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Summary: Stephenson has struck gold!
Review: Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is one of the best books I've read in a long time. The jacket description didn't really intrigue me, but since the book was a gift I thought I'd give it a try. After the first few pages, I couldn't put it down! The story blends sci-fi compuspeak, morality, classic adventure motifs, and human interest into a mix that's like a witch's brew for rational thought processes. The fragmented storytelling keeps the suspense level high, and the sheer power of the subject matter is overwhelming. This is definitely a book to be read in small doses, but most likely readers will find that they just can't put it down! Advice from someone who's been there: Find a quiet, comfortable space, disconnect the phone, grab some snacks, and prepare to immerse yourself in one of the most engrossing, thought-provoking reads of a lifetime.
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Summary: BETTER THAN "SNOW CRASH" !!!
Review: As a rabid William Gibson fan, I am always looking for other writers who can blow my neurons the way he does, & with Stephenson's "The Diamond Age: A Lady's Illustrated Primer" I found a book that does exactly that! This is MUCH better than "Snow Crash" Stephenson's most famous book. I felt "Snow Crash" was unbelievable, jumped around too much & tried too hard not to ape Gibson. However "the Diamond Age" even tho working an area Gibson first explored in "The Difference Engine" (neo-Victorians) stakes out it's own territory with it's reliance on nano-tech. This is truly visionary, not to mention imminent & Stephenson is one of the only current writers who can envision a future based upon it.
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Summary: WOW!
Review: I went and bought this book immediately after reading Snow Crash and quickly found that they are not the same type of book. I expected another Cyberpunk-genre piece, but instead got a fresh look at the far-future from a decidedly unusual sci-fi angle. Most sci-fi books make everything bigger, spaceships and colonizing other planers, but Stephenson made everything smaller, with nanotech and supercomputers inside books. An incredible book that melds fantasy and science fiction to create a masterpiece!
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Summary: Terrific...What a Ride!!!!
Review: Intense but very creative. Crawl out of your narrow view and get a look at this cybernetic chess game. A game where the victorious win control of the human race. This guy has such vivid imagary and the implications of this book are astounding. Mere words can't describe. Try to envision every aspect of the human race, every germ, every sperm, every ovum as part of a super computer code. That which controls the code controls the world. Now and try to make this concept plausible. Neal Stephenson did this magnificently.
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Summary: Neal Stephenson - Visionary.
Review: I first read "Snow Crash" around a year ago, and couldn't put it down. I've since read it several times more. I then decided to read "The Diamond Age" and, as "Snow Crash", it has transformed my life. The technology is not unbelievable (although it should never be totally within view!), and the characters are amazingly written. Nell is one of the best characters I've ever read, and Stephenson got me to really care about her. My only criticisms are about the ending (another 100 or so pages would have helped!), and that sometimes it was difficult working out how much time had passed. But still, "The Diamond Age" was compulsive reading, and I will be reading it again very soon.
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Summary: Brilliant.
Review: This book is so awe-inspiringly complex, original in its conception, beautifully crafted and intelligent, it ranks in the top ten books I have ever read, even though the ending is, well, somewhat lackluster in comparison.
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Summary: The Diamond Age is almost a 5 star effort failing in the end
Review: Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" is an outstanding read with the exception of the ending. The main characters are believable through most of the story. The story itself is extremely interesting with a believable sense of a future reality. The restructuring of the world to virtual clans rather than nations and corporations is inventive and fits well with a vision of a world where physical boundaries have been eliminated by the availability of unlimited power and information.With the story moving rapidly toward an integrated conclusion, it changed course in the last 50 pages to a contrived ending instead. Even with this contrived ending, I recommend the book.
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Summary: Wonderful reading...
Review: This was the first work by Neal Stephenson that I read. It is excellent--he's a technological visionary, a sci-fi storyteller, and a social critic that can put together a great novel. I have since read Zodiac and Snow Crash and loved them both. I bought Cryptonomicon here on Amazon a month before it was released. I just got it in the mail and can't wait to start reading it tonight.
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Summary: How to raise your daughter right.
Review: I've read and enjoyed most of Neal Stephenson's books, including The Big U. This is my favorite. As the father of a daughter, this book really struck home. My wife and I have often thought about what would allow her to grow up to be the best person possible. Neal Stephenson has a daughter and has done some soul searching in this direction as well. Diamond Age is a book that will stay with you far after you read it; I read it over a year ago and I continue to reflect upon some of the ideas it introduced. I recommend that you read it.
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Summary: Great book, but that ending.....
Review: Typical Neal Stephenson fare - awesome book and an ending that is beyond crap. He's done it before with Snow Crash, except this book is even better, which makes the ending even more frustrating. That doesn't change the fact that this is THE best sci-fi book I've read and one of my favorite books. Mr. Stephenson, if you are reading this - please do something about your epilogues. Having one would be a start.
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