43 ms·

Neuromancer by William Gibson. Single handedly (bookedly?) got me interested in how the Internet worked and how computers work. It also gave me an unshakable be

Neuromancer by William Gibson. Single handedly (bookedly?) got me interested in how the Internet worked and how computers work. It also gave me an unshakable belief that programming was somehow cool. It's fiction, but there's nothing wrong with that!

yolesaber 16y ago
"Snow Crash" by Neil Stephenson is also an amazing read that has a better technical grasp on the growing technology. "Neuromancer" is amazing and all, with some really brilliant passages, but it was composed on a typewriter and Gibson had relatively little experience with programming or computers. Stephenson's work is like a mix between a coherent William S. Burroughs and Thomas Pynchon - strangely prophetic ideas shown in complete detail with such conviction as to make it almost ironic.
- harpastum 16y ago
  If you like Snow Crash, I definitely recommend checking out Daemon (and its sequel FreedomTM) by Daniel Suarez. Just found them recently, and they're fantastic.
  - chris11 16y ago
    In my opinion the daemon was just one big deus ex machina. It definitely is not in the same league as Snow Crash.And I don't think Suarez had a very good sense of tension. The book is fast-paced, but it never takes a break. And the protaganist was poorly written. He basic had no control over events in the story, he just responded to the antagonists actions. But it seems to be popular on Amazon, and I haven't read the sequal.
- statictype 16y ago
  Snow Crash was always considered to be Stephenson's best work but I thought Cryptonomicon and Anathem were far better.
- technomancy 16y ago
  > but it was composed on a typewriter and Gibson had relatively little experience with programming or computers. I have a hard time seeing this as a negative. If he drew from knowledge about real-life computers, we'd all be snickering at the dated references. I enjoy Snow Crash (more as brain candy), but the reasons for doing so have absolutely nothing to do with how accurate the descriptions of technology are.

yolesaber 16y ago

"Snow Crash" by Neil Stephenson is also an amazing read that has a better technical grasp on the growing technology. "Neuromancer" is amazing and all, with some really brilliant passages, but it was composed on a typewriter and Gibson had relatively little experience with programming or computers. Stephenson's work is like a mix between a coherent William S. Burroughs and Thomas Pynchon - strangely prophetic ideas shown in complete detail with such conviction as to make it almost ironic.

harpastum 16y ago
If you like Snow Crash, I definitely recommend checking out Daemon (and its sequel FreedomTM) by Daniel Suarez. Just found them recently, and they're fantastic.
- chris11 16y ago
  In my opinion the daemon was just one big deus ex machina. It definitely is not in the same league as Snow Crash.And I don't think Suarez had a very good sense of tension. The book is fast-paced, but it never takes a break. And the protaganist was poorly written. He basic had no control over events in the story, he just responded to the antagonists actions. But it seems to be popular on Amazon, and I haven't read the sequal.
statictype 16y ago
Snow Crash was always considered to be Stephenson's best work but I thought Cryptonomicon and Anathem were far better.
technomancy 16y ago
> but it was composed on a typewriter and Gibson had relatively little experience with programming or computers. I have a hard time seeing this as a negative. If he drew from knowledge about real-life computers, we'd all be snickering at the dated references. I enjoy Snow Crash (more as brain candy), but the reasons for doing so have absolutely nothing to do with how accurate the descriptions of technology are.