History Literature / VirtualLight

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Throughout the novel, J.D. Shapely and the HIV/AIDS vaccine he was responsible for[[note]](Shapely was a male prostitute who, while incarcerated, was discovered to have been infected with a (fictional) benign strain of HIV; a MegaCorp then extracted said strain and used it to crowd out the malign strains, making billions while Shapely died in prison)[[/note]] are brought up time and time again, but no mention of either (or even of AIDS itself) is made anywhere in the subsequent books. It may be a case of an AbortedArc, or maybe AIDS became less [[RippedFromTheHeadliens topical]] by the time ''Idoru'' was written (AIDS mortality peaked in 1996, the year it was published).

* RescueRomance: While there isn't an obvious TheyDo moment, Rydell and Chevette begin to develop feelings for each other after he saves her from a pair of Russian {{Dirty Cop}}s by stealing Warbaby's car.

* GogglesDoSomethingUnusual: A pair of seemingly ordinary sunglasses are in fact an augmented reality device that lets the user access all sorts of data.

* UnintentionallyNotoriousCrime: A creepy guy leches at Chevette at a party, so, out of impulse, she grabs the sunglasses hanging out of his pocket... Which turn out to be the storage medium for a virtual-reality blueprint showcasing a shady Japanese MegaCorp's plan to [[VillainousGentrification fill Los Angeles with giant nanotech structures]]. As a result, she ends up with [[LawEnforcementInc private security forces]], {{Dirty Cops}} and CorporateSamurai coming after her.

* WhatAPieceOfJunk: Chevette's bicycle is a cutting-edge paper-wrapped carbon-fiber frame with a rather serious security system, but carefully painted to look like a beat-up old junker.

* PsychoForHire: Good ''lord'', [[CorporateSamurai Loveless]]. He's a [[ProfessionalKiller ruthless assassin]] who [[KickTheDog never misses a chance to inflict needless pain and suffering]]. He kills a man by [[CruelAndUnusualDeath pulling his tongue through a hole in his throat]], uses banned nanotech handcuffs that tighten when struggled against to the point of causing severe bleeding, shoots dead Chevette's friend Sammy Sal, and makes it painfully obvious that [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil he's going to rape Chevette]] when he corners her and Rydell two-thirds of the way through the book, presumably before killing both of them horribly. Ultimately though, [[LaserGuidedKarma his depravity leads to his downfall]] -- in the latter scenario he arrives when the protagonists are both asleep, and could very easily have killed them both while retrieving the glasses, [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat but since he was determined to rape and torture]], he waits until they wake up, which allows them to escape.

* SinisterSurveillance: The [=LAPD=] control a powerful SpySatellite that remains in geosynchronous orbit above the city, monitoring ''everything'' taking place in the streets below. It's known to all and sundry, even it's creators, as the "[[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]]".

* BalkaniseMe: General geopolitical and economic turmoil has led to the breakup of many of the world's larger nations, including [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the USSR]] , UsefulNotes/Brazil and UsefulNotes/Canada, which in itself split into five countries. America has undergone a {{Downplayed}} version, with many of the larger states subdividing: California, where the book takes place, is now split into North and South.

* ChekhovsGunman:

* LawEnforcementInc: After getting fired from Knoxville [=PD=], Rydell gets a job at IntenSecure, a corporation providing standard commercial security guards alongside an armed rapid-response service to private clients.

* {{Courier}}: The {{Deuteragonist}} Chevette Washington works as a bicycle messenger in San Francisco.

** Rydell was booted out of his original job as a police officer for this kind of behaviour: during negotiations with a suspect who was holding his girlfriend and children hostage, Rydell broke into the suspect's house and killed him after he threatened the children.

* UnintentionallyNotoriousCrime: A creepy old man leches at Chevette at a party, so, out of impulse, she grabs the sunglasses hanging out of his pocket... Which turn out to be the storage medium for a virtual-reality blueprint showcasing a shady Japanese MegaCorp's plan to [[VillainousGentrification fill Los Angeles with giant nanotech structures]]. As a result, she ends up with [[LawEnforcementInc private security forces]], {{Dirty Cops}} and CorporateSamurai coming after her.

* BalkaniseMe: General geopolitical and economic turmoil has led to the breakup of many of the world's larger nations, including [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaAndTheUSSR the USSR]] , UsefulNotes/Brazil and UsefulNotes/Canada, which in itself split into five countries. America has undergone a {{Downplayed}} version, with many of the larger states subdividing: California, where the book takes place, is now split into North and South.

* BalkaniseMe: General geopolitical and economic turmoil has led to the breakup of many of the world's larger nations, including UsefulNotes/TheUSSR, UsefulNotes/Brazil and UsefulNotes/Canada, which in itself split into five countries. America has undergone a {{Downplayed}} version, with many of the larger states subdividing: California, where the book takes place, is now split into North and South.

* {{Courier}}:
The {{Deuteragonist}} Chevette Washington works as a bicycle messenger in San Francisco.

** Rydell was booted out of his original job as a police officer for this kind of behaviour: during negotiations with a suspect who was holding his wife and children hostage, Rydell broke into the suspect's house and killed him after he threatened the children.

* {{Courier}}: The {{Deuteragonist}} Chevette Washington works as a bicycle messenger in San Francisco.

* {{Courier}}: The {{Deutagonist}} Chevette Washington works as a bicycle messenger in San Francisco.

* ChekhovsGun: The bag of drugs Chevette gets from her ex-boyfriend. [[spoiler:She later uses it to spike Lovelace's drink while he's holding her and Rydell at gunpoint.]]
* {{Courier}}: Chevette Washington.

* GogglesDoSomethingUnusual: A pair of seemingly ordinary glasses sport an augmented reality device that lets the user access all sorts of data.

* CelebrityResemblance: Berry Rydell is mentioned to look like a young Creator/TommyLeeJones--the first time by someone who ran his picture through a computer application that provides an InUniverse exploitation of this (the idea being that it helps people remember someone for identification purposes if they know which famous guy/girl they resemble). Ironically enough, Rydell doesn't even ''knows'' who Jones is.

[[redirect:Literature/BridgeTrilogy]]