Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)
by Neal Stephenson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Neal StephensonEdition: Paperback
Published: 2000-05-02
ISBN: 0553380958
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Spectra
Book Reviews of Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)
Book Review: Cyberpunk with a happy ending!
Summary: 3 Stars
This wasn't a great book, in fact, much of it was tedious for me, as I couldn't get into the whole Sumerian myth tie-in, and the metaverse wasn't nearly as compelling as William Gibson's cyberspace construct from Neuromancer/ Count Zero. Stephen Donaldson's dense prose reminded me more of the author of The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum?)
However, much of the characterization was excellent, with a sympathetic female character, a protagonist Hiro who was kind of bland but likable, and a creepy but somewhat exciting villain. There was even a good "remora" type dog who saves the day. This may sound a little trite, but I'm female and get weary of the traditional point-of-view in a lot of science fiction.
Book is a good buy for the money, very lengthy (300+ pages), but the paperback version is hard to read, using newspaper like material and muddy ink.
Summary of Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)
From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison--a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he's a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about Infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous...you'll recognize it immediately.
Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison -- a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he's a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about Infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous... you'll recognize it immediately.
"Stephenson has not stepped, he has vaulted onto the literary stage with this novel."
LOS ANGELES READER
"A cross between Neuromancer and Thomas Pynchon's Vineland. This is no mere hyperbole."
SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
"Fast-forward free-style mall mythology for the 21st century."
WILLIAM GIBSON
"Brilliantly realized... Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
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