Rating: 
Summary: 'S Good Stuff
Review: A funny, fascinating world with rich characters and interesting situations combine to make this one of the true classics of science fiction. While many folks seem to be turned off by the long historical interludes, these were one of the best parts of the book IMHO. They pointed out an odd area of history that I (and most other readers, I'm betting) had certainly never seen or heard of. True, the book did drag a bit between the middle and the end, but its overall greatness easily earn it the full 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! Weak ending, though...
Review: Excellent work from maestro Stephenson. An fine step beyond the jejune "eyeball kicks" early cyberpunk literature. The rich pieces of history and mythology were handled perfectly, although this obviously went over a lot of readers heads. Now if Stephenson could only lick his Heinlienien "bad ending" syndrome...
Rating:
Summary: Very strange, but very very good.
Review: Neal Stephenson has one of the most interesting imaginations I've come across; half the book sounds like what comes out of your head, very very late at night, when someone turns the creativity switch "on" and then forgets to turn it off. His style of writing, if the present tense doesn't put you off, is very original and VERY amusing. The middle section of the book, I will admit, fails utterly as a novel, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. Stephenson relates religion and language to viruses by way of Sumerian mythology-- calling the god Enki the "first neurolinguistic hacker" was an interesting touch. This bizarre theory is presented in a series of very long discussions, however, which sort of stop the plot dead while you try to figure out what is happening. If you enjoy language, mythology, modern religion, and/or blends of all of the above raised on a diet of hallucinogenic chemicals and then filtered through Stephenson's completely whacked style, it is fascinating. If such ideas put you to sleep, you'll probably hate it. I belong to the former group, and have read this book three times, and STILL don't quite understand all of it; that is what makes it so much fun.
Rating:
Summary: A satirical romp through a possable yesterday
Review: Please excuse my bad spelling. This was one of the most enjoyable books I have read in the past three years. From the getgo it takes a diffarent look at the inside of society and what we might be if we were not carefull, but without becoming self righteous, pompous, or bogging down the story. It is a fun adventure that makes you think. A worthy read.
Rating: 
Summary: Uneven, and overall a little disappointing.
Review: The opening chapters of this book really raised my expectations! They have a giddy, zany, breakneck quality about them that is wonderfully refreshing. The characters, Y.T. and Hiro, are introduced well, and the early action is completely hilarious. However, the book goes into a slow decline after that. The long passages with Hiro and the Librarian are not only unnecessary, but incredibly tedious. Totally snooze-inspiring. A book that is basically techno-adventure should not delve so deeply into linguistic and biophysical theory. And the ending is extremely unsatisfying. It's as if the author got tired of the story, so he just stopped writing, not giving the reader the courtesy of even a cursory conclusion, leaving the reader slightly confused and very annoyed. However, Stephenson's vision of the future is a darkly funny and captivating one, with the Mafia and the Metaverse being especially well-drawn and well thought out. The chartacterization is strong thro! ughout, and the action sequences are written very well. The one unqualified thumbs-up? The Kouriers. What a fantastic idea! But they can't overcome the uneven pacing and the erratic story line. The book was enjoyable, but it could have been so much better! I give it three stars.
Rating: 
Summary: comes and goes
Review: This book is interesting at first. Or perhaps, due to my virginity in the cyberfiction/thriller genre, I was more impressed than I otherwise would have been. At any rate, I was entertained through the first half, but my interest waned through the last half. I am willing to try other Stephenson books and more in this genre (which until now has seemed a little too teenage, nerd-type for me).
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully unique interpretation of the near future
Review: Neal Stephenson pieces together an exciting story of Snow Crash's main character, Hiro Protagonist. Hiro, a former Deliverator and the World's Greatest Sword Fighter lives in a world where the government is no longer a central entity but rather is a series of seperatel owned and operated franchises, and America has fallen out of power to other countries like Nippon and Hong Kong. He is a freelance hacker who was once one of the first pioneers of the Metaverse, an elaborate internet style world a la William Gibson. Information is anyones enterprise, but soon the web of secrets becomes too much to handle, and strange worlds start to unravel before Hiro. An excellent read, I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: It tells more than a story, Fantastic!
Review: I belive that if 'Beavis & ButHead' could read we would hear ButHead saying "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen."For it is. It is a fantastic book. Detailed, intelligent, well structured, powerfully cast and riviting to the very last detail. The intertwining of various stories and charachters is done impecibly. It is fun, it paints pictures you feel you can almost touch in your mind and it realy draws you into the Snow Crash world. I was fascinated about the annalysis of language and the 'meta virus'. The whole religion thing being shown for what it could be. The likable mafia who really do seem like the good guys, despite this you never realy know which of the corporations are good or bad. The description of technology is fantastic too. In depth, detailed, clear and understandable. This modern/futuristic guide to life is a must for any sci-fi/cy-fi fan and will draw in anyone who reads it. I was physicly unable to put it down for hour! ! s on end and I was devistated when there was no more to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad.
Review: I bought this book because of the fast paced and clearly absurd/comical nature of the first chapter. The book went straight downhill from there. Many things presented as technological advances either aren't advances (they already exist), or make assertions that are completely unbelievable. For example: The entire Metaverse concept. As presented, it was completely unbelievable. The level of human interface with it was so lo-tech that I can't imagine anyone losing themselves in it. Many more attempts are made to present futuristic things with a tone of "look at this way cool idea", as if it were a freshly invented concept first put to paper here. But they are, for the more part, reinventions of the wheel, having appeared many times before; and from that are ordinary and unremarkable and fully expectable elements of any cyberpunk-type future. The virtual construct of perceived space in the Metaverse was also unbelievable, lacking many of the features I! ! would clearly expect, and the explanations of how things worked only made me certain that it could never really work that way. The plot was cliche, from the start. The characters were only mildly sympathetic. The quality of the writing was okay. The humor was acceptable, but it is possible to carry only a few kinds of books on the quality of the humor. Overall, I wasted my money on this book. There seems to be two sides of the cyberpunk genre. One of Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson, and the other of Daniel Keys Moran, Walter Jon Williams, George Alec Effinger, and John Barnes. For those who read this, I am clearly a fan of the second group.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best book in the genre.. or ever.
Review: The other reviews said it all, but I've gotta lend my support for this book; So exciting and immersive I totally ignored all my classes and went cover to cover that day. If you read this one and like it, [one of] his other book, The Diamond Age, is possibly more immersive yet a wee less exciting... still a must though. Authors you should also read (same sci-fi not-to-distant-future trippy stuff); Rudy Rucker and Jeff Noon (Vurt).. oh, and neuromancer and all those classics ;-)
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