Bridge trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Bridge trilogy is a series of novels by William Gibson
, his second after the successful Sprawl trilogy
. The trilogy comprises the novels Virtual Light
(1993), Idoru
, (1996) and All Tomorrow's Parties
(1999).
The first book of the Bridge trilogy is set in an imaginary 2006, with the subsequent books set a few years later. The books deal with the race to control the beginnings of cyberspace
technology and are set on the United States
' West coast in a post-earthquake
California
(divided into the separate states of NoCal and SoCal), as well as a post-earthquake
Tokyo
, Japan
, that had been rebuilt using nanotechnology
.
The trilogy derives its name from the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, which was abandoned in an earthquake and has become a massive shantytown and a site of improvised shelter. The bridge becomes a pivotal location in Virtual Light and All Tomorrow's Parties. The 'bridge' may also be interpreted as a metaphor for the nascent technologies bridging contemporaneous life and the highly advanced future depicted in the Sprawl trilogy, where cyberspace and nanotechnology are fully developed and commonplace.
in vast tracts of information, appears in All Tomorrow's Parties and is the main protagonist of Idoru. Another recurring character is Rei Toei, the "virtual idol" ("idoru" being a mistaken Japanese
rendering of "idol" -- the correct Japanese is "aidoru"), an AI
pop star. Also, certain characters in each novel interact in a cyberspace construct of Kowloon Walled City
, which is initially described as an inverted kill file
.
-based tunnel that replaces the bridge and the ad-hoc community built on the damaged bridge. The concept of node
permeates the Bridge trilogy.
The ad-hoc bridge community is a cyborg
since it takes essential structural elements from both the bridge and the people living on the bridge. Remove either, and the bridge community is irrevocably altered. This duality of self is evident in Gibson's characters as well. For example, one of Chevette's fellow bike messengers is described as having bones of steel in the same passage as his bike is described. In Idoru the post-marriage Rei Toei/Rez entity is an excellent example of a cyborg: it contains both human (Rez) and machine (Rei) elements and requires technology for its existence (nanotechnology). The blind percussionist has prosthetic eyes. Blackwell's folding hatchet is repeatedly described as an extension of his body. The unnamed killer in All Tomorrow's Parties is inseparable from his blade. Colin Laney's brain has been re-wired by a technological artifact (an experimental chemical), producing his ability to identify patterns.
The overall arc of the trilogy's plot lays out Gibson's apparent thesis on the structure of our world. A traumatic event fragments, destabilizes, or outrightly destroys the existing social and technological order. Uncontrolled technologies (the bridge community was not planned or authorized) develop quickly and bring about radical change. The humans involved have no choice but to incorporate this change into their self-perceptions, becoming either literally or figuratively cyborg. As the effects of these changes propagate, the rate of alteration of self-perception increases to the point where there is no way to distinguish human from machine, as can be seen in the Rei/Rez entity.
film adaptation of Idoru was rumoured to be in the early stages of development.
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
, his second after the successful Sprawl trilogy
The Sprawl trilogy
The Sprawl trilogy is William Gibson's first set of novels, composed of Neuromancer , Count Zero , and Mona Lisa Overdrive ....
. The trilogy comprises the novels Virtual Light
Virtual Light
Virtual Light is the first book in William Gibson's Bridge trilogy. Virtual Light is a science-fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, cyberpunk future. The term 'Virtual Light' was coined by scientist Stephen Beck to describe a form of instrumentation that produces optical sensations...
(1993), Idoru
Idoru
Idoru is the second book in William Gibson's Bridge trilogy. Idoru is a science-fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, cyberpunk future...
, (1996) and All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (novel)
All Tomorrow's Parties is the final novel in William Gibson's Bridge trilogy. Like its predecessors, All Tomorrow's Parties is a speculative fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, postcyberpunk future. The novel borrows its title from that of a song by Velvet Underground...
(1999).
Setting
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
technology and are set on the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' West coast in a post-earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(divided into the separate states of NoCal and SoCal), as well as a post-earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, that had been rebuilt using nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
.
The trilogy derives its name from the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, which was abandoned in an earthquake and has become a massive shantytown and a site of improvised shelter. The bridge becomes a pivotal location in Virtual Light and All Tomorrow's Parties. The 'bridge' may also be interpreted as a metaphor for the nascent technologies bridging contemporaneous life and the highly advanced future depicted in the Sprawl trilogy, where cyberspace and nanotechnology are fully developed and commonplace.
Characters
The novels of the Bridge trilogy share a common cast of characters. Most prevalent are former cop (and former security guard) Berry Rydell, and bicycle courier Chevette Washington. Researcher Colin Laney, who has a mysterious ability to identify patternsPattern recognition
In machine learning, pattern recognition is the assignment of some sort of output value to a given input value , according to some specific algorithm. An example of pattern recognition is classification, which attempts to assign each input value to one of a given set of classes...
in vast tracts of information, appears in All Tomorrow's Parties and is the main protagonist of Idoru. Another recurring character is Rei Toei, the "virtual idol" ("idoru" being a mistaken Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
rendering of "idol" -- the correct Japanese is "aidoru"), an AI
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
pop star. Also, certain characters in each novel interact in a cyberspace construct of Kowloon Walled City
Kowloon Walled City
Kowloon Walled City was a densely populated, largely ungoverned settlement in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Originally a Chinese military fort, the Walled City became an enclave after the New Territories were leased to Britain in 1898....
, which is initially described as an inverted kill file
Kill file
A kill file is a per-user file used by some Usenet reading programs to discard summarily articles matching some unwanted patterns of subject, author, or other header lines.Thus to add a person to one's kill file is to arrange for that person to be ignored...
.
Major themes
The Bridge trilogy incorporates elements of William Gibson's recurring exploration of the intersection of technology, traumatic change, and cyborg self-perceptions. The original San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge exists within the old technological system of steel-based construction techniques. After the traumatic shock of the earthquake, which destabilizes both the literal bridge and the technological system of which it is a part, a new technological system emerges. Two representative examples of the new technology are the nanotechnologyNanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
-based tunnel that replaces the bridge and the ad-hoc community built on the damaged bridge. The concept of node
Node
In general, a node is a localised swelling or a point of intersection .Node may refer to:In mathematics:*Node , behaviour for an ordinary differential equation near a critical point...
permeates the Bridge trilogy.
The ad-hoc bridge community is a cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
since it takes essential structural elements from both the bridge and the people living on the bridge. Remove either, and the bridge community is irrevocably altered. This duality of self is evident in Gibson's characters as well. For example, one of Chevette's fellow bike messengers is described as having bones of steel in the same passage as his bike is described. In Idoru the post-marriage Rei Toei/Rez entity is an excellent example of a cyborg: it contains both human (Rez) and machine (Rei) elements and requires technology for its existence (nanotechnology). The blind percussionist has prosthetic eyes. Blackwell's folding hatchet is repeatedly described as an extension of his body. The unnamed killer in All Tomorrow's Parties is inseparable from his blade. Colin Laney's brain has been re-wired by a technological artifact (an experimental chemical), producing his ability to identify patterns.
The overall arc of the trilogy's plot lays out Gibson's apparent thesis on the structure of our world. A traumatic event fragments, destabilizes, or outrightly destroys the existing social and technological order. Uncontrolled technologies (the bridge community was not planned or authorized) develop quickly and bring about radical change. The humans involved have no choice but to incorporate this change into their self-perceptions, becoming either literally or figuratively cyborg. As the effects of these changes propagate, the rate of alteration of self-perception increases to the point where there is no way to distinguish human from machine, as can be seen in the Rei/Rez entity.
Critical reception and influence
Science fiction critic David Seed said of the trilogy that it "has all the stylistic verve of his earlier work, but it asks some tougher questions, explores character more deeply, and savagely interrogates our star-obsessed society." Virtual Light, the first novel in the series, was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1994.Adaptations
In 2006, an animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
film adaptation of Idoru was rumoured to be in the early stages of development.