A sub-standard sequel to "Pattern Recognition"

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	• Spook Country William Gibson G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 2007 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 141 reviews view larger image
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Espionage as an Artform

Spook Country (2007) is a near future SF novel. It takes place in a world little different from our own, yet a new artform has appeared. Based on a merger of GPS technology and virtual reality, locative art presents virtual art in specific geographical locations.

In this novel, Hollis Henry has been hired by Node magazine to write an article about locative art. Hollis is the former lead singer of Curfew, a well respected band that had produced one CD and then split up during the era of the Doors and the Who. Some people vaguely recognize her face in stores and other public places.

Node is supposedly a high tech European magazine similar to Wired, but not very well known. Hollis spends some effort just finding about her employer. Eventually she tracks its ownership down to Hubertus Bigend, a Belgian entrepreneur.

Odile Richards is her guide within this artistic community. Odile is a French curator of avant-garde art. In Los Angeles, Odile introduces Hollis to Alberto Corrales, an artist who constructs realistic death -- or near death -- scenes of famous personalities at the appropriate sites.

Alberto then introduces Hollis to Bobby Chombo, a technical facilitator for various locative artists. Bobby's day job involves aspects of GPS technology under contract from the military and related industries. He has a large warehouse with a VR giant squid floating in it. He even sleeps in the warehouse, but never twice at the same grid coordinates.

Tito is an independent espionage agent, working for his own family. They have been involved in such work since his grandfather became an agent for Castro's DGI. The grandfather had been trained by the KGB and passed on this training to the family.

Tito was born in Habana, but now lives as an illegal in New York City. His family knows every facet of the city, particularly the subway system. They have learned many ways to lose followers under the city.

Milgrim is an amphetamine addict. One day, Brown stopped him, flashed a badge and took him away. Now Milgrim translates Russian and Volapuk -- a Cyrillic language using a substitute alphabet -- for Brown. He no longer believes Brown is a cop, but the man wears a gun and cuffs, has many associates, and provides a pack of Ativan to Milgrim every day.

In this story, Tito passes on iPods to an old man. He is rather afraid of the guy, but does what the family tells him. His cousin Alejandro says that the old man was CIA at one time and knew their grandfather. Tito doesn't doubt that at all, for the old man seems to be a dangerous person.

Brown is surveilling an Illegal Facilitator -- Tito -- and takes Milgrim along to translate text messages sent to the IF. Other times Milgrim observes the activities of the IF from a converted van. Once he even accompanied Brown to the IF's room to change the battery in the cellphone listening device.

Brown is determined to capture the IF and his contact during the next exchange of iPods. Unluckily, the old man already expects the bust and passes on the word for Tito to prepare to move. The family helps Tito clear everything out of his room and then guards Tito during the meet.

Meanwhile, Bobby and all his gear disappear from the warehouse. Then Hollis meets Bobby's sister and learns that he comes from Vancouver. She later travels there and inadvertently becomes involved with Tito and the old man.

This story is a spook tale in more than one aspect. Of course, these are the virtual dead people in Alberto's locative art. Then there are the social bugaboos that drive Brown. But the real spooks are the espionage and counter-espionage agents: Tito, the old man, and Brown. Even Hollis becomes an inadvertent counter-espionage agent for Hubertus, but she is later preempted by the old man.

Prepare yourself for a wild ride through the world of unofficial agents working for government bureaucrats as well as retired agents working for themselves. Add Tito's family of independent professionals and then mix in Hubertus and his amateur nosiness. Events quickly become very problematical and eventually devolve into sheer confusion.

Recommended for Gibson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of spies, counterspies, and nosy amateurs.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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A sub-standard sequel to "Pattern Recognition"

Someone must have told William Gibson that it would be a great idea to write a sequel to his brilliant "Pattern Recognition." I can hear the publishers now: "Use some of the same characters, but make it something thrilling. Something we can sell to Hollywood."
Bad idea. Gibson, who really produced the book of the year with 2006's "Pattern Recognition," just falls down on the job here. The hilariously named Hubertus Bigend reprises as the Donald Trump of the fictional world, owning and buying everything worth having. For his foil, we have former rock star Hollis Henry, instead of Cayce, the cool hunter of "Pattern Recognition." Henry is a poor stand-in, seemingly lacking in motivation to do much of anything and not anywhere near as intelligent as Cayce
She, a strange little Cuban crime family in New York City, Bigend and his conglomerate Blue Ant, a wacko agent (who may or may not be employed by the U.S. government), geeky "locative artists" who place virtual-reality art in public places, and a whole lot of money come together in Vancouver for a strange techo-thriller. It's actually pretty low on the thrills and high on arcane techno-babble that's largely unnecessary. Bigend is wasted as he drifts in and out of the story, and Hollis doesn't do more than stand in as the reader, watching all this strangeness take place.
I kept waiting for the sharp storytelling and intricate placement of plot points that marked "Pattern Recognition," and never found it.
Gibson's still a fine writer, hence the three stars, but only a fan of his would really want to finish this oddly trite espionage adventure.
Anyone expected science fiction can look elsewhere. Gibson seems to have given up on the future--and judging from his interview on this site, it seems to be for good reason.

Lynn Voedisch, author of "Excited Light"

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Deep voice, descriptive prose --

I've read this book in the printed format, as well as listened to this audio production of the piece. Robertson Dean's voice is a deep, sonorous rumble that manages to convey all of Gibson's carefully crafted descriptions clearly. Given this basso kick, I was worried about how the women-characters' voices would be portrayed. I was impressed with his performance! Dean manages several distinct characters, ethnicities, and accents fluidly.

Gibson's writing becomes more and more contemporary with each book, and this novel lands his characters face-first in our own current history. Having his characters spindle, fold, and mutilate the phrase 'cyberspace' seems appropriately recursive considering that they are dealing with the effects of real-world research into locative computing. The few premises that he asks you to accept are more than plausible, and the real-world big picture he paints isn't something most people would like to think too hard about. However, this is the world we're in (with the addition of some really sexy-sounding assisted-reality gear outfitted with GPS).

Hubertas Bigend is back - the second novel featuring the patron from Pattern Recognition. The character, while intriguing, seems particularly alien to me. I know there are people like him in the world, but I don't think I'd like to be anywhere near where his interests lie.

I enjoy Gibson's fiction for the things that are unstated; the plot drapes itself over and through several groups of characters. As the omniscient reader, we get to put these things together. We aren't spoken down to and fed the whole thing one byte at a time. Bigend is also aware of his world by bits and pieces, except you begin to think he's got more, unpublished chapters than we do. His tendency is to pursue those loose ends and see where else they're attached to. Bigend has Monkey-mind in spades.

High marks for Spook Country - original, thoughtful, and eloquent.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

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