Neuromancer

Honestly I don't know if I can really write a review for this book, mostly because I didn't have a speck of understanding as to what the hell was going on for most of it. There were vague glimmers of comprehension sometimes, but for the most part I can only describe the feeling of what I read. As such, I'm going to try to hash this out as best I can without a score at the end because I can't really give an accurate one.

The novel revolves around a young formerly adept hacker named Case. Case's job used to be to jack into cyberspace kind of Matrix style, break through a company's "ice" (security), and steal the information within. However, after having been caught by his former employers trying to steal from them, he's injected with a mycotoxin (fungal) that damaged the receptors in his brain in such a way that he can no longer access cyberspace. Without access to the wonders of the net, he becomes trapped in the pleasures of his flesh, constantly looking for a new high while living in the slum-like Chiba City in Japan.

After some very trippy and confusing sequences involving misunderstandings with a drug lord, a shuriken in a shop window, and his girlfriend, Case is rescued by a mysterious woman named Molly with several augmentations including retractable razors in her fingers and opaque glass covering her eyes. She reveals that she has been sent by a man named Armitage, who will cure Case and allow him to jack back into cyberspace in exchange for him completing a hacking job. After some hesitation, Case goes through with the procedure, and finds out afterwords that there are more conditions attached. Along with his nerves being repaired, his liver and pancreas were replaced and modified so he could no longer get high. Also, sacks of the same mycotoxin that crippled him are wafting around in his blood, and will dissolve after a certain period of time. Get the job done, and the sacs go away. Take too long, and he goes back to his own personal hell.

From there it's a long confusing mass of conspiracies, cyberspace heists, hallucinations, and weird characters all trying to figure out who Armitage is, what he actually wants Case to do, and why every time he and Molly dig deeper there's one word that keeps popping up: Wintermute.

The best way I've found to describe this book is as a mix between Blade Runner, The Matrix, and Requiem for a Dream. The state of the reader follows much the same state as Case. He starts off high and paranoid and completely confused about everything but knows it must all be happening for a reason so he goes with it to get what he wants, and then just when he sobers up and things start to get a little clearer, more confusing crap gets thrown his way to keep him off balance. I think too part of the problem for me in reading this book is that I'm a very visual reader, by which I mean I like to try to visualize/imagine what's going on, and a lot of the imagery is so abstract that I could never really get a handle on what was supposed to be going on.

So was it a good book? I think so. Did I at least take a positive experience away from it? Kind of. Would I recommend it to others? Maybe.

If nothing else Neuromancer is a great example of some classic sci-fi that no doubt gave inspiration to many after it came out. Supposedly it even started the entire cyberpunk movement. Basically, if this madly complex, highly surreal and mind bending story sounds interesting to you, I would recommend picking it up. If, like me, you prefer a slightly more straightforward read, then pass it by. As for myself, I'm in both camps on this one and remain confused as ever.

So with that, Neuromancer gets an undetermined score.

Neverwhere

Neil Gaiman is an amazing man. My first exposure to his writing came from the wholly confusing yet still enjoyable American Gods, which was mostly confusing because I had no idea who Gaiman was or how he wrote. Since then I've only seen glimpses of his work through the movies of Coraline and Stardust, and so I figured it was about time I picked up his very first novel, Neverwhere.

Set against the background of modern day London, we follow the trials of Richard Mayhew, an average man with average goals and an average life, which all of a sudden gets completely turned around when a mysterious girl named Door, who has been running from the deadly Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, comes out from a wall in front of him and collapses bleeding on the street. Despite complaints from his fiancee to just leave the girl, his compassion gets the better of him and he scoops up the girl and brings her back to his house to help her recover. While trying to reveal as little as possible, Door brings him on a quest through London Below, a mystical and very dangerous place consisting of London's sewers and so much more. She finds her friends, and leaves Richard confused and baffled back in his apartment.

But something has changed. Suddenly, no one notices Richard anymore. He can get their attention for a second or two, but they go right back to ignoring him soon after. He has become part of London Below, a helpless man who dropped through the cracks, and must find a way back to his old life while trying to survive the dangers that lurk below.

It's a delightfully creative premise, and Gaiman never fails to add his own flair to every location, every character, and every sentence in this book. By all accounts, I shouldn't consider this one of the best books I've read. The plot, while creative, when boiled down is a very simple and traditional quest plot. There is relatively little character development. The ending is rather easy to foresee and even a little cliche. And yet, I loved every single page. Where this book shines is not in those basic elements, it's in the pure unadulterated creativity, style and voice of Gaiman shining through. Gaiman's descriptions can turn a small shadow into one of the most terrifying things you could imagine. His quirky humor is littered throughout the book as well, helping to alleviate what otherwise would've been some almost unbearably depressing scenes. Toss in a smattering of Matrix/Inception like philosophy and you get a simple story with some amazingly complex undertones. However, where Gaiman's strength lies is in his characters, from the calm violence of Mr. Croup to the noble sliminess of the Marquis to the dark depths of London Below itself. While none of them really develop in the course of the story, each is already so rich as a character that they don't need to.

Gaiman has somehow managed to take a story that in other hands would've been thrown away and turned it into one of the best pieces of fiction I've read. I don't care about the simple plot. I don't care about the cliche ending. Neverwhere is by and far one of the best examples of something being more than the sum of its parts.

Neverwhere gets a 10/10.

Les Miserables

Unfortunately my reading speed hasn't been up to pace, so I won't post many book reviews here, but as a little taste I thought I would offer a short review to the longest book I've ever read. And yes, I read ALL of it.

Les Miserables most notably tells the tale of Jean Valjean, a thief and criminal who breaks out of prison, is saved by a priest, and turns his life around to become a humanitarian who is constantly on the run from the overzealous policeman Javert. The story is rich and powerful, with wonderful descriptions and moral quandaries that suck you in and pull you along Jean Valjean's tumultuous life.

However, there's another side to Les Mis, which are the endless political and philosophical ramblings that I'm sure you can tell I have no love for. Victor Hugo had many thoughts in his head when writing this book, and he decided to write them ALL down. For the French history buff, I'm sure the works would be engrossing. All the places his characters go, and even those they don't, are described in painstaking detail. The architecture and culture of 17th century France are paramount to Hugo. Unfortunately, to those who don't really care these passages are dry, dull, and looong.

So, if you start to notice that you haven't seen Jean Valjean or anyone you really care about for 3 chapters, just skip ahead because it's not important to the story and it will continue for several more chapters to come.

Overall, it's quite an undertaking at over 1400 pages of dense script, but as long as you skip the unimportant parts it's well worth it.

The complete Les Miserables gets a 6/10.
The story of Jean Valjean gets a 9/10.