Rating:  Summary: Future-think to the max Review: I read Snow Crash many years ago and just picked up the audiobook as a "refresher". Mindbogglingly accurate as to what we have now and still retains enough future-ware to entice our thinking. Semi-aware Robot guardians, huge city-raft of immigrant boats centering around a de-commissioned and private aircraft carrier, computer "wear", lives in the Metaverse world, etc. Although I don't think my SUV would be a good candidate to be "pooned" for a free ride (fiberglass panels). Listen and re-listen as Hiro, Y.T. and Raven mix it up in our very possible, disturbingly real, future world.
Rating:  Summary: Evolutionary Sci-Fi Review: Given the great Sci-Fi that exists, I could not give this book five stars. Its drawback is that it will appeal to a narrow audience, but that includes me (maybe I should give it 4 stars). After an exciting start, we are led to puzzle that draws from the evolutionary theory of thinking and language. Very interesting, particularly if you are into memes, evolution, language, and programming. Not so fascinating if you are looking for a general and exciting Sci-Fi read. There is also some Japanese sword-play and some motorcycle chases. They are always fun, but they too, could be better. In sum, it is the right book if you are looking for a Sci-Fi book playing on the theme of the evolutionary selection of ideas and language. Otherwise I would pass it.
Rating:  Summary: uneven writing mars an otherwise excellent book Review: Snow Crash is the tale of a future America that's so over-the-top that it's entirely believable. Our hero, Hiro Protagonist, navigates a franchised America, where everything (and I do mean everything) is part of a chain. In this America, he has to fight to stop a new virus, Snow Crash, from infecting both the hackers and the rest of the world. This is where the writing is uneven. In his descriptions of future franchised-to-the-teeth America, his writing is impeccable and fresh. But in his long-winded descriptions of the new virus, he delves into myth and theories of language that are better suited to an academic text than to a cyberpunk novel. The plot alternates between a breakneck pace and a long leisurely stroll. The strolls make you wonder what's happening elsewhere, because the real action can't possibly just stop while Hiro goes off and chats with his Librarian. For all its flaws, it's a reasonably good book, and one that I always recommend to my geek friends, as one geek to another.
Rating:  Summary: Fabulous read Review: Excellent book. If you haven't discovered Stephenson yet, start here then go directly to Cryptonimicon.
Rating:  Summary: Not much of a cyberpunk fan, but... Review: I've never been much of a fan of cyberpunk after reading William Gibson's thoroughly prose and character challenged Neuromancer. But Snow Crash gives me hope for the genre. Hiro Protagonist (nice play on words) is an out of luck pizza delivery dude in a world of city states, 20th century cliches run amok, and a lawless space betweend city states ruled by the Mafia and other groups. On the side he is a gatherer of information...information rules the world, and can be sold for a nice penny. Hiro (and his motley crew of sidekicks he meets along the way) discover that a Texas billionaire is bent on causing infocalypse via a religious cult he has set up based on ancient Sumerian mythology. I like nearly everything about this book. The gadgets, the characters, the setting. I loved the concept of the Metaverse and how avatars interacted within it. I did not care for all the Sumerian background. It was obvious that Stephenson knows a lot about it, and felt the need to stretch his wings and take us down that road. But, speaking for myself, I had no interest in Sumerian legend. I also noted that Stephenson changed voice halfway through the book. The dialoge and prose in the first half is fresh, witty, belligerent, daring, on the edge stuff. I mean, I read the first few pages of the book and was like: Wow, I've never read SF prose quite like this! The second half is hum-drum prose that thousands of other writers churn out. This has to stem from the fact that he wrote it over a 4 year period, thus losing some of the consistency of the prose. Overall I really liked Snow Crash, but couldn't really get into the Sumerian mythology aspects of it.
Rating:  Summary: Classic Sci-Fi, A Must Read! Review: In a world where the United States leads the world in software programming and pizza delivery, Neil Stephenson tells a classic tale of a sword fighting hacker and a couriour on the ultimate skateboard. His novel turns reality up to "11" and shines it through a fun house mirror to give both a distorted yet prophetic view of the future.
Rating:  Summary: Excellent pulp cyberpunk... Review: This is a great novel, reminding me of a top-quality Japanese Anime. The main character is a down-on-his-luck in the real world hacker (whose job is as an ultra-deluxe pizza delivery guy in a post-apocalyptic California) who is the premier cyber programmer in an alternate virtual world. A heck of an adventure and a heck of a good read -- just don't expect something too deep.
Rating:  Summary: Lots of Fun Review: This SF novel is packed with high-speed bizarre action, the sort one would normally expect from superhero comics. As such the entertainment value is very good. Particularly striking are the oddly fascinating pizza delivery service, as well as the main theme of the story - human computer virus in cyberspace. Unfortunatley, the ingenious ideas are not fully developed, and the later parts of the book do not seem to have resolved all the puzzles in a satisfactory manner. Anyhow, the book is one of those defining the modern SF field and is worthy reading material for any SF fans.
Rating:  Summary: Depends on how you like your SF...... Review: Snow Crash is full of fun and often inventive SF gadgets and ideas. How much you will enjoy this novel will depend upon how heavily you are 'into' science fiction and how plausible you like your stories. I found the characters somewhat lacking in complexity, and some of the plot devices contrived. Snow Crash felt to me a little like a comic book, without the illustrations. If you like your science fiction with an extra fantastical flare, Snow Crash is for you. If you're into hard-science SF and plausible story lines, there are many better options available.
Rating:  Summary: 'Snow' does not crash! Review: In the novel "Snow Crash," the future seems like a gothic hellish place to dwell. A striking new invention called the "metaverse" lets people walk around and interact, share files and data, all in a virtual-reality setting accessable right from your own computer. This may sound all well and good, but there is trouble brewing in this digital paradise. A vigilante named Raven is engeneering and distributing a new space-age gerne of drug that literally brainwashes you. Hiro Protagonist, the protagonist of the story, and his unlikely skate boarding partner Y.T. must do all that they can within their power to stop this drug from infecting the whole world! This is a very good read, and you find yourself flipping through the pages faster than you did while you were reading "Harry Potter!" This is a definate must read for all you science-fiction fans out there! Enjoy!
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