by Moe Zilla

Created on: January 27, 2009

William Gibson writes exhilarating science fiction stories - and "Idoru" is one of his best. It observes his usual formula - each chapter switches to a different set of characters - eventually revealing that they're all on the fringe of a radical shift that's about to occur in the way humans interact with technology. Along the way the characters are intriguing, and the story is exciting - but they're building up to a very dramatic climax.

"Idoru" is a Japanese word for idol, and it's an appropriate for the disturbing rumor that kicks off the book. A pop star named Lo/Rez apparently wants to marry a "synthetic personality." Two characters approach his orbit from very different directions. Colin Laney has a freakish ability to recognize patterns in large amounts of data. It's been exploited by corporations, but ultimately left his career in tatters - and now it's Lo/Rez's agents who are after his services. It's fun to read about Colin's special power - and the intense interest it provokes from the media. But when Gibson switches to a different character, it's for an entirely different perspective - a humble teenager who's a fan of Lo/Rez.

That teenager is Chia McKenzie, and she's chosen by the fan club to investigate the rumor of Lo/Rez's impending marriage. She's just 14 years old, but she gets on a transcontinental flight to Tokyo
- and even she can tell that the woman next to her is smuggling something past the security guards. Chia eventually slips away from the smuggler - a woman named Maryalice - but unknowingly Chia is still carrying the valuable contraband in her luggage.

The stakes are suddenly much higher, and soon a hacker has entered the story. Chia investigates Tokyo's night life seeking clues about Lo/Rez's marriage - aided by Mitsuko, who she met through the Lo/Rez fan club. His hacker friends alert them that the criminal gang is watching them - and the contraband turns out to be a very sophisticated piece of technology. It's an example of Gibson's expert story-telling. With danger approaching and powerful forces moving against the protagonists, technology suddenly appears as a strange wildcard.

All the characters come together - Chia Mckenzie and Maryalice, but also Lo/Rez and Colin Laney. And while the story reaches a satisfying climax, it's just book two of a three-part trilogy. Gibson started this story cycle with "Virtual Light" in 1994, and concluded it five years later with "All Tomorrow's Parties." In a preface, Gibson thanks the people that inspired the book - a film director, an architect, and the memoirs of a criminal kingpin. In "Idoru," he's absorbed some dark fringes of humanity from both our present and our possible future - and then turned it into science fiction.

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