This novel is not for the feint of heart, which might explain why it not so well known. Noon invasions what may be one of the most incredibly bizarre forms of XR in all fiction. "Vurt feathers" are used enter a virtual reality experience, akin to a drug-induced shared hallucination. These feathers come in different colors, each providing a unique immersive experience, blurring the lines between the physical and digital worlds. The novel's focus on the consequences and addictive nature of these virtual experiences is prescient of the addictive nature of gaming environments we already see today using even simple digital devices.
The feathers in Vurt pass the user's consciousness into a virtual reality which interacts with the real world. People and things can be lost in the Vurt, or they can come from the Vurt into the real; the limitation being that they must be swapped for something of similar worth. Scribble lost his sister Desdemona to the Vurt and in return he got an alien drug being known as the Thing-From-Outer-Space. The novel tells the story of Scribble's attempts to bring Desdemona back from the Vurt, in a cyberpunkish world threatened by shadowcops and hostile dogmen. Scribble is also known as Inky MC; he is a DJ and keyboards player, hence the musical connection to the Orpheus legend. His gift of prophecy comes from his long interactions with the Vurt which have given his being some of the stuff of the Vurt itself. Vurt is one of the five states …
The feathers in Vurt pass the user's consciousness into a virtual reality which interacts with the real world. People and things can be lost in the Vurt, or they can come from the Vurt into the real; the limitation being that they must be swapped for something of similar worth. Scribble lost his sister Desdemona to the Vurt and in return he got an alien drug being known as the Thing-From-Outer-Space. The novel tells the story of Scribble's attempts to bring Desdemona back from the Vurt, in a cyberpunkish world threatened by shadowcops and hostile dogmen. Scribble is also known as Inky MC; he is a DJ and keyboards player, hence the musical connection to the Orpheus legend. His gift of prophecy comes from his long interactions with the Vurt which have given his being some of the stuff of the Vurt itself. Vurt is one of the five states of being; the others are Human, Dog, Robo and Shadow, and most people of his generation mix two or sometimes three of these. Scribble's quest requires him to find Curious Yellow, the rarest Vurt Feather of all; only this will enable him to find Desdemona, as it was Curious Yellow that snared her in the Vurt to begin with. He encounters the Game Cat, an enigmatic gentleman who tells him of a Vurt feathermaker called Icarus Wing, who will know how to get Curious Yellow.
Scribble's gang, the Stash Riders, are busted by the cops for illegal possession of an alien. The gang's leader Beetle is infected with a fatal fractal virus, a stray bullet kills Vurt-born Suzie whose lover bound her hair to his in an effort never to lose her back to the Vurt ... the Riders fall apart hounded by cops, and militant dogs led by the sinister Das Uberdog, whose hatred for humans is only matched by his lust for human women. Scribble becomes Inky MC and distances himself from the remnants of the gang, but his fate compels him to keep seeking Desdemona. Eventually he is able to enter the Vurt and bring her back, but remember the rule that anything brought out must be swapped for something else of equal value, plus or minus Hobart's Constant? The alien is dead. All that can be swapped is Scribble himself. He takes his place at the Vurt's controls alongside the Game Cat. This version of Euridice does return from Hell, but as with Orpheus, the beloved cannot enjoy the fruits of his labours. Scribble stays in the Vurt and watches the years passing. From an age of 17 to Desdemona's 15, he ages to 25 while Desdemona, now in the real world, takes up with Mandy of the Stash Riders and reaches the age of 38. The swap, though, was fair; Desdemona was a creature of the real and Scribble inhabits the Vurt as though born to it.
Loved the energy of this when it came out, the youthful characters in a reinvented Manchester at just the right time, a not-in-your-face allegory of racial tolerance, and dogs. And feathers. May have given me ideas re stories that involve parallel worlds. A boy puts a feather into his mouth ....
