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Vurt
Nymphomation
Set both in a real and imaginary Manchester, Jeff Noon's story concerns a revolutionary lottery game that is engulfing the city in a tide of gambling fever. As a group of mathematics students look at the mind-numbing probabilities involved, they soon find more sinister realities. The Company has developed the nymphomation, and has the power to devour the city's dreams
368 pages, Paperback
First published October 2, 1997
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1221 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Noon
57 books862 followersJeff Noon is a novelist, short story writer and playwright whose works make extensive use of wordplay and fantasy.
He studied fine art and drama at Manchester University and was subsequently appointed writer in residence at the city's Royal Exchange theatre. But Noon did not stay too long in the theatrical world, possibly because the realism associated with the theatre was not conducive to the fantastical worlds he was itching to invent. While working behind the counter at the local Waterstone's bookshop, a colleague suggested he write a novel. The result of that suggestion,
Vurt, was the hippest sci-fi novel to be published in Britain since the days of Michael Moorcock in the late sixties.
Like Moorcock, Noon is not preoccupied with technology per se, but incorporates technological developments into a world of magic and fantasy.
As a teenager, Noon was addicted to American comic heroes, and still turns to them for inspiration. He has said that music is more of an influence on his writing than novelists: he 'usually writes to music', and his record collection ranges from classical to drum'n'bass.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
January 29, 2016
Even to my jaded reading ear, this just pops off the page with hyperkinetic sentence and story-structure. There's a fast pop frivolity to it as well, but that just seems to bring it closer to the pulp-lit innovations of the the late 60s than most of their modern imitators. How exciting that I can still get grabbed like this (as with other 2016 reads, it's a good year so far: Our Lady of the Nile, The Third Policeman, and Breaking and Entering) from page one. And even if the mathematical underpinnings turn out to be mostly empty and undeveloped sketches of ideas (come on, thrown me some ideas to really chew over in the world outside the novel's!), even if a certain logic was eschewed in favor of bringing every plot thread together for the most climactic culmination possible under the circumstances, it's all just so much fun to read. And for a blind buy out of the Strand dollar bins, no less. Definitely will need to track down a few other entries in Noon's cyberpunk sequence.
October 8, 2010
Nymphomation is frenetic prequel to 'Vurt' and 'Pollen' (but chronologically occurring after 'Automated Alice'). As with Noon's other works, many interesting ideas are conveyed in the story; but this particular novel takes place before the birth of the Vurt (indeed the book provides information as to how the birth of the Vurt came about).[return][return]In Nymphomation, Noon extends himself further in terms of literary prose when compared to his earlier works of 'Vurt' and 'Pollen'. The jump between first and third person perspectives, shifts in character emphasis along with his prose ranging from stream-of-consciousness to academic exposition in some sense challenges the reader to keep up with the ideas going on in the book. Personally, I found this spectrum of literary style fun and interesting to read; but it will put others off to the story. [return][return]That being said, the characters in Nymphomation were not as strong as those in Pollen or Vurt. While the characters I believed to be realistic in their personalities, they are extremely static and their roles shift in the story in an artificial way. Basically, Daisy is developed as a main character who is supplanted in this role at the end of the story by Jazir who moves in from a supporting role. Unfortunately, Jazir wasn't developed enough to justify this transition. As for Daisy, Noon developed her plot line but Noon failed to reflect this development in her personality, making her character seem static despite the story surrounding her. [return][return]In addition to the problems with characters, the plot was also not as inventive as some of Noon's other works. The plot follows a standard archetype of a group of characters trying to take down a larger corporate construct. Toward the end of the story, the plot line gets more and more abstract falling into essentially something straight out of the mind of Borges. While I like the abstract personally, it may not be everyone's cup of tea.[return][return]On of the particular points that I really thought interesting in this book is how Noon refers to mathematics throughout the novel. As a student of mathematics, I have a tendency to judge its uses in a fictional setting rather harshly; but I love what the path that Noon has taken in Nymphomation. Instead of conveying mathematics as something that is tantamount to a novel construction and manipulation of symbols on paper (which is prolific in much of fiction) he takes a simulation approach to his mathematical references. That is, instead of referring to equations by symbols he refers to them through the physical things they model. For example, getting people to dance in a rave he would refer to as the DJ manipulating the equation of the crowd. Noon uses this mechanism consistently in the book; and it works very well if you buy into the ideas of Simulacra and Simulation (a book by Baudrillard). While this has problems when it comes to purely theoretical mathematics, I love this approach as it enables mathematics to be portrayed in a more artistic light and not some technically brutal manipulation of symbols.[return][return]One a smaller note, the typesetting (at least in the Black Swan Edition) is awesome for this book. The blurbfly inserts and typographical artistry in the layout I found immensely appealing. This is one of the very few novels you will find that is typeset in a sans-serif font. [return][return]Overall, I think Nymphomation presents a lot of interesting ideas and literary prose; but is lacking in plot/character interest when compared to Noon's earlier works 'Vurt' and 'Pollen'. While I personally really enjoyed reading this book, it may not be everyone's thing. If unfamiliar with Noon's work, I would suggest first reading 'Vurt' or perhaps 'Pollen' before jumping into this story.
January 24, 2023
Uff, another weird fiction from Jeff Noon finished - and I think it is another five-star recommendation from me. Nymphomation is from a bizarre world full of creepy flying advertisements called blurb, occult mathematic and sexual fetishes, including very horny numbers (yeah, it is still Noon).
I liked word building here; it put some things in context and it even explained vaz and the birth of Vurt world:
"The young boy puts the feather into his mouth."
I need to read the whole series one more time, as I missed loads of nuances, especially at the end. But I appreciated that final Lovecraftian hole full of horrors.
I liked word building here; it put some things in context and it even explained vaz and the birth of Vurt world:
"The young boy puts the feather into his mouth."
I need to read the whole series one more time, as I missed loads of nuances, especially at the end. But I appreciated that final Lovecraftian hole full of horrors.
August 7, 2015
This is an exceptionally hard book to review. Not because it's bad – it isn't, it's excellent – but because it's almost impossible to define what it's about.
Gambling? Definitely. It nicely sums up our seeming obsession with the National Lottery and Euromillions, the faith of the poor and the desperate that a game of chance will turn their lives around.
But it's about much more than that. Love, friendship, mystery, murder, maths and the idea that information creates more information – it reproduces, hence nymphomation.
It’s 1999 and Manchester is in the grip of a new gambling game based on dominoes – match your domino with the randomly chosen one to win. One side means a smaller win, getting both means winning big. Every Friday night the populace of Manchester hold onto their ‘bones’ and hope to match the winning numbers. A double six garners the best prize, while a double blank (the ‘joker bone’) is the booby prize – no one knows what it is, but everyone knows it’s bad.
But of course there’s much more to it than that, and a small group of Mancunians are brought together to look at what really might be going on. What does the joker bone really represent? Who is the mysterious Mr Millions? What does all this have to do with groundbreaking yet dangerous maths research from the 70s? And what it the true nature of luck?
It’s hard to go into further detail without giving the game – pun intended – away. Suffice to say this is an exceptionally well written thriller crossed with urban fantasy. It’s part of Noon’s Vurt series, but doesn’t require the others to have been read.
Gambling? Definitely. It nicely sums up our seeming obsession with the National Lottery and Euromillions, the faith of the poor and the desperate that a game of chance will turn their lives around.
But it's about much more than that. Love, friendship, mystery, murder, maths and the idea that information creates more information – it reproduces, hence nymphomation.
It’s 1999 and Manchester is in the grip of a new gambling game based on dominoes – match your domino with the randomly chosen one to win. One side means a smaller win, getting both means winning big. Every Friday night the populace of Manchester hold onto their ‘bones’ and hope to match the winning numbers. A double six garners the best prize, while a double blank (the ‘joker bone’) is the booby prize – no one knows what it is, but everyone knows it’s bad.
But of course there’s much more to it than that, and a small group of Mancunians are brought together to look at what really might be going on. What does the joker bone really represent? Who is the mysterious Mr Millions? What does all this have to do with groundbreaking yet dangerous maths research from the 70s? And what it the true nature of luck?
It’s hard to go into further detail without giving the game – pun intended – away. Suffice to say this is an exceptionally well written thriller crossed with urban fantasy. It’s part of Noon’s Vurt series, but doesn’t require the others to have been read.
July 25, 2011
In Nymphomation, Jeff Noon returns to the Manchester of Vurt and Pollen, but in the year 1999 - a time before the vurt and before Fecundity 10 created all the cross breeds that populate Noon's first two novels.
The story revolves around a lottery (based on dominoes) that is being tested in Manchester before being rolled out to all of England. Daisy Love, our main character, is a mathematics student who becomes mixed up with a group of students who are trying to unravel the secrets of the lottery. As the story continues, we see that the events unfolding are the genesis of all the weirdness in the Manchester of Vurt and Pollen.
As usual, Noon's prose is amazing. On top of that, the plot in Nymphomation is his best so far. Definitely superior to Pollen, this final entry in the series ranks right up there with the Vurt (the first).
The story revolves around a lottery (based on dominoes) that is being tested in Manchester before being rolled out to all of England. Daisy Love, our main character, is a mathematics student who becomes mixed up with a group of students who are trying to unravel the secrets of the lottery. As the story continues, we see that the events unfolding are the genesis of all the weirdness in the Manchester of Vurt and Pollen.
As usual, Noon's prose is amazing. On top of that, the plot in Nymphomation is his best so far. Definitely superior to Pollen, this final entry in the series ranks right up there with the Vurt (the first).
June 16, 2023
Not quite what I was expecting, although I can’t say what that was exactly anyways …
but, you can see the threads, the weaving of the Vurt and the Vaz.. and miss Celia in the centre of it all.
Perhaps it would be better to read this before Vurt and Pollen, chronologically it exists in a place and time before them… but the story, in my mind at least, works better if you’ve already been exposed by the previous novels.
either way, I look forward to reading it again in the future.
Play To Win
Win to Play
Play to Dream.
but, you can see the threads, the weaving of the Vurt and the Vaz.. and miss Celia in the centre of it all.
Perhaps it would be better to read this before Vurt and Pollen, chronologically it exists in a place and time before them… but the story, in my mind at least, works better if you’ve already been exposed by the previous novels.
either way, I look forward to reading it again in the future.
Play To Win
Win to Play
Play to Dream.
October 26, 2010
See, here's the problem I have with Jeff Noon. Vurt and Falling Out of Cars are two of the best science fiction novels I've ever read. They changed my view of the contemporary novel and provided me ample fuel for critical study at university.
But Nymphomation somehow doesn't match up. The bursts of purple prose, whilst entertaining in places, lack the raw energy of his two masterpieces. There's much of Vurt's style and panache here, but it feels overdone, half-baked and inconsistent. I feel the real issue is with peer review. As a writer and editor myself, I think the best thing for my own writing has been airing my work amongst other writers and taking onboard their feedback. Whilst no one can grasp quite what a writer wants to portray like the writer, the writer suffers from a lack of objectivity and, occasionally, a lack of originality. It's too easy to become self-indulgent and write the kind of fiction we're comfortable with. That's the real flaw with Nymphomation.
I feel that Noon should have pushed himself further. The promise of nymphomation (information which is reproductive, hybridising, sincretic and promiscuous) could go much wider. I almost expected the house at the end to be a place of constantly bifurcating realities. I anticipated a place where characters encountered multiple versions of themselves and wandered through different versions of the past. I expected books with constantly changing and mutating stories, and DNA strands spiralling into chaos.
Instead we got a poorly conceived maths lesson with yet *more* Lewis Carroll allusion. In Falling Out of Cars and Vurt, the allusions were fine. In this, I really felt Noon should read more. There are many things more appropriate at this juncture in his writing career. The Book of Sand is an obvious one. The Master & Margarita is another one. Even these would be better than another Alice allusion.
The idea, though, as always, was great. It was just the development which needed further guidance. More peer review in the developmental stages would have pushed him in newer, stranger directions. This almost wasn't strange enough.
I'm anxiously waiting for Noon's next novel, but after Falling Out of Cars, his prose writing seems to have taken second fiddle to scriptwriting. Let's hope he reads a little more before knocking out the next book.
But Nymphomation somehow doesn't match up. The bursts of purple prose, whilst entertaining in places, lack the raw energy of his two masterpieces. There's much of Vurt's style and panache here, but it feels overdone, half-baked and inconsistent. I feel the real issue is with peer review. As a writer and editor myself, I think the best thing for my own writing has been airing my work amongst other writers and taking onboard their feedback. Whilst no one can grasp quite what a writer wants to portray like the writer, the writer suffers from a lack of objectivity and, occasionally, a lack of originality. It's too easy to become self-indulgent and write the kind of fiction we're comfortable with. That's the real flaw with Nymphomation.
I feel that Noon should have pushed himself further. The promise of nymphomation (information which is reproductive, hybridising, sincretic and promiscuous) could go much wider. I almost expected the house at the end to be a place of constantly bifurcating realities. I anticipated a place where characters encountered multiple versions of themselves and wandered through different versions of the past. I expected books with constantly changing and mutating stories, and DNA strands spiralling into chaos.
Instead we got a poorly conceived maths lesson with yet *more* Lewis Carroll allusion. In Falling Out of Cars and Vurt, the allusions were fine. In this, I really felt Noon should read more. There are many things more appropriate at this juncture in his writing career. The Book of Sand is an obvious one. The Master & Margarita is another one. Even these would be better than another Alice allusion.
The idea, though, as always, was great. It was just the development which needed further guidance. More peer review in the developmental stages would have pushed him in newer, stranger directions. This almost wasn't strange enough.
I'm anxiously waiting for Noon's next novel, but after Falling Out of Cars, his prose writing seems to have taken second fiddle to scriptwriting. Let's hope he reads a little more before knocking out the next book.
September 5, 2008
There is no wit quite like Jeff Noon's; I would recommend any book by him in a heartbeat. This is a book about love, and sex, and dystopia, and dominoes, and the way humans process information, and the inevitable bridge between humanity and technology. Positively staggering.
April 18, 2025
Nymphomation is the fourth and final book in the Vurt series and is a prequel; filling in the backstory of how the city (and the technology that shapes it) came to be, as well as including the character Celia from Automated Alice, the third book in the series. It expands Noon's universe with both context and thematic depth.
Nymphomation is set in a decaying Manchester ruled by The Company, the populace is addicted to Domino Bones—a seductive lottery broadcast by blurbflies and embodied by the towering idol Lady Luck. Every Friday, the city halts to worship a false hope, while The Company siphons dreams and credits in return.
But beneath the propaganda, a rogue group of math students uncovers the truth:
One of the core ideas in Nymphomation is that data and biology are intertwined. Numbers are not just symbols; they live, mutate, and evolve. The AnnoDomino lottery is a judgement on how corporations manipulate desire, addiction, and hope. It draws parallels to real-world issues with gambling, advertising, and mass media.
The writing is experimental with a layer of sharp satire; infused with a surreal, cyberpunk energy, blending gritty urban realism with poetic invention which pokes fun at corporate greed and the societal addiction to chance, the language is laced with creative slang. Noon paints a world pervaded with technological corporate control, media saturation, and digital decay; projecting the feeling of a Black Mirror episode. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, how the ending wrapped up, tying the story into the others and coming full circle. This one was my favorite of the Vurt series.
Nymphomation is set in a decaying Manchester ruled by The Company, the populace is addicted to Domino Bones—a seductive lottery broadcast by blurbflies and embodied by the towering idol Lady Luck. Every Friday, the city halts to worship a false hope, while The Company siphons dreams and credits in return.
But beneath the propaganda, a rogue group of math students uncovers the truth:
One of the core ideas in Nymphomation is that data and biology are intertwined. Numbers are not just symbols; they live, mutate, and evolve. The AnnoDomino lottery is a judgement on how corporations manipulate desire, addiction, and hope. It draws parallels to real-world issues with gambling, advertising, and mass media.
The writing is experimental with a layer of sharp satire; infused with a surreal, cyberpunk energy, blending gritty urban realism with poetic invention which pokes fun at corporate greed and the societal addiction to chance, the language is laced with creative slang. Noon paints a world pervaded with technological corporate control, media saturation, and digital decay; projecting the feeling of a Black Mirror episode. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, how the ending wrapped up, tying the story into the others and coming full circle. This one was my favorite of the Vurt series.
February 11, 2025
1. Vurt
2. Pollen
3. Nymphomation
4. Automated Alice
2. Pollen
3. Nymphomation
4. Automated Alice
February 22, 2015
I thought most of this novel was pretty poor, but the last section was simply abysmal. I can't think of a single thing that was done well; the characters were more like grinning cardboard cut-outs than real people; the "plot" was just a series of random events, many of which didn't make any sense and weren't explained (and I don't mean cliffhangers, I mean things left completely unexplained all the way through the book) and the descriptions were virtually non-existent (for example, Noon never explain what a blurbvert actually looks like, even though to be able to understand some of the scenes required a reasonable understanding of their physiology). But more than anything the writing style was just dreadful. Noon is a sub-mediocre writer who seems to think he's Shakespeare. The book was just littered with jarring, overly flowery phrases which just don't MEAN ANYTHING. E.g. "I am now double-six and life is a song sung low and cool to rouse the gentle spirit". Out of context that may sound passable, but trust me, in context it's just meaningless nonsense. To give Noon some credit I did read it to the very end so it wasn't completely unbearable, but there were several points when I just wished it was all over. Overall: Thumbs down.
March 30, 2017
I don't often revisit books, and when I do it's extremely rare that I revisit them from this particular period: the mid to late nineties were quite culturally specific (by which I mean druggy, let's be honest), and I fear the Suck Fairy here more than anywhere else. But my recent interest in the poetry of Shakespeare led me to want to retry a book that I remembered, hazily, as being spectacularly rhythmic.
Sadly midway through I told someone I thought it was a "load of torrid nonsense". Here Noon is at the very beginnings of his experiments with his Cobralingus method; you can feel him finding his way with "remixing" text, and at about halfway through it all becomes a bit too much, too disjointed. For my taste he relies too much on this method in later books and I feared that Nymphomation was going to turn out to be a naïve early example.
But! Unlike later novels he slowly backs away from linguistic experimentation as the book progresses and starts to focus more traditional language on a plot that, while making little external sense (I wouldn't dare to try to summarise here), remains entirely internally consistent and gripping for the reader.
So, yeah. Actually pretty damn good. I really enjoyed it. And he keeps the mad shit at just the right level.
Sadly midway through I told someone I thought it was a "load of torrid nonsense". Here Noon is at the very beginnings of his experiments with his Cobralingus method; you can feel him finding his way with "remixing" text, and at about halfway through it all becomes a bit too much, too disjointed. For my taste he relies too much on this method in later books and I feared that Nymphomation was going to turn out to be a naïve early example.
But! Unlike later novels he slowly backs away from linguistic experimentation as the book progresses and starts to focus more traditional language on a plot that, while making little external sense (I wouldn't dare to try to summarise here), remains entirely internally consistent and gripping for the reader.
So, yeah. Actually pretty damn good. I really enjoyed it. And he keeps the mad shit at just the right level.
December 19, 2014
I think Vurt was maybe one of the best contemporary sci do books I have read...more so with regard it's aftermath as I read it I found it a compelling book but once finished I truly appreciated it more...it was a book that would return to me....maybe the same thing will happen with this book..although I don't think so.
Initially I enjoyed this book an idea of a future national lottery based on changing Dominos plus the introduction of a world like ours and yet different in subtle ways made this a compelling and easy read ...however towards the end it just felt like it was a book that started to get bogged down by its big ideas...and that is a shame as until the closing chapters it equalled vurt.
Anyhow I will read more by the author..his extraordinary vision and use of language alone dictates the fact I do need to read more...plus maybe re-read vurt of which this serves as a prequel of sorts.
Initially I enjoyed this book an idea of a future national lottery based on changing Dominos plus the introduction of a world like ours and yet different in subtle ways made this a compelling and easy read ...however towards the end it just felt like it was a book that started to get bogged down by its big ideas...and that is a shame as until the closing chapters it equalled vurt.
Anyhow I will read more by the author..his extraordinary vision and use of language alone dictates the fact I do need to read more...plus maybe re-read vurt of which this serves as a prequel of sorts.
January 12, 2019
I have been thinking of this book, but not able to recall the title or author, for probably 10 years. Finally, I had the time to ask my friend who had introduced me to this book via her college literature class, and while she didn't instantly recall the details, she texted me only several hours later saying it popped in her head; "Nymphomation.. by Jeff Noon!" I did a little happy dance because I wanted to give it appropriate cred in Goodreads considering I've been (only tacitly) tyring to track this one down!
July 10, 2019
This book was hard to track down... I had to buy it used on Amazon. I loved it though; definitely a great addition to the Vurt series, and a damned good prequel. If you've never read the Vurt books, I'd start with this one.
December 18, 2018
The translation for this wasn't too good and I feel like a lot of the original was lost on me.
March 7, 2024
I am glad I am done with this. I read this at the same time as reading The Great Stink of London, a book about the major engineering feat required to eliminate the shit polluting the Thames in the mid-1800s, and I have to say it was easier to read about the problems of raw sewage management than this book. I read a couple of other reviews before I finished this book, wanting to know if anyone else felt the same way as me. Yes, turns out. One reviewer stated that he didn't care about any of the characters half way through. Another said it was too random. I agree with both of these assessments. I read both Vurt and Pollen more than 20 years ago, and I seem to remember enjoying them. Is it my age? Unfortunately, this book reminded me of people who unconvincingly try to explain why their drug experiences are so deep and cosmic, but end up merely sounding pretentious, and then conclude by stating that you just have to take the drugs to understand. In a dream or a drug experience, anything bends reality on a whim that personally means something to the person. Transferring that to a piece of fiction just feels like - 'I wrote this for me, not for you - unless of course you take some drugs and see the same things I show you.' The trouble is that it feels like it's just being made up as it went along. And using mathematics as some mystical element without the anchor of any good metaphor for its function is about as convincing as Creationism. It's like Noon just decided it was about math because of some math vocabulary used. The only mathematics one can hold onto briefly is the probability in a domino game. Even the concept of alchemy seems like it holds more mathematical probability than the world that is created here. There is no actual logic involved. I am not saying a work of fiction can't use surrealism, but even Dali's Persistence of Memory has gravity. And Salman Rushdie and certain other writers make use of magical realism in a way that a reader can follow and accept, so ultimately this just fails to present a universe where we continue to give a f>
And perhaps the whopper of a lame wrap up to the whole thing involves an ending that calls back to a totally left out character, leaving the reader thinking - Huh? Alfred Hitchcock once explained Suspense in an interview by saying that if a there is a scene in which people are in a room talking, and a bomb goes off, the audience is briefly shocked and then confused. But if an audience is shown the bomb under a table while the two people causally are talking, the audience is gripped with tension, shouting at the characters to stop talking and diffuse the bomb. However, this book's ending is like a Hitchcock film in which the entire story plays out with intrigue, but at the end it turns out that Hitchcock himself is the murderer after just his brief cameo walk-on at the beginning of the film. And there is no explanation why because it is the end.
Sadly, I hoped I would renew my interest in Noon. Maybe I should go back and try to reread Vurt to see if I would still enjoy it or if, with age, I have lost all patience with what seems like drug-fueled pretension. This was supposed to be the 'prequel'? But even that was unconvincing.
And perhaps the whopper of a lame wrap up to the whole thing involves an ending that calls back to a totally left out character, leaving the reader thinking - Huh? Alfred Hitchcock once explained Suspense in an interview by saying that if a there is a scene in which people are in a room talking, and a bomb goes off, the audience is briefly shocked and then confused. But if an audience is shown the bomb under a table while the two people causally are talking, the audience is gripped with tension, shouting at the characters to stop talking and diffuse the bomb. However, this book's ending is like a Hitchcock film in which the entire story plays out with intrigue, but at the end it turns out that Hitchcock himself is the murderer after just his brief cameo walk-on at the beginning of the film. And there is no explanation why because it is the end.
Sadly, I hoped I would renew my interest in Noon. Maybe I should go back and try to reread Vurt to see if I would still enjoy it or if, with age, I have lost all patience with what seems like drug-fueled pretension. This was supposed to be the 'prequel'? But even that was unconvincing.
May 21, 2019
3.5 stars.
I had no idea this book was part of the same universe as three other books; I wonder if reading the others, or at least the first one, would provide more depth to Nymphomation ?
I weirdly enjoyed it, even if I didn't understand half of it; well, maybe not half, but a good chunk at least.
It was a very bizarre novel and I'm not quite sure what to make of it.
At first, the only reason why I this book arrived in my TBR was because the story takes place in Manchester. How shallow, I know.
But it was good. I think ? I was entertained and wanted to know more, and looking forward to picking it up every time I could.
The only thing bothering me, and it's in no way the author's fault, was that I'm probably too dumb to understand it properly. All the maths and probabilities, and fractions (and curries !) got me lost.
It was good.
I had no idea this book was part of the same universe as three other books; I wonder if reading the others, or at least the first one, would provide more depth to Nymphomation ?
I weirdly enjoyed it, even if I didn't understand half of it; well, maybe not half, but a good chunk at least.
It was a very bizarre novel and I'm not quite sure what to make of it.
At first, the only reason why I this book arrived in my TBR was because the story takes place in Manchester. How shallow, I know.
But it was good. I think ? I was entertained and wanted to know more, and looking forward to picking it up every time I could.
The only thing bothering me, and it's in no way the author's fault, was that I'm probably too dumb to understand it properly. All the maths and probabilities, and fractions (and curries !) got me lost.
It was good.
March 4, 2023
Fun and ridiculous and sleazy. I think this is maybe the second Jeff Noon book I've read. Dominoes, ridiculous names (Frank Scenario, Sweet Benny, Cookie Luck, Tommy Tumbler, Jimmy and Daisy Love, etc), fascists and insect borne advertisements. lots of hacker stuff. Set in Manchester. Curry shops. Runaways. Begging holes "official" and bookshops. He makes up such a wild and alive world with people and machines and ... it reminded me of the feeling of watching strange days a little bit. Which I don't think I've watched since the 90s so that might not be a good analogy.
September 19, 2019
This book has some moments of sparkling, interesting, prose. Its premise interested me, but doesn't hold together for long. The characters are mostly thin and toward the end, the novel unraveled for me pretty badly. Noon writes with a distinctive voice and it's definitely worth checking his writing out. But it's inconsistent and the wheels fall off the longer it goes on.
July 17, 2017
There is something endlessly appealing about the vurt world and its feathers and this prequel/sequel gives a lot of what we loved and more in a bizarre parallel world that's only set to get even weirder.
June 30, 2021
I loved this book until the half way mark but then I got a bit lost in the abstract nature of the storyline. I liked the little nod to Vurt at the end but it would be lost on anyone who has not read Vurt. Jeff does write a very individual and inventive story with lots of Manchester love.
June 11, 2017
Very odd, but entertaining.
September 23, 2018
stross on really good drugs sooooooo much fun and being a major fan of vurt gotta read it
September 19, 2020
i loved this book so much i read it too fast and got a headache
October 16, 2021
Starts of multi coloured like Luc Besson's 5th element, slowly muddles itself into a disappointing Blade Runneresque rainy monochrome
February 22, 2024
Full of weird prose and definitely very quirky. This book is bizarre, entertaining and a blast of fresh air. 5 stars!
March 4, 2024
Curry punk.
None of this really makes any sense but that's ok.
None of this really makes any sense but that's ok.
June 17, 2025
Another gloriously weird entry from Jeff Noon, finishing the Vurt series about weird alternative cyberpunk Manchester. a prequel to Vurt, this entry feels a lot more satirical.
July 23, 2025
Очень-очень-очень странный бред на математических вайбах
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