The Bridge trilogy

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Idoru redirects here. For the Japanese phenomenon, see Japanese idol.

William Gibson's Bridge trilogy is his second trilogy of novels, after the successful Sprawl trilogy. The trilogy composes the novels Virtual Light (1993) Idoru (1996) and All Tomorrow's Parties (1999).

The term 'Virtual Light' was coined by scientist Stephen Beck to describe a form of instrumentation that produces optical sensations directly in the eye without the use of photons.^[1]

1 Setting
2 Characters
3 Major Themes
4 Influence
5 Adaptations
6 References

[edit] Setting

The titular Bridge

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Bridge trilogy, like the Sprawl trilogy, takes place in a dystopian future. It is not clear whether the trilogies are set at different times in the same universe or in separate universes, although the world in the Bridge trilogy appears less advanced. 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.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Characters

The novels of the Bridge trilogy share a common cast of characters. Most prevalent are driver "Berry" Rydell and bicycle courier Chevette Washington. Computer hacker Colin Laney, with a mysterious ability to identify patterns in vast tracts of information, appears in All Tomorrow's Parties and is the main character in Idoru. Another recurring character is the "virtual idol" ("idoru" being a Japanese rendering of "idol") Rei Toei, an AI pop star.

[edit] Major Themes

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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 nanotechnology-based tunnel that replaces the bridge and the ad-hoc community built on the damaged bridge.

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 artefact (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 outright 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.

[edit] Influence

The character of bicycle courier Chevette Washington bears significant resemblance to the protagonist of James Cameron's TV show Dark Angel, a bike courier working in a dystopian post-holocaust Seattle.