Let’s see…where to begin with Vurt. I’m not actually reading the book. Instead, I’m listening to the audio version, but I think I enjoy listening to the book rather than reading it. That’s not to say I’m not going to read the book eventually. The audio book is top-notch. The guy that reads it is British, street-style, and it fits the tone of the book perfectly. If you’ve heard of The Streets (music), then the main guy(from the group)’s voice is quite reminiscent of the reader’s….anyway, enough of that. I’ll go straight into the story.
I’ll be vague so as not to spoil anything, though there’s not really much to spoil at first. Vurt takes place in a cyberpunked Manchester. Regions of the city are run down and specific areas are there for specific types of people (or beings: pure, vurt, robo, shadow, or dog). You find more about the “beings” during the course of the book, but it’s just so cool reading / listening / experiencing the story and all the small details.
The basic premise is this: Scribble, the main character, has lost his love in the Vurt, a drug that induces a virtual reality for the user via a feather. That’s right; the vurt is accessed by placing a feather in your mouth. Also, there are different kinds of feathers. Legal feathers are blue, black feathers are bootleg, pink feathers are called pornovurts, next up from that is silver and is administrative (tools), and the most dangerous is yellow. Scribble’s love was lost in a yellow feather and he hasn’t found a way back to her yet.
Jeff Noon is a stylish writer. Every part of the book oozes coolness and style. The way the story unfolds, the action sequences, descriptions of being in the vurt: all sweet. Two of the characters in this book are some of the coolest I’ve ever encountered. First, Scribble is the typical narrator. He tells everything from first-person and the reader is privy to his thoughts, giving a better feeling for the type of character he is. Crazy things happen to him, but he’s still cool. I’d even go as far to say that he gets even better as the book progresses. The other character is the GameCat. GameCat begins chapters talking about the virtues, dangers, cautions, or other things pertinent to the vurt. He’s quite cool because of his mystery. You just hear from him at first, but he later makes an appearance in person. Stylish all the way. Check this book out if you like the genre or are interested in stylish stories. I’d recommend it to everyone. Using my movie rating scale, I'd give this a definite 9.
Posted by godemperor at December 16, 2003 03:46 PM