Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)

Though the first few pages are surely made of awesome, both their style and their content is quickly left behind not be seen again. After this quick bid for your attention Stephenson falls into a land of basic ideas, jumping around trying to guess at human psycology, how the future might work, what sort or relations might just be interesting but ultimately fails to really focus on anything. By...more

Though the first few pages are surely made of awesome, both their style and their content is quickly left behind not be seen again. After this quick bid for your attention Stephenson falls into a land of basic ideas, jumping around trying to guess at human psycology, how the future might work, what sort or relations might just be interesting but ultimately fails to really focus on anything. By the time the book comes to a close we're left with the feeling that all we've accomplished is another dime a dozen adventure novel with hints of cliche romantic undertones. Though probably something you won't want to miss if science fiction involving virtual reality is your thing, other readers can probably find greater appeal elsewhere.   hide

With only so many hours in the day, it’s impossible to read all the books that one wants to. But one should make the time for Snow Crash. As one view of the possible near future where governments have fallen to give way to franchised collections of territories, it acts as a warning as much as anything. The basis of the plot rests on language being able to perform a viral operation,...more

With only so many hours in the day, it’s impossible to read all the books that one wants to. But one should make the time for Snow Crash. As one view of the possible near future where governments have fallen to give way to franchised collections of territories, it acts as a warning as much as anything. The basis of the plot rests on language being able to perform a viral operation, like a disease being able to change the basic DNA of the system that it infects. And while the overall premise is commendable in its scope (so much historic detail is provided that the reader wants to believe in the theory), combining the visual snow that changes programmers and the babel-approach of fluid exchange that changes people in the non-virtual world does not really ever create a coherent flow of possibility. I felt that the over-the-top suppositions were not well enough supported despite the attempt at solidly founding them in some factual basis. However, I would still recommend this novel as a fantastic introduction to the world of cyberpunk.   hide

Snow Crash was the first Neal Stephenson book I read, and what an impression it made. It was road runner played out in virtual reality with a dose of ancient sumarian methology. Writen in 1992, it was precient in the type of social impact that virtual worlds like WoW or Second Life can have in how people interact with each other. It's filled with geeky humor, great twisted plot, and of course,...more

Snow Crash was the first Neal Stephenson book I read, and what an impression it made. It was road runner played out in virtual reality with a dose of ancient sumarian methology. Writen in 1992, it was precient in the type of social impact that virtual worlds like WoW or Second Life can have in how people interact with each other. It's filled with geeky humor, great twisted plot, and of course, a hacker who happens to be a master swordsmen in the virtual world. It's also one of the shorter novels Stephenson wrote, so the enterptainment to time ratio is pretty high. It is THE one book from Stephenson you should read.   hide

A true neo-techno classic. This book truly deserves to be on the same shelf as writers like Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke. It was slow moving novel, that was so disjointed that you really had to pay attention to know where things fit. However, Stephenson ties things together nicely in the end. I recommend this to anyone that wants to see the world they currently live in in...more

A true neo-techno classic. This book truly deserves to be on the same shelf as writers like Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke. It was slow moving novel, that was so disjointed that you really had to pay attention to know where things fit. However, Stephenson ties things together nicely in the end. I recommend this to anyone that wants to see the world they currently live in in a different way and those that want their reality challenged. Warning: a major theme of the book is the debasement of religion as a whole, not just one religion.   hide

Snow Crash is a highly entertaining and imaginitive book that I would recommend, but it suffers from poorly written ending. The first three quarters of the book are very readible; the last quarter (from the point they get to the raft) feels contrived, and discontinuous. The whole Raven/YT episode on the raft makes no sense. The final climactic scene is poorly set up and relies on some...more

Snow Crash is a highly entertaining and imaginitive book that I would recommend, but it suffers from poorly written ending. The first three quarters of the book are very readible; the last quarter (from the point they get to the raft) feels contrived, and discontinuous. The whole Raven/YT episode on the raft makes no sense. The final climactic scene is poorly set up and relies on some almost juvenile plot devices. Enjoy it, but don't think too much about it (and I'm not talking about the "willing suspension of disbelief" that any fantasy/sci-fi reader should give to the Sumerian mythology stuff).Snow Crash is a highly entertaining and imaginitive book that I would recommend, but it suffers from poorly written ending. The first three quarters of the book are very readible; the last quarter (from the point they get to the raft) feels contrived, and discontinuous. The whole Raven/YT episode on the raft makes no sense. The final climactic scene is poorly set up and relies on some almost juvenile plot devices. Enjoy it, but don't think too much about it (and I'm not talking about the "willing suspension of disbelief" that any fantasy/sci-fi reader should give to the Sumerian mythology stuff).   hide

Snow Crash is perhaps one of the cleverest books I've ever read. Just read the first chapter if you don't believe me- it is funny in a smart, hip way that is very difficult to do right, especially in a book published almost two decades ago. It has somehow managed to remain incredibly timley, funny, and undeniably cool. The plot got a little bit convoluted for my taste, and Stephenson...more

Snow Crash is perhaps one of the cleverest books I've ever read. Just read the first chapter if you don't believe me- it is funny in a smart, hip way that is very difficult to do right, especially in a book published almost two decades ago. It has somehow managed to remain incredibly timley, funny, and undeniably cool. The plot got a little bit convoluted for my taste, and Stephenson solves this problem clumsily- including huge passages that are just information dumps and long speeches where characters basically explain what's been going on. But that doesn't mean that this book wasn't still freaking awesome. The plot was exciting and fast pased, the characters interesting (if a bit too cool for their own good) and the world created was complicated and fun. It will make you laugh even if you don't like the concept behind the book, which was intesting if a bit rushed. In all, this book is an excelent pleasure read and is not just for sci fic fans.   hide

Hiro Protagonist, self-employed stringer for the Central Intelligence Corporation, whose practice used to be limited to so-called "dry" operations, meaning that he sat around and soaked up information and then later spat it back into the Library, the CIC database, without ever actually doing anything. Now his practice has become formidably wet. Hiro is armed with two swords and a nine-millimeter...more

Hiro Protagonist, self-employed stringer for the Central Intelligence Corporation, whose practice used to be limited to so-called "dry" operations, meaning that he sat around and soaked up information and then later spat it back into the Library, the CIC database, without ever actually doing anything. Now his practice has become formidably wet. Hiro is armed with two swords and a nine-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, known colloquially as a nine, with two ammunition clips, each carrying eleven rounds. I enjoyed reading Snowcrash and I recommend it to anyone who wants their first stint at reading a cyberpunk novel. Snowcrash is funny, fast paced and captivating enough to keep the reader hooked for the whole ride. The story begins with an introduction to the main character of the story, Hiro Protagonist, top notch hacker and sword weilding maestro. Stephenson has an excellent command over his prose and words are aptly used for describing a setting, person or event. As the story starts, Hiro is late for his delivery of a pizza to a customer. The catch is that not only do customers receive free pizzas when the delivery is late, the person delivering the pizza also loses his head! What follows is a vivid transcription of the events as Hiro tries to deliver the pizza while trying to negotiate traffic and warding off a pesky Kourier. And thats just the first few pages of the book. Stephenson injects humor and sarcasm wherever possible in his narrative, making the book lighter than most heavy cyberpunk novels like Neuromancer. He also employs just the right amount of words to describe his settings, without boring the reader. Using amazing skill, he compresses enough details using appropriate words throughout the book, which I felt was simply amazing. It's not just the writing that sparkles, Stephenson has also got an interesting plot to go with his writing style. And, unlike Neuromancer, the plot is the central point, thankfully. The plot revolves around a Snowcrash virus which not only destroys digital avatars but affects people in reality also. So you are thinking what's new about it, perhaps there is a feedback from the VR world back to reality? Fortunately, Stephenson avoids this cliche and clearly points out that no such link exists (i.e. no Matrix like hyper virtual reality). The plot is masterfully tied to ancient history and civilization arising due to a virus (this has got to be the most original explanation of all times!). Snowcrash is a blast. Its funny, action packed and does not require a detailed analysis of the characters once you have finished the book. I'm okay with that, as the last thing I want to be analyzing when I'm getting home is definitely not why an AI would want to assasinate another AI by hiring a human!   hide

A cracking good read, with hysterically romanticised descriptions of the dark side of today's/tommorow's capitalist economy (pizza deliverators, couriers etc). It is also fun on the ambivalence between organizated crime and legitimate business. Perhaps most notable is how prescient it was on the whole virtual reality thing. Populated by virtual avatars and computer-wearing gargoyles,...more

A cracking good read, with hysterically romanticised descriptions of the dark side of today's/tommorow's capitalist economy (pizza deliverators, couriers etc). It is also fun on the ambivalence between organizated crime and legitimate business. Perhaps most notable is how prescient it was on the whole virtual reality thing. Populated by virtual avatars and computer-wearing gargoyles, Stephenson's novel blurs the boundaries between real-life and the internet in ways most of us can relate to today. I can't help but wonder what he'd make of Facebook... On the other side, if you want a really nice critique of the Californian libertarian politics of Stephenson's novel, and his conception of subjectivity and embodiement, take a look at the chapter dedicated to it in Katherine Hayles 'How we became post-human'. Another great read in its own right...   hide

Why is the Deliverator so equipped? Because people rely on him. He is a roll model. This is America. People do whatever the fuck they feel like doing, you got a problem with that? Because they have a right to. And because they have guns and no one can fucking stop them. As a result, this country has one of the worst economies in the world. When it gets down to it--we're talking trade balances...more

Why is the Deliverator so equipped? Because people rely on him. He is a roll model. This is America. People do whatever the fuck they feel like doing, you got a problem with that? Because they have a right to. And because they have guns and no one can fucking stop them. As a result, this country has one of the worst economies in the world. When it gets down to it--we're talking trade balances here--once we've brain-drained all our technology into other countries, once things have evened out, they're making cars in Bolivia and microwaves in Tadzhikistan and selling them here--once our edge in natural resources has been made irrelevant by giant Hong Kong ships and dirigibles that can ship North Dakota all the way to New Zealand for a nickel--once the Invisible Hand has taken all those historical inequities and smeared them out into a broad global layer of what a Pakistani bricklayer would consider to be prosperity--y'know what? There's only four things we do better than anyone else music movies microcode (software) high-speed pizza delivery   hide