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1. Original and Audacious; Wildly Entertaining
   Neal Stephenson writes science fiction that requires a certain level of attention and concentration to follow and stay on top of. You can’t lay a Stephenson novel down for a few days and hope to come back and take up where you left off. This is not pulp science fiction.In this audacious novel, Stephenson crafts a dystopian Earth near the end of the 20th century. Most civilization has broken down and even in the United States, society has devolved into semi-sovereign “franchulates” (franchise consulates) and “burbclaves” (suburban enclaves). A rampant form of pure capitalism reigns, with private ownership of roads and police protection. Existing alongside this “free for all” is a Metaverse, an on-line world governed largely by hackers. Now, dystopia coupled with virtual reality is nothing new, however Stephenson takes it up a notch, weaving Sumerian and Old Testament mythology throughout the story.Some may find elements of Stephenson’s world silly, and some of it is pretty far out there, but much of it comes across as biting satire and I found it enormously entertaining. The “heroes” of the story are Hiro Protagonist, a freelance stringer for Central Intelligence Corporation (a privatized successor to the Library of Congress), a computer software designer and the greatest sword fighter in the world (in the Metaverse) and Y.T., a souped up skateboard riding 15 year old courier.With the help of the Mafia (Cosa Nostra, Inc.) and assorted other supremely interesting characters, Hiro and Y.T. discover a new designer drug, Snow Crash, whose purpose is to inject a virus into the deepest level of the brain, acting much the same as a computer virus. Seeking to prevent spread of the virus, Hiro and Y.T. cross swords with Bob Rife, the richest man on the planet, who seeks to use Snow Crash to exert total control over the world’s population. Elements of economic theory, religion, virtual reality, Sumerian mythology and linguistics take this story out of the realm of anything you’ve ever experienced. Four and a half stars, rounded up to five simply on the basis of its originality, scope and audacity.

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2. MYTHOLOGY MEETS TECHNOLOGY
   0101 1100 1101 00011111 0010 0101 1010What if looking at these seemingly innocent binary numbers could not only affect your computer, but your brain as well? After all, your brain is simply a biological computer itself.This is one of the main themes in Stephenson’s SNOW CRASH, a becoming-more-recognizable future where people divide their time between Reality and the Metaverse.The other theme is more complex, but tries to draw parallels between Sumerian mythology and computer viruses. It’s interesting in that it challenges the reader to alter their view of history, but the analogies are not as well drawn as they could be.Fortunately, these two suit-and-tie topics are woven into a story that features an eccentric cast of characters and an action-packed storyline. I couldn’t use the phrase “colorful cast of characters” as some of them are literally black and white in the Metaverse!For example there’s the main hero, Hiro Protagonist. I haven’t come across a name that creative since Prince S., a character in Dostoyevsky’s THE IDIOT.The sword-wielding, motorcycle-riding Hiro reminded me heavily of Cloud from the famous FINAL FANTASY 7.Then there’s the skateboarding Y.T. (not Whitey!), a 15-year old, skateboarding female Kourier that reminded me of the rebellious John Conner of TERMINATOR 2.The locations are just as interesting, where people live in storage units or the neighborhoods of Mr. Lee’s Greater Hong Kong, The Sacrifice Zone, Nova Sicilia, Narcolumbia, et al.It’s not exactly Mister Roger’s Neighborhood either as each place has their own rules and lots of security to keep out unwanted people.Just off the shore of the West Coast (where most of the story takes place) is a mass of ships called The Raft. Very similar to Mieville’s ship-city of Armada in his book THE SCAR (written many years after this book). It is here where Hiro and gang meet up with several of the major antagonists as the novel draws to a close.With so many crazy ideas all into one book, it is understandable that the first hundred pages read like SNOW CRASH FOR DUMMIES, complete with laugh-out-loud humor, to make your transition into this world easier than Orientation Day at school or work.After those first hundredish pages, the story races along like a mechanical guard-dog on a straight highway.The mythology portions come up about halfway, but are presented by a Librarian. The best way to imagine the Librarian: What if GOOGLE could talk? or What if that stupid paperclip in MICROSOFT OFFICE actually did something useful for once?The ending, while action-packed and exciting, is where I felt some disappointment. The last line is good, but there is not much closure on what happens to the characters and the chapters that were previously ~15 pages are rapidly narrowed down to ~5 pages–a sign of an author who can’t contain his excitement at almost finishing his book.But on the whole, I found this novel much more enjoyable and understandable than William Gibson’s earlier NEUROMANCER.If Hiro were rating this book, he would give it 0100 out of 0101 Stars.

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3. LLEGO A TIEMPO Y EN BUENAS CONDICIONES

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4. Espetacular novel!

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5. È un classico moderno. Il libro in cui viene definito per la prima volta il concetto di metaverso! Ma oltre quello i parallelismi tra la società postapocaliptica descritta nel libro e la nostra società sono ormai sempre più evidenti.

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6. Die Deluxe Version ist der Hammer, hochqualitativst und sehr schön zum Ansehen. Aber nicht nur zum Ansehen taugt der Schinken, der dieses Buch ist, nein! Auch lesen kann man jenes, und man wird nicht enttäuscht werden. 5/5

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7. 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.

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