Review Page: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
| Title: |
Snow Crash |
| Author: |
Neal Stephenson |
| Genre: |
Science Fiction |
| Publisher: |
ROC |
| Date of Publication: |
1992 |
| ISBN: |
0-14-023292-3 |
No. of Reviews: 3
Av. Rating: 8/10
Buy this book from the Amazon website.
11.09.2000 - Shahrazade - 7/10
List of Reviews | Bio
Neal Stephenson is an accomplished author who manages to fuse several different sub-genres of science fiction into a successful and individual style. At the moment he is probably the most convincing successor to William Gibson as a cyberpunk author. His characters are interesting and well realised, his worlds are vividly and believably evoked and his plots twist and turn dramatically through all the convolutions of realspace, cyberspace and the other levels of reality he conjures up.
Snow Crash follows the stories of Hiro Protagonist and YT, two small pieces of flotsam bobbing about in the wake of Important Things. Hiro delivers pizzas for the Mafia and will incur dire repercussions if he delivers one late. YT is a teenage girl who moonlights as a Kourier, using a skateboard and a harpoon to hitch rides on traffic through the nation states of the Burbclaves.
Mixed in with this are an increasing number of cases of glossolalia, drug pushers in the Metaverse, a wandering mercenary with a nuclear warhead, a gigantic Raft of immigrants hitching a ride to America on the yacht of media mogul L. Bob Rife and a cast of thousands expertly introduced and utilised to further the rapidly evolving plot.
Occasionally Stephenson has a tendency to over explain the background to the more convoluted turns his narrative takes since one of his principle subjects is information transfer: a subject on which several ancient civilisations had interesting ideas which he considers relevant to his cyberpunk society.
The quality of the writing should interest people who don't otherwise read much science fiction with the caveat that sometimes Stephenson's research is showing a little too much. The ending is more action movie than philosophical enlightenment but the action of the book flows nicely into the climax and doesn't take too long about getting there.
This is definitely worth looking out for but possibly not Stephenson's best book; The Diamond Age is more accomplished although it takes a very definite turn towards the enlightenment ending.
11.09.2000 - Al - 8/10
List of Reviews | Bio
I'd like to emphasise the hectic pace and irreverent style of this book. Like all of Stephenson's work, this is a real smorgasbord of different styles, attitudes and cyberculture, all mixed up with an endearing dash of humour.
This ranges from the mafia delivering pizzas (within half an hour, or uncle mario will land on your lawn by helicopter to apologise personally) to discussions about online etiquette - pretty much every page has something amusing in it.
Snow Crash is not Stephenson's best book, but it is one of the more vital pieces of cyberpunk literature - and a very original read.
Highly recommended on this count - at least an 8 out of 10.
4.1.2001 - Agema - 8/10
List of Reviews | Bio
The first thing you notice about this book is that early on it
approaches you like a cruise missile. Stephenson wastes no time in slamming the book into first gear. It gradually calms down later on, leaving the reader with the story of one Hiro Protagonist, a computer hacker, and a
courier called Y.T., who are drawn into a global threat involving a seeming
computer virus, snow nrash, which seems also able to affect the mind.
It is ultimately a cyberpunk book, and shares many of the traits of that
style - motorbikes, lots of people wearing black, nifty gizmos. Unlike a
couple I have read, however, the author doesn't seem to be obsessed with
making everything supercool, which makes for more entertaining characters
and plot.
There a fascinating idea underpinning this book, linking the human brain
with computers and also explaining the rise of humans from cavemen to
civilisation! Stephenson has clearly put a lot of time and thought into it,
and while it is clearly fantasy, he makes it extremely plausible. The
corporatized US is very amusing as well; where all pizza delivery is run by
the mafia, and various 'burbclaves' are set up, where each area can buy and express it's own identity and laws.
Snow Crash isn't as polished as The Diamond Age (Stephenson's next book) but it's gripping, intelligent, funny, and has attitude. And that's what
counts, eh?