"Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson: An Incredible Ride Through a Futuristic Dystopia

David Mccowan: TL;DR Read if you program and like Science Fiction. Read if you like Cyber Punk. Read if you want to read a VR classic. Read if you are a Neal Stephenson fan.

Yes, the book was written in 1992 and is not well regarded outside of Stephenson Fans but I think it is classic. I’ve read it multiple times. Reading it now in 2023 makes me want to go on several rants. I won’t.

It is well-written, fast-paced. Mainstream Cyberpunk, but not Cliché.

The world-building is top notch and while Stephenson gets some things he was written wrong about religion I understand how his research led him there. You see some of the beginnings of Stephenson’s blending of Science Fiction and historical fiction that he would do in Cryptonomicon, and what would later become his speculative fiction style.

Insert rants about New Perspectives on Paul, Tongues, Catholic Mystics, Facebook now Meta, and National Debt here.

United States on Dec 26, 2023

Heinz E. Probst: My son really appreciated this book. He recommends it.

Canada on Nov 17, 2023

Robert M. Deatrick: As original and foresightful as Gibson and easier to comprehend the science (fiction?).

Took away a star for a plot oversight…he presents Enki as an historical protagonist of the human plight, suggesting that he wrote a “program” that would save us from the Ashera bio-virus, but previously offers an account of his bent to incest-pedo behavior.

This is a huge red flag that Enki himself was infected with the bio-virus. Hence, his “program” (termed “me” in this book as well as in ancient written evidence), would’ve been the product of Asheric viral influence. This makes sense when observing the historic results of our species. Self-destruction is self-evident and self-replicating.

He also misinterprets the underlying function of religion, generally and specifically, which is yet another Asheric mind control tool (weapon?), whether mono- or polytheistic. Again, self-destructive and divisive.

From reading much of his works I am confident Stephenson is infinitely smarter than I am, so how could he miss this? Besides these minor flaws, the work is insightful, educational, and entertaining. Highly recommended.

United States on Sep 24, 2023

Sergio: Llego a tiempo y el libro en excelente estado

Mexico on Dec 02, 2022

Novelist: I was 308 pages into this book when I realised that I had no idea what it was about, yet I was still turning the pages and there were 255 pages to go. Now, when I say that I had no idea what it was about I’m being somewhat ingenuous, if not misleading. I’d picked up on the metaphor on which the story hung (pretty simple as you will discover) but I couldn’t understand what was making me turn the pages, because the normal rules of plot construction weren’t there. Yes, the main characters were interesting, and they faced extreme physical challengers, but they weren’t vulnerable or admirable in any human sense. That’s because they were avatars. It didn’t matter if they got cut to pieces or vaporised because they’d end up somewhere else down the line if the author found it useful to his then current scene.
Ah, my problem lies right there. I can’t identify with avatars. That may not be a problem for anyone born in the last 30 years, but that’s possibly going to be the defining difference between people born in the 20th versus 21st centuries, because I can see that the digital world, particularly virtual reality and artificial intelligence, is changing concepts of...

United States on Nov 22, 2022

V. Neri: ... read this book and travel with your mind into the best designed and written cyberpunk world you could ever imagine. But beware of the Snowcrash...

Germany on Nov 17, 2022

Jacques De Wilde: 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.

France on Jul 08, 2022

Lucca Canizela De Camargo: Espetacular novel!

Brazil on May 22, 2022

DMG: I will next read Neuromancer (get ready, Amazon) after I found myself strongly agreeing with Psychlist's review of Jan 3, '15. I felt that Snowcrash had a good theme, which to me was based on an extreme overextended analogy between Computer viruses, memes or mind viruses, and the old fashioned DNA/RNA kind. That is what speculative sci/fi is supposed to trade on anyway. But like most all the successful writers of future history, the author only extends popular and famous trends to their extreme ends. It kinda reminds me of novels about the 21st century, written at the same time as this book (1989-1992), in which the Soviet Union played a prominent role.

The tech displayed in Snowcrash is dated now, as other reviewers observed. Action scenes are well-written and engaging. The book starts off like Hollywood, with the reader dropped into a crazy action scene in which some of the basic tenets of the book are laid out. The over-the-top action is self deprecating where it needs to be to maintain suspension of disbelief. The fist half of the book reads like a 'who-is-doing-it' thriller as the funky good guys learn more of what is going on and make contacts with the good honchos...

United States on Jan 17, 2015