by the attempt of 3Jane from Neuromancer’s attempt to get revenge and/or control over everyone who freed the AIs in that novel.
Some secrets come out, there are some explanations and a couple of smart ideas are expounded. Yet it felt as though it was trying to tie up the loose ends of Count Zero (and to a lesser extent Neuromancer), expanding a little on what went on there rather than jumping ahead. The world hasn’t changed since Neuromancer, it’s still grim and dark and sometimes shiny and bright.
Read This: For a satisfying finale to the questions posed by Count Zero
Don’t Read This: If you don’t care about Count Zero
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