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Neal Stephenson is not bad (unlike the Altered Carbon person), he can actually write, but he's so mind-numbingly boring. He takes one good idea and stretches it

Neal Stephenson is not bad (unlike the Altered Carbon person), he can actually write, but he's so mind-numbingly boring. He takes one good idea and stretches it out while explaining it 20 different ways to make sure you absolutely get it. Plus, he simply doesn't have interesting things to say. His best books are essentially fan-service to nerds. As this series is -in all probability- going to be. Now Sprawl trilogy, dial me in. That's what I call cyberpunk. Uncompromising presentation, ideas that pummel you, a future that feels so current yet so far away. And the implications, the insinuations of what Gibson is methodically describing. Absolutely brilliant. All of that means that there is practically 0 chance this is going to be done right. So I'd rather never see it butchered. Read the books people. Focus on the social implications, the environments, the language and culture, the meta-story. The VR and cool tech are the icing in a much more meaty and philosophically heavy series.

spookybones 6y ago
Maybe it’s because I read it as a teen, but I thought Snow Crash was fairly lively and comical for Stephenson ... at least compared to Cryptonomicon.
- throwanem 6y ago
  There's a Stephenson who likes action and guns and swords and cars and stuff, and a Stephenson who aspires to be Stanislaw Lem but in English. Snow Crash was as close to parity as I've ever seen them. The latter has been increasingly in the ascendant since then.
Apocryphon 6y ago
If we're going to bring up Gibson, I hope they also adapt Bruce Sterling's finest work- Schismatrix- set in transhuman space like Altered Carbon, but in a society that is truly alien, imagining a future where cyberpunk angst exists even in the vast cosmos.
bitwize 6y ago
The thing you have to remember about Snow Crash is that it did for cyberpunk what Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" did for grunge music: use the hallmarks of the genre to parody its contradictions and self-indulgence. It's very much a book of its time, and might not be as well appreciated were it released today.
snovv_crash 6y ago
Richard K Morgan goes for different impact from Stephenson. A lot of it is about the world building, and the impact on people and culture that the little details of some technology or planet would have. Stuff like the Harlan's Day celebrations with balloons released for angelfire instead of the fireworks, the Meths growing increasingly out of touch with everyday people, the evolved weapons systems becoming indistinguishable from consciousness. While Neuromancer was awesome because it introduced so many new concepts, and moreover delighted in doing so, I feel like the 2 sequels lost their awe of the world they were in, which was a real letdown. Neal Stephenson is not boring, but you have to look for the ridiculous under the surface to understand what he's doing. Everything is a caricature, and his story is about the interaction of over-the-top stereotypes or tropes. Snow Crash has the main character "Hero Protagonist" who develops a feud with an Eskimo ninja, saves the world from Zombie Robot TV Evangelicals, with the help of the Mafia (who have pivoted to pizza delivery). Then he fills it in with more tropes in a fractal fashion all the way down. I have a soft spot for Iain M Banks's work, even if I find it a bit... slow at times. Neal Asher takes something like The Use Of Weapons and turns it from space opera into gritty action. Maybe not as refined, but that's really not what it's trying to achieve.

spookybones 6y ago

Maybe it’s because I read it as a teen, but I thought Snow Crash was fairly lively and comical for Stephenson ... at least compared to Cryptonomicon.

throwanem 6y ago
There's a Stephenson who likes action and guns and swords and cars and stuff, and a Stephenson who aspires to be Stanislaw Lem but in English. Snow Crash was as close to parity as I've ever seen them. The latter has been increasingly in the ascendant since then.

Apocryphon 6y ago

If we're going to bring up Gibson, I hope they also adapt Bruce Sterling's finest work- Schismatrix- set in transhuman space like Altered Carbon, but in a society that is truly alien, imagining a future where cyberpunk angst exists even in the vast cosmos.

bitwize 6y ago

The thing you have to remember about Snow Crash is that it did for cyberpunk what Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" did for grunge music: use the hallmarks of the genre to parody its contradictions and self-indulgence. It's very much a book of its time, and might not be as well appreciated were it released today.

snovv_crash 6y ago

Richard K Morgan goes for different impact from Stephenson. A lot of it is about the world building, and the impact on people and culture that the little details of some technology or planet would have. Stuff like the Harlan's Day celebrations with balloons released for angelfire instead of the fireworks, the Meths growing increasingly out of touch with everyday people, the evolved weapons systems becoming indistinguishable from consciousness. While Neuromancer was awesome because it introduced so many new concepts, and moreover delighted in doing so, I feel like the 2 sequels lost their awe of the world they were in, which was a real letdown. Neal Stephenson is not boring, but you have to look for the ridiculous under the surface to understand what he's doing. Everything is a caricature, and his story is about the interaction of over-the-top stereotypes or tropes. Snow Crash has the main character "Hero Protagonist" who develops a feud with an Eskimo ninja, saves the world from Zombie Robot TV Evangelicals, with the help of the Mafia (who have pivoted to pizza delivery). Then he fills it in with more tropes in a fractal fashion all the way down. I have a soft spot for Iain M Banks's work, even if I find it a bit... slow at times. Neal Asher takes something like The Use Of Weapons and turns it from space opera into gritty action. Maybe not as refined, but that's really not what it's trying to achieve.