Pages 480
I had heard about this book and had been planning on reading for a long time. I had been told that this and other books in the genre were the basis for the Matrix movies. After reading it I can see where a lot of ideas were "borrowed".
The book you takes you into a not to distant future where all the laws no longer exist. Governments are basically gone and have been replaced by small city states backed by humungous corporations. The world has degenerated into existence of drugs, guns, gangs and mafia. The internet has been advanced to the point of 3d realism. Those that "made" a place for themselves in the beginning are now some of the greatest people in the "Metaverse", even though in reality they live in a storage facility. The main character is Hiro Protaganist. Unemployed and broke he tries to find information to load into an enormous database. Later if people try to access that info he gets paid. Most of the time though he just jacks into the Metaverse and lives there. He has a much better life and there he is the greatest sword fighter in the world.
Hiro go into the Metaverse early and helped design one on the most prestigious "clubs", the Black Sun. A friend of his is offered a "card" called Snow Crash in the Black Sun. When he opens up the "card" his real body goes into a coma. Hiro along with a friend, Y.T., are drawn into a world of technological warfare, mafia and drugs. Soon Y.T. befriends the head of the Mafia and is running errands for them. Hiro investagates his friends "murder" and a close friend disappears. He starts a long trek up the west coast pusuing her. Both Y.T. and Hiro become entangled with a man. Raven, the ultimate bad guy, has only one goal in life, to "Nuke the USA ".
This book was very refreshing. Although most of it seems to be an extension of what happens in current times Stevenson comes up with entertaining takes on our "progression" into the future. Kouriers that are the best means of mailing since they usually travel faster than traffic, Jacking into the internet and cyborg guard dogs all add an element of futurism to the book.
This book is already considered a Cyberpunk/Science Fiction classic and I think it will continue to be that for some time. His unique take on the future combined with a gripping story really made for a fun read.
I am changing my rating system again. I found my old system to be a bit confusing and had a lot of overlap. From now on I will rate based of these different forms of impact: Intellectual, Emotional and Long Term. Intellectual will focus on things like word use, science and other intellectual contributions the book offers. Emotional will take into consideration imagery, beauty and those wonderful sentences that just strike you as great. Long Term will be the same as before where I feel the book will sit in 100 years. I will still grade on a 0-13 scale 4 for each and an extra point where I want to put it.
So Snow Crash
5 Intellectual: This is where this book shines. Most of the draw of this book is in the science fiction elements. I feel this is what makes the book so great.
2 Emotional: It doesn't strike as a real emotional book. There are some elements but they seem to be side line to the meat of the book. I do give it a couple of points because of interesting imagery. I would explain more but would reveal too much.
3 Long Term: For some time this book is going to have some impact. Since it is a book about the future some of the things are going to become true. As these things become reality the impact of the book will lessen. It is possible that this may be looked at like a dystopian classic such as 1984 though.
Final rating: 10. Most people that read this book would enjoy it. If you are into science fiction at all this should definitely be on your list.
I had heard about this book and had been planning on reading for a long time. I had been told that this and other books in the genre were the basis for the Matrix movies. After reading it I can see where a lot of ideas were "borrowed".
The book you takes you into a not to distant future where all the laws no longer exist. Governments are basically gone and have been replaced by small city states backed by humungous corporations. The world has degenerated into existence of drugs, guns, gangs and mafia. The internet has been advanced to the point of 3d realism. Those that "made" a place for themselves in the beginning are now some of the greatest people in the "Metaverse", even though in reality they live in a storage facility. The main character is Hiro Protaganist. Unemployed and broke he tries to find information to load into an enormous database. Later if people try to access that info he gets paid. Most of the time though he just jacks into the Metaverse and lives there. He has a much better life and there he is the greatest sword fighter in the world.
Hiro go into the Metaverse early and helped design one on the most prestigious "clubs", the Black Sun. A friend of his is offered a "card" called Snow Crash in the Black Sun. When he opens up the "card" his real body goes into a coma. Hiro along with a friend, Y.T., are drawn into a world of technological warfare, mafia and drugs. Soon Y.T. befriends the head of the Mafia and is running errands for them. Hiro investagates his friends "murder" and a close friend disappears. He starts a long trek up the west coast pusuing her. Both Y.T. and Hiro become entangled with a man. Raven, the ultimate bad guy, has only one goal in life, to "Nuke the USA ".
This book was very refreshing. Although most of it seems to be an extension of what happens in current times Stevenson comes up with entertaining takes on our "progression" into the future. Kouriers that are the best means of mailing since they usually travel faster than traffic, Jacking into the internet and cyborg guard dogs all add an element of futurism to the book.
This book is already considered a Cyberpunk/Science Fiction classic and I think it will continue to be that for some time. His unique take on the future combined with a gripping story really made for a fun read.
I am changing my rating system again. I found my old system to be a bit confusing and had a lot of overlap. From now on I will rate based of these different forms of impact: Intellectual, Emotional and Long Term. Intellectual will focus on things like word use, science and other intellectual contributions the book offers. Emotional will take into consideration imagery, beauty and those wonderful sentences that just strike you as great. Long Term will be the same as before where I feel the book will sit in 100 years. I will still grade on a 0-13 scale 4 for each and an extra point where I want to put it.
So Snow Crash
5 Intellectual: This is where this book shines. Most of the draw of this book is in the science fiction elements. I feel this is what makes the book so great.
2 Emotional: It doesn't strike as a real emotional book. There are some elements but they seem to be side line to the meat of the book. I do give it a couple of points because of interesting imagery. I would explain more but would reveal too much.
3 Long Term: For some time this book is going to have some impact. Since it is a book about the future some of the things are going to become true. As these things become reality the impact of the book will lessen. It is possible that this may be looked at like a dystopian classic such as 1984 though.
Final rating: 10. Most people that read this book would enjoy it. If you are into science fiction at all this should definitely be on your list.
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