5 ms·

Snow Crash is awesome. I finished it and "The Diamond Age" last week and I can vouch for them as a worthy read.

hugh 18y ago
I really don't like Snow Crash much. Firstly, it's dated quite badly, since it was written in the recent past about roughly-now. He gets the technology pretty much right, but the speculation about how that technology will change society pretty much all wrong. Secondly, Mr Protagonist, as a protagonist, annoys me in that he seems more like the kind of character that a fourteen-year-old boy would think was awesome (greatest swordfighter in the world, for no good reason!) than somebody I want to read a book about. Cryptonomicon, on the other hand, is a must-read. I don't really even like science fiction that much, but Cryptonomicon is a must-read.
- byrneseyeview 18y ago
  I think it's great fun to read it now. Imagine thinking Meese would still be famous in 2008! Part of the point of Hiro is that he's a loser and an asshole. There wouldn't be a plot if he started out as a good guy, because he wouldn't find himself mixed up in the mafia and cults the way he did.
- chuchurocka 18y ago
  i've enjoyed pretty much everything that he has done, with the exception of the Baroque Cycle, Confusion, System of the World series ( great reads, just an awful lot to digest and keep straight). Cryptonomicon is a geeks must read.
- coffeeaddicted 18y ago
  About that "greatest swordfighter in the world" part - there is a real good explanation for that one. He was the guy who wrote the software for the swordfighting simulation. To my knowledge I might still be the best racer in the world in some racing game I wrote last year, so I can absolutely relate to that ;-)
  - hugh 18y ago
    As I recall, in the end he also turns out to be a great swordfighter in real life though. Something about single-handedly assaulting an aircraft carrier using only his katana? That was pretty much where the book lost me.
    - coffeeaddicted 18y ago
      He also had the help of a railgun called Reason.
      - sdp 18y ago
        "They won't listen to us, but they'll listen to R.E.A.S.O.N.!"

hugh 18y ago

I really don't like Snow Crash much. Firstly, it's dated quite badly, since it was written in the recent past about roughly-now. He gets the technology pretty much right, but the speculation about how that technology will change society pretty much all wrong. Secondly, Mr Protagonist, as a protagonist, annoys me in that he seems more like the kind of character that a fourteen-year-old boy would think was awesome (greatest swordfighter in the world, for no good reason!) than somebody I want to read a book about. Cryptonomicon, on the other hand, is a must-read. I don't really even like science fiction that much, but Cryptonomicon is a must-read.

byrneseyeview 18y ago
I think it's great fun to read it now. Imagine thinking Meese would still be famous in 2008! Part of the point of Hiro is that he's a loser and an asshole. There wouldn't be a plot if he started out as a good guy, because he wouldn't find himself mixed up in the mafia and cults the way he did.
chuchurocka 18y ago
i've enjoyed pretty much everything that he has done, with the exception of the Baroque Cycle, Confusion, System of the World series ( great reads, just an awful lot to digest and keep straight). Cryptonomicon is a geeks must read.
coffeeaddicted 18y ago
About that "greatest swordfighter in the world" part - there is a real good explanation for that one. He was the guy who wrote the software for the swordfighting simulation. To my knowledge I might still be the best racer in the world in some racing game I wrote last year, so I can absolutely relate to that ;-)
- hugh 18y ago
  As I recall, in the end he also turns out to be a great swordfighter in real life though. Something about single-handedly assaulting an aircraft carrier using only his katana? That was pretty much where the book lost me.
  - coffeeaddicted 18y ago
    He also had the help of a railgun called Reason.
    - sdp 18y ago
      "They won't listen to us, but they'll listen to R.E.A.S.O.N.!"