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Snow Crash

Snow Crash

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very cool and engaging
Review: The first few pages of the book almost prompted me to put it down -- personally, I don't care about a Mob-owned pizza delivery service. Once I got past that, however, the book really picked up speed. I feel that it was well-written and everyday I looked forward to reading more about what was going on in the world of the metaverse. While the book is a lot of science fiction, much of it seems very close to reality.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kewl Book! Ironic!
Review: I found this book very funny to read. Especially the first chapter. And for a book 7 years old it does well in predicting the not so far future of the internet. Some gadgets are already there!
It has a comic book pace and does NOT take itself too seriosly, hence the hero-protagonist and whity naming, and much more of course.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Mr. Stephenson's Wild Ride"
Review: Snow Crash combines interesting plot lines with incedible action with state of the art science fiction to create a novel that far surpasses others in it's genre. Neal Stephenson is at his most masterful with a look into this chaotic, and yet seemingly not un-realistic, future where corporations make the rules and high-speed pizza delivery is one of the foundations of the economy. Not only does the flow of the novel keep you reading, looking for what's going to come next, but the humor and sarcasm that Stephenson injects into the story keeps you laughing and gives your memory something to latch on to. All in all, Snow Crash is an incredible ride through Stephenson's vision of tomorrow. I'm still waiting for the movie! :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Neal Stephenson should consider writing classes
Review: I think Snow Crash was awful as a novel, but individual vignettes from the book are far better than anything else I have read in a long, long time.

Normally I detest books labelled as "cyberpunk" (I guess I'm from the old school... Heinlein, Williamson, Bester etc.) but the book starts so wonderfully that I had incredibly high hopes for the story. I even enjoyed the exposition in the middle unlike many of the other reviewers. My problem with the book is that there is so little plot that the climax and ending are largely meaningless. In the small, Stephenson coins wonderful phrases and shows us incredibly well painted satire. Unfortunately, plot development and characterization seems to take a back seat to gee-whiz imagery. Also, the "ideas per page" coefficient (which sustains the book for me) seems to fall of markedly towards the end.

In summary, Stephenson blenders together a lot of elements and ideas that are individually a lot of fun and very interesting, but maybe he should have written a bunch of short stories instead of a not-very-well-integrated novel. I'm giving it five stars because I had a hell of a lot of fun reading this book even though I thought it didn't hang together as a story.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Enough with the bad names already ...
Review: In the entire history of fiction, there can be left little -- if any -- doubt that a main character has ever been given a worse name than Hiro Protagonist. Good Lord, who is this guy trying to fool. While it must be said that Stephenson has a pithy imagination and he manages to keep the plot rolling, the statement that this novel has impacted the ever-burgeoning Internet has been over-played. Please find another book to lean on. Avatars!!! Wow, what a colorful notion. I imagine they never could have invented themselves -- well, maybe they could in Stephenson's universe.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The kind of book that makes me glad I read Science Fiction.
Review: Stephenson is a great storyteller, and he has a terrific story to tell. He does so with engaging characters and a vividly realized future that is not as improbable as it may first appear. _Snow Crash_ is also a multilayered book, with something for everyone. It's fun, funny, and intriguing, and I couldn't put it down.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some good vision; poor plot
Review: This book was presented to me as the "Bible of Silicon Valley". After reading the book I tend to agree with that assessment - some of the technology concepts are about as old as the bible. Granted, this book was originally published a few years ago and technology has made great strides since then, but if you're looking for new information technology insight - look again. What added a few stars to this book's review are the author's unique vision of a future society and the many humorous "one-liners".

The plot (along with the characters) is simple but has a tendency to become weighted-down with a lot of useless techno-babble and a history(?) lesson concerning Sumerians. If you buy this book, don't buy it for the plot.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: As a rule I don't like cyberfiction,
Review: If I don't like it it is because I don't like cyberpunk. This book had some good points though I suppose. It began well ,was funny in a way, & probably had some good moments. I hate to say this, but one of the reasons I don't like these kinds of books is because the people I've known who like them are creepy. I guess that's silly, but I haven't liked liked the cyberpunk I actually have tried. Well, I did like a Cadigan story I read in Asimov's, but otherwise bleh to this whole subgenre I doubt I'll try another.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I was quite impressed
Review: I tend to be a rather picky reader, and I can't stand poorly-written science fiction. There are a few gems out there. I love the subtlety (I didn't notice the play on words in the main character's name 'til nearly the end), the sense of humor, and the fact that the constructed world view didn't seem constructed; the book had a very down-to-earth, 'that's the way it is, period' outlook. The only problem I had with this book, and it wasn't enough to drop from 5 stars, was...what happened to Da5id?? Even a hokey 'happily-ever-after' would've sufficed in that respect. Ah well, over all an excellent book. I've just started Diamond Age...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spectacular; All too Real.
Review: Stephensen portrays the future of Info Tech as few can. While his picture of America's future is somewhat fantastic, his view of cyberspace to come is, I feel, very close to the mark. A must read for anyone interested in computers/the future.


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