Pollen: Amazon.co.uk: Jeff Noon: Books

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Amazon.co.uk Review
Pollen is the sequel to Vurt (winner of the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke award), and both are concerned with a world in which dreams, drug-induced hallucination and reality become completely intermingled. In this volume, the dream world unleashes a pollen that threatens to cause people in the real world to sneeze to death.

But no review can do Noon's writing justice: it's a phantasmagoric combination of the more imaginative science fiction masters, such as Phillip K. Dick, genres such as cyberpunk and pulp fiction, and drug culture. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Synopsis
In a strange, re-mixed future Manchester, a cloud of pollen descends and people are sneezing themselves to death. A small percentage of the population are immune. Two of them - shadow-cop Sibyl Jones and her wayward daughter, Boda - follow separate paths to the place where the pollen originates.

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blurred Reality, 12 Aug 2005

By	Simon J. Whight "typical_moody_dj" (Manchester) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Pollen (Paperback)

If there is one thing I love about Jeff Noon novels it is his ability to take two things from opposing ends of a spectrum and mix them together. Humanity meets animal, organic alongside machine, traditional detective thriller meets fantasy, everyday mundane normality twisted into the dreamlike future. Pollen highlights this blurred reality to great effect, almost as if viewed through the eyes of a bleary hayfever sufferer.

As with most of Noons Vurtual universe, Pollen is set in the near future of Manchester, initially starting out as a bit of a detective romp, following the bizarre hayfever like deaths that build up through the novel. Once again there is a fantastic sense of pace to the book that sees you tumbling through the pages to devour 'just one more chapter' as the countdown to the big sneeze ticks on down. As you progress further throughout the book, the grim reality of the Manchester that it is set in becomes more and more separated from reality as our group of main characters head towards the big showdown in the fantasy domain of John Barleyman.

I love the fact that the Vurtual books can all be linked together, Noon has created a Manchester with a unique identity. Unified through dreams, Alice In Wonderland and the Looking Glass Wars, the mysterious lubricant company Vaz. Everything has a purpose and a history that one book may hint at and another may unfold. Take Vurts central theme of the mysterious dream feathers and how Automated Alice twisted take on Alice In Wonderland gives the history as to where the dreaming originates from.

This is one for underground culture to lap up. References to the modern day underground, be it music or the slightly dark side of our lifestyles today, will hook you in and the pacy, satisfying excitement of the books will have you lapping up each of the books in turn. Its a shame that I've not seen anything from Noon for a while, am hoping the Vurtual universe will be expanded some time in the future. If you're new to Noon, best place to start is Vurt, but if you've been there and are looking for more, the quality carries on through this and Nymphomation. Completists will have to pick up Pixel Juice and Automated Alice to fill you in on those little questions that have been nagging in the corners of your mind.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent read, but not the hottest Noon, 4 Jul 2001

By	Winged Monkey "Winged Monkey" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pollen (Paperback)

Make no mistake, 'Pollen' showcases Noon's unsurpassed talent in twisting reality and language until you lose the ability to understand your own. The plot is interesting and ideas are thrown at you so fast that it'll take an hour for your head to wind down. But, and you knew there was a 'but' coming, it's not the best example of Noon's distinct work.

I didn't just step off the 'Vurt' bus and climb aboard 'Pollen' expecting the same mad genius. I've read the rest of Noon's stuff too and I've come to the conclusion that this is probably his weakest novel. The story is a little messy and the characters failed to draw me in. It IS a good read, but not an extraordinary one, particularly when you place it in context to the rest of his catalogue. For a follow up to 'Vurt', I believe 'Nymphomation' is a far more interesting in its relations, and if you want Noon to take you somewhere slightly different, try the excellent 'Needle in the Groove'. In summary, read 'Pollen' (and enjoy it) if you're a fan, but if you're not then don't expect it to convert you.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Vurt fights back, 31 Jan 2006

By	dogbarkssome (England) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Pollen (Paperback)

Following the huge success of his debut novel ‘Vurt’, it came as no surprise that Jeff Noon’s second novel would turn out to be a sequel. Fortunately, instead of a cynical ‘more of the same’ book, ‘Pollen’ is the very best type of sequel, where the novel takes the under-explored ideas from ‘Vurt’ and develops them further. In the first novel the vurt is introduced as a shared dreamscape filled with bizarre fantasy, and in this novel the inhabitants of this imaginary landscape start to invade reality itself. The background for the virtual reality dreaming of the vurt itself was always skirted over in Noon’s debut novel, but ‘Pollen’ pulls off the tricky task of giving the reader more information while preserving the dreamy fantasy feel. Another good example of the books development of ideas is in the explanation as to the background of the Shadow-creatures – characters completely unexplained in ‘Vurt’, but here given a startling origin concerning the mating of the living and the dead under the influence of a hyper-fertility drug gone mad. Filled with fantastic imagery and evocative writing, ‘Pollen’ is a sequel that matches the brilliance of its predecessor. Highly recommended.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars messed up X-rated episode of Dr Who
It's been a while since I read Vurt, Jeff Noon's first novel of Manchester set 'cyberpunk' but, even with my memory, I can guarantee that Pollen is far more messed up than its... Read more

Published on 13 Jul 2006 by deadmanjones

4.0 out of 5 stars Unreal
Even though this book stands alone it is helpful to have read Vurt which will get you used to Noon's unique writing style and also the slightly queasy world he writes about. Read more

Published on 28 Nov 2004 by Kate

1.0 out of 5 stars total drivel
I bought this book based on the blurb on the back as it sounded intriguing. What the blurb doesn't tell you is how completely inane the characters and plot are. Read more

Published on 21 Jul 2004 by Teacher

5.0 out of 5 stars Godlike
Pollen is, in my opinion, the best book ever written. Noon turns the fictional wonderdrug vurt from a cradle for those who can't handle reality into a reality. Read more

Published on 28 Feb 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Pollen what an ambiguous title. It may sound like a gardening book but in reality it is a portal to anouther world where dreams can be a reality and nothing is what it seems.

Published on 16 Feb 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars And on with the dream...
Definitely one for Noon lovers amongst us, but I'd certainly recommend reading this one after Vurt. Not because you need to, simply because of the way the author plays with the... Read more

Published on 8 Jan 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Weird but compulsive.
This novel is certainly somewhat odd. While I agree with the previous reviewer that towards the end things become severely tangent I think this has the effect of drawing you... Read more

Published on 7 Feb 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Vurt
This book begins well but declines badly later on, becoming simply too detached from reality, and verges on the unreadable towards the end.

Published on 13 Feb 1999

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