{{Short description|Three novels (1993–1999) by William Gibson}} 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). A short story, "Skinner's Room", was originally composed for ''Visionary San Francisco'', a 1990 museum exhibition exploring the future of San Francisco.
==Setting== {{more citations needed section|date=February 2025}} [[Image:Sfbaybridge at night.jpg|thumb|The titular Bridge, pre-quake]] The first book of the Bridge trilogy is set in an imaginary 2006, with the subsequent books set a few years later.<ref>Book Expo America Luncheon Talk, [http://blog.williamgibsonbooks.com/2010/05/31/book-expo-american-luncheon-talk/ William Gibson's blog, May 31, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604052346/http://blog.williamgibsonbooks.com/2010/05/31/book-expo-american-luncheon-talk/ |date=June 4, 2010}}.</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}
The trilogy derives its name from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, because in the trilogy it was abandoned in an earthquake and has become a massive shantytown and site of improvised shelter.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} The bridge is a pivotal location in ''Virtual Light'' and ''All Tomorrow's Parties''.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} <!--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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} THIS IS WP:OR, WEASELY, AND CLEAR CONJECTURE. IT HAS BEEN MARKED AS NEEDING THIRD-PARTY CITATION SUPPORT FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. It should only be returned to view when a published source can be provided for the perspective.-->
Characters in each novel interact in a cyberspace construct of Kowloon Walled City, which is initially described as an inverted kill file.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} The walled city shares a number of features with the bridge itself, including an emphasis on self-governance and efficiency in user-construction.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}
==Characters== The novels of the Bridge trilogy loosely share a common cast of characters. Former police officer Berry Rydell and bicycle courier Chevette Washington occupy central roles in the first and third novels. Researcher Colin Laney, who has a mysterious ability to identify patterns in vast tracts of information, appears in ''Idoru'' and ''All Tomorrow's Parties''. Other recurring characters include Rei Toei, an AI pop star, and Shinya Yamazaki, an existential sociologist.
==Critical reception and influence== Canadian Poet Douglas Barbour 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."<ref>{{cite book | last = Seed | first = David | title = A Companion to Science Fiction | publisher = Blackwell Publishing Professional | year = 2005 | isbn = 1-4051-1218-2 | page = 314 }}</ref> ''Virtual Light'', the first novel in the series, was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1994.<ref name="WWE-1994">{{cite web | url = http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1994 | title = 1994 Award Winners & Nominees | work = Worlds Without End | accessdate=2009-07-17 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{William Gibson}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge Trilogy, The}} Category:Bridge trilogy Category:Cyberpunk novels Novels by William Gibson Category:Novels set in the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Science fiction book series Category:Science fiction novel trilogies Category:Works set in Kowloon Walled City