Snow Crash

Time’s 100 best English-language novels. This is the second book of Neal Stephenson that I read after Seveneves with a totally different premise and writing style. Set in a dystopian future where organizations run empires, online world is more interesting than reality and where everything is privatized. Detailed descriptions are provided of technology that is close to what we have today. A great contribution to cyberpunk scifi, this book is highly recommended.

My first Neal Stephenson book and it did not disappoint. The most fascinating aspect of it was the neurologistics vs. religion subplot. The version of the Metaverse in this book is so much cooler than the one Zuckerberg brought to the world. It maybe disorienting in the first half but the second half brings the plot together. Oh, did I mention sword fighting and surfer couriers? Side notes: - I found this book way more interesting than Abaddon's Gate that I was parallely reading. I wouldn't have expected that. - I would have given it 4.5 stars if I could. - This book reminded me of Necromancer.

It stays with you after you're done. The way he writes is mesmerising. Absolutely brilliant, but you'll enjoy it only if you're a sci fi fan. I recommend it. Will try his other books.

Lot of junk details.Had to push myself through the middle part of the book.

Book received in good condition.

The book and the many ideas in it make for rivetting reading. The end is somewhat predictable and the beginning of the "action sequences" is also the start of the slow fade into "standard" fiction.

Very good read

Published shortly before the dot.com boom, this book is the realistic look at the future of Internet, Games, Humanity, Religion and off course pizza delivery business. Snow Crash – a cyber punk novel is third novel by Neal Stephenson which I read so far other two are Cryptonomicon and Anathem. The book is set in futuristic America, where everything is owned by private companies. In this world everything is for rent – the army, the police, the highway’s, everything except for pizza delivery business because it’s monopolized by the mafias. Story revolves around Hiro – the pizza delivery boy and last of the freelance hackers and world’s greatest sword fighter in metaverse (he wrote the code) as well as in real world. He happens to be the only guy who standing between metaverse and a dangerous ancient virus called ‘Snow Crash’. As with other Stephenson books, this books ending was little disappointing, was expecting one or more chapter’s to conclude the story apart from this I liked this book a lot. The research and technical details covered in this book are accurate except for few details here and there but we need to keep in mind that this book was written around 1988 before the internet craze and the contents in this book are way ahead of the time when it was written/published. The research done on historical & philosophical content in this book are real amazing, specially the content on Sumerian mythology and culture. One more amazing thing about this book is the way Stephenson ‘re-engineered’ the Sumerian legends to fit into the story line is really ingenious. I read and re-read few chapter in this book and I deliberately slow down My reading to process more data, so if you are looking for something light and simple read – then this isn’t it. this book is thought-provoking though this book is published a decade ago. at certain point while reading this book, you will definitely think ‘what the/how the hell this guy come up with this?’, overall an amazing and thought provoking read. if you are sci-fi/cyber punk fan then this book is for you!

Overall a good read. I would heavily recommend this sci-fi novel to anyone that is apart of the tech world. I understand after reading where nearly all large tech founders got their inspiration from. I read this with the context of economic themes in mind, and I do have to say as an economics student the book is an absolute mess, but overall I would recommend it!

starting with a "known" (deja vú) set of sci-fiction topics, it turns out to be a bit far fetched and elementary plot and uncovincing development;

The story is good but the main deal is the setting. Imagining how things eventually turn out and the degradation of society as a whole is a interesting perspective - where pizza delivery is a top notch job and requires a degree! A must read. The delivery of the item itself was OK. However, the shipper forgot to put my flat no. on my parcel. It was sitting in the mail room for days until I finally noted and picked it up.

Considering this was published thirty years ago, it’s incredibly prescient. Stephenson is acknowledged as the person who coined the term ‘metaverse’ with its immersive virtual reality concept. It’s a high octane fast-paced (mostly) tale about bad guys who want to mind control others in a fractured post-USA world, while unlikely heroes fight against them in scrappy ways. What I liked: great descriptions of people, action scenes that are full throttle, and spunky female character. But did she have to be 15? I felt uncomfortable with her being so young. Just a reader sensitivity there. Things that irked: a couple of big info dump sections on babel and other background context. But otherwise, this well-respected novel lives up its reputation.

C’est à parieur de ce roman d’anticipation que les GAFA et autres acteurs du numérique envisagent l’avenir. Pour autant, cet opus réserve des surprises bien différentes et, avouons-le, plus humaines et prometteuses. À lire en anglais si possible.