Snow Crash in World Crypto Network

Mar 27, 2016 Liz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: hilarious, cyberpunk, favorites, interesting-protagonists, read-for-school

My all-time favorite book. Perfect combination of fun and thought-provoking, just as sci-fi should be. I first read this for a sci-fi class in high school and have tried to re-read it once a year ever since.

I have favorite scenes from this book just like I do with movies, and often just re-read passeges or sections of the book when I'm not re-reading the whole thing. This book just does (almost) everything right.

WRITING STYLE: The narration is just as entertaining as the story itself. Stephenso My all-time favorite book. Perfect combination of fun and thought-provoking, just as sci-fi should be. I first read this for a sci-fi class in high school and have tried to re-read it once a year ever since.

I have favorite scenes from this book just like I do with movies, and often just re-read passeges or sections of the book when I'm not re-reading the whole thing. This book just does (almost) everything right.

WRITING STYLE: The narration is just as entertaining as the story itself. Stephenson doesn't use cliched phrases, instead opting for his own unique way to describe things that actually give you a real idea of what's going on, often in a very clever or hilarious manner. Neal Stephenson has been a massive influence on my own writing style.

PLOT: No prophecies, no rich crime lords telling a slacker he's "perfect for the job I need," no orphans with mysterious fathers. A unique plot that doesn't need a Dark Lord to be epic, "Snow Crash" plays out one twist after another, starting with a computer virus that turns out to be deadly and ending up in a worldwide conspiracy.

CHARACTERS: Some of the most memorable in fiction. Hiro Protagonist (yes, that's his name) defies basically every protagonist cliche some of us hate, most importantly by being as unique as his supporting characters. An army brat of mixed African-American/Korean-Japanese heritage who is a master hacker that helped build the Internet of tomorrow, while also being quite skilled with samurai swords to boot, the best thing about Hiro Protagonist is that he doesn't need to be an orphan or have someone else to tell him he's "speshul" to be a hero or the protagonist.

Then there's his sidekick Y.T. A thrill-seeking teenage tomboy who gets around town by harpooning cards with a magnetic cable and riding behind on her skateboard, it's no secret why Y.T. is Neal Stephenson's most popular character. As a female reader I particularly love how she doesn't fall into a lot of stereotypes a lot of male writers would have been suckered in by: she's a tomboy, but doesn't hate dresses; she's got female advice for Hiro, without having to be "feminine;" and she's attractive in her own way (just to teenage readers, I hope), without being a sex symbol.

The rest of the cast is just as memorable. You'll meet Raven, the biker hitman who carries a nuclear missile in his sidecar and slaughters with glass knives and bamboo spears; Uncle Enzo, the Mafia boss who controls all pizza delivery in future-America; Fisheye, the perpetually irritable gangster; Suchi-K, the rapper with hair that could only exist in the future; Lagos, the "gargoyle" agent who wears his computer gear like a suit of armor; and Juanita Marquez, Hiro's brainy ex-girlfriend who manages to be eccentric in her own way while being the one normal character in the book.

SETTING: One of the best in sci-fi by far. A near-future where America has fallen into anarchy and is now run by corporations isn't the most original idea in cyberpunk, but the way Stephenson paints it--with humor, and even a dash of realism--is. Stephenson's future--America is spiced up by examples of trends that could come true in a lawless future: pizza delivery is a life-and-death matter, and is run exclusively by the Mafia; a new denomination of Christianity that re-imagines the Trinity as Jesus, Elvis, and its founder Reverend Wayne; and a new method of travel, whereby skateboarders harpoon random cars with magnetic cables and ride behind like water skiers. And then there's the Metaverse, the future-version of the Internet. Imagine the Matrix, if everyone entered the virtual reality willingly, and looked like literally whatever they wanted (within certain height and budget limits).

OVERALL: Amazing book for nerds with a gonzo sense of humor who want something both exhilarating and thought-provoking. ...more

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Jul 28, 2014 Thomas Hunt rated it it was amazing

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Jul 05, 2011 Thomas Hunt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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Aug 18, 2012 Gabriel Vine rated it really liked it

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