I did not find the main plot of mythology and neuroviruses to be very believable or interesting, but I still found this to be one of the most enjoyable books I have read in several years. Stephenson’s vision of post-modern franchised America is simply outstanding, and his characters are largely believable and sympathetic. To be honest, I would have been perfectly happy to read an entire book about the exploits of the Deliverator and the strange but familiar world in which he works.
Beyond the uncanny setting, I found Stephenson’s writing to be extremely accessible. A work in which significant portions explore the thoughts of the characters can be taxing, but I found that Hiro’s thought processes are quite similar to mine.
I am sure The Metaverse seemed much more interesting when the World Wide Web was virtually unknown outside academic circles than now, but it is remarkable how much Second Life and other multi-user virtual worlds have grown to fulfill the vision of Snow Crash. Some of the other technological advancements in the book, such as Y. T.’s computerized skateboard, still seem as far from reality as when the book was initially published.
The technical jargon is usually explained to the reader in the guise of Hiro discussing it with another character, but someone without any knowledge of computer science might have difficulty understanding some of the details. Fortunately, these should not be necessary to appreciate the novel.
If this is an accurate reflection of the so-called cyberpunk genre, I am sorry that I have been so slow to explore it. Highly recommended for anyone who considers themselves a hacker, and strongly recommended for science fiction fans in general.
I also found the version of future America as a group of franchises strung together by highways interesting and disturbingly familiar. The metaverse is a much less revolutionary idea today than it probably was when the book was published, but it’s crazy goggled-in interface still sounds pretty awesome. I look forward to the day when I can experience my video games with a super-immersive head mounted display, and interact with them by moving my body instead of tapping a controller. The project that Keith and I did for Dr. Kessler’s Virtual Environments class years ago was the closest I’ve ever come to real immersive gaming, and it was pretty cool (if you don’t remember, we hacked the Quake II engine to support the HMD in Kessler’s lab, rendering two slightly offset images for real stereoscopic vision). However, the cables that went from the HMD to the ceiling got all twisted when you tried to turn around, you still had to move around with a joystick, and you couldn’t aim independently of where you were looking (decoupling the aiming point from the center of the view would have taken a ton more work — we didn’t have the time for that). Also our transformation code wasn’t perfect, so sometimes if you looked at the wrong spot you’d end up stuck staring up at the sky, but that wasn’t the hardware’s fault. Someday, hopefully in my lifetime, wireless versions of that technology will become inexpensive and usable enough to have in the home for gaming.
Comment by Chris — January 28, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
[...] point during the last few years I read Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, and loved them both (reviews here and here). I do not remember, however, enjoying them quite as much as I have been Cryptonomicon. I [...]
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