Snow Crash: A Novel

By Neal Stephenson

Book Overview

The "brilliantly realized" (The New York Times Book Review) breakthrough novel from visionary author Neal Stephenson, a modern classic that predicted the metaverse and inspired generations of Silicon... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553380958
• ISBN13: 9780553380958
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Length: 440 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.2" x 1.2" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Buy this book

Have your friends buy this book, then steal it and make them buy it again!Seriously. Stephenson is great at illuminating the world of the hacker. This book does so, but not the overly self-aware coolness associated with Cryptonomicon or Heavy Weather (by Bruce Sterling).It's fun, it's never serious - even when someone is trying to destroy the world - and it makes you turn the pages.I read a lot of science fiction, and am a rabid Gibson fan, and when I read this book, all I could say was 'cool'. The world, and the cyberworld. The arcane references to the Sumerians. Da5id. My personal favorite, Sushi K. And of course, Hiro Protagonist - freelance coder, swordmaster, information seller and pizza deliverydude.Remember, Americans do 4 things better than anyone else: music, movies, microcode and pizza delivery.And the position of baddest mother is taken.Piques your interest? You'll like Snow Crash. Think the attitude is childish? Pass this book up. Read Zodiac instead. Or Diamond Age.

superbly imagined and entertaining

It's difficult to say anything about this brilliant book that hasn't already been mentioned in the other reviews. Suffice to say, this is a brilliant cyberpunk novel. Descended from William Gibson's genre-making "Neuromancer", "Snow Crash" is an entertaining, wild-eyed look at the near future, but is not as bleak, either in writing style or imagination. The three strongest points to make about the book are its plot, characters, and pure imagination. The first half of the book is an introduction of the characters and the discovery of a technological and biological virus named Snow Crash, which a person can get through blood, exposure, or by looking at diseased data in the Metaverse, a kind of populated, mall-like cyberspace. The last half is a mad, action-filled rush to the conclusion. It has enough action to keep a thriller fan happy but requires plenty of brains to follow the origination of Snow Crash, which moves from Sumerian myth to populist religion in modern times. The idea is completely hair-brained, but somehow Stephenson makes you want to believe in the possibility of what he writes, which belies his talent. Secondly, his bizarre assortment of characters like the attitudinal skater Y.T., the cool but psychotic Raven, and the familial mobster Uncle Enzo populate a world strange enough to belong to the Twilight Zone, but frighteningly familiar. There's not much substance behind the characters, including the aptly-named Hiro Protagonist, but they make up for it with style. Stephenson's imagination links his plot into the environment of an imploded USA, most of which is pure fiction that couldn't happen in the next twenty years, if not longer. Still, what they lack in reality is made up for in hilarity. His look at the possibility of Mafia-run pizza delivery and what's left of the government are hilarious! Add that to an image of cyberspace VR intertwined with the mall-going culture, and you have a wild ride through a nearly-insane world. All in all, this is a fabulous book, and even if the characters and plot aren't so deep, the sheer power of Stephenson's imagination and humor shoots it into the atmosphere.

Umberto Eco meets Joe Quirk

Absolutely loved it! This book is for people who like intelligent fiction. Stephenson manages to capture pop-reality without being cheesey. It's a very well-researched and well-written book: silly and sardonic, futuristic and tangible. Potential readers shouldn't be turned off by the cover. The book is much better and more intricate than that silly illustration. Totally five stars.