Mona Lisa Overdrive

By: William Gibson

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

The award-winning William Gibson goes beyond science fiction to the broader mainstream fiction audience. His unique world features multinational corporations and high-tech outlaws vying for power, traveling the computer-generated universe.

©1997 William Gibson (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Narrator is Fantastic

I'm diametrically opposed to the last reviewer's comments regarding Davis' narration.

Gibson's books contain a polyglot of races and accents. Davis is the perfect choice for these works as his ear for accents is nothing short of amazing. He's one of the few narrators who can manage southern, hispanic, and african-american accents and not force me to cringe.

Outstanding performance

Would you consider the audio edition of Mona Lisa Overdrive to be better than the print version?

The narrator delivers an outstanding performance. His voice, rythm and style are the best I've heard on Audible so far. He gives the characters distinct voices without sounding cheesy. Each character speaks with a unique dialect too (American, British, Japanese) and the Japanese words are pronounced perfectly.

Any additional comments?

Normally I am not into writing reviews, however this performance of one of my favorite books demands it.

omg

Any additional comments?

Didn't think I could like anything as much as I liked Neuromancer, but this I like equally as much. The way this author balances entertainment with literary value, with poetry, it's just too amazing. I can't fathom it. And what an awesome ending!

Intricate enough for several listens.

Where does Mona Lisa Overdrive rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This ranks in top 20 of 100+ books I've listened to. I am a big fan of Jonathan Davis, though, so this made a big difference.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters all had unique personalities, and the action kept things moving along fairly well, even though Gibson's stories are fairly cerebral.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Compared favorably to All Tomorrow's parties and The Windup Girl, both of which I listened to multiple times.

A Brilliant Follow-on to Neuromancer

Great things about reading a Gibson years after it's written is to see just how much he was ahead of the curve as to various technological and social developments. The Internet, got it perfectly right . Cell phones? Totally missed it.
Courtney Liefje the reader, however, is his ability to talk about the technological backdrop of his work without preaching about it too much-it just is , like the beat up Sam crawlers in the first Star Wars movie . No explanation, just pay attention and get with it. Find away my favorite sci-fi writer of the last 30 years

Really really really really really good.

Mystery in the streets and creatures hiding in cyberspace. Taking place two decades after the events of Neromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive unfolding in front of your eyes. Tales of advanced designer drugs, gangs of suits and the elusive high of cyberspace.
Burning like novocaine in the tip of your tongue.

Three girls, one vampire, ghosts and a few familiar faces. This really is truly the sequel, to one of the greatest books of all time. Not a bad one either.

Great ending to a great trilogy

I had read the first book years ago and have now finally finished the trilogy and it was well worth it. It still stands up to today's technology (except for the telephones) and it was great to see Molly back in action again. The performance was also very well done with a great use of different voices.

excellent end to an excellent trilogy

narrator does a great job, excellent at doing different accents without sounding corny (or racist). Gibson is a legend, and this is another great example as to why.

An excellent Audible experience

I first read this shortly after it's original publication in 1988 and enjoyed it enormously. Now, having Listened to the Audible performance nearly 30 years later, I'm astonished at how well it has held up. The technology still feels fresh and just-around-the-corner new. Plotting and action keeps your attention riveted. The narrator, Jonathan Davis, is terrific. His range of dialects and voice expression is incomparable.

Cyberpunk Nerdy Goodness

Steppin’ Razor is back the final installment of the trilogy. Molly Millions, Sally Shears, Misty Steel...along with a Yakuza Boss, A London mob Boss, an exceptional tech deck cowboy Bobby Newmark are being hunted and extorted by a ghost in the machine Three Jane. As with all of Gibson’s works I am usually three chapters in before I have a clue what’s going on. Excellent writing and the range of the narrator pulls off a stellar performance. Five by five awesome cyberpunk nerdiness points.

It's a Trilogy! I'll do it justice next time!

I read Neuromancer many years ago, found it hard work but intriguing nonetheless. So when I saw another one of Gibson's books appear in one of Audible's special offers I though why not? Unusually for me I just assumed this was stand-alone and I think this took something away from it. If you're considering reading this without the other two I would say stop and get the others first.

Gibson has an interesting writing style. He hints at things often leaving the reader to fill in the background for themselves. Combined with this and the fact that me memory had little of Neuromancer left and nothing of the second book at all made this hard going. I gave it four stars because that mistake was mine but I probably only got 3 stars enjoyment out of it . . . if that makes sense!

Gibson is a clever writer though. I like the fact that he doesn't feel the need to handhold me through everything. The world of the Sprawl is not a pleasant one. The characters all have a detachment from their world borne of its nature. This most certainly isn't easy reading or for anyone who likes to warm to noble heroes. I'd also agree with some of the other reviewers that the pace and tonality of the narration, while it did fit the book very well, was on the slow and monotone side for me.

Despite all this, I will in a few years re-visit this, starting from the beginning of the trilogy of course. It's clever stuff, well thought out, and I want to do it justice next time!

The Best of the Three

It's great, really. Read the the other two first though. Sit back and enjoy

Excellent

After listening to the neuromancer, I had to listen to Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive. Although different narrator (so need a few chapters to get used to), really enjoyed it.

As usual for Gibson it takes a few chapters to really understand what is going on, then as ur figuring it out it picks up pace, and as u finally work it out it concludes. Master author.

great gibson

if you liked neuro and count this won't fail to interest, good end to an innovative trikogy

Gibson at his best.

Can we have more Gibson on Audible UK please? It's a terrible shame that his finest works aren't available to download this side of the Atlantic

William Gibson Overdrive

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sally Shears; but if I tell you why I'd give something away...

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

He is a very good narrator, ideal for this story.

Any additional comments?

The third volume in Gibson's Sprawl trilogy, this neatly closes the story began in Neuromancer and continued in Count Zero. It is not quite as good as Count Zero, yet still an excellent novel. Well worth a listen.

And thus Cyberpunk began ...

I enjoyed eaxh book in the trilogy. it is obvious whwre a lot of cyberpunk has come from and you will see much of it in this trilogy. Each book can be taken aeperately, but there is some flow acroas the trilogy. All that I can say is ... read and enjoy. As for the story. I enjoyed it when I firat read it and again listening too it.