Paperback, 470 pages
English language
Published Sept. 1, 2008 by Bantam Spectra.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous… you’ll recognize it immediately.
Just started reading this and it's quite amusing. I have read some chapters on a pizza delivery journey with a twist.
My girlfriend lent me this to read on the plane when I had a long flight. Overall entertaining, I didn't feel like I was slogging through (mostly), but it takes itself Way too seriously for a book whose main character is named Hiro Protagonist.
The dates are a total guess; (side note: an annoyance I have on BookWyrm right now is that in order to list a book as read, you have to give exact read dates, which I don't track, especially for a book I read roughly 25 years ago). I enjoyed this a great deal; back at that time the techno-libertarian themes of the book appealed to me, 'Hiro Protagonist' was a cute joke, and there was useful social commentary. It was a fun way to explore things that have now come to be.
Read it ages ago, I think in 1995. The best thing is that the hero is named "Hiro Protagonist" and is a katana-wielding pizza delivery driver. This wasn't as cringe in the 90ies as it is now. Like most CyberPunk classics it has become too uncomfortably real. This book also coined the term "Metaverse" for an escapistic virtual reality. Apparently it is now required reading at Meta. The sumerian Spiel with Enki is quite boring TBH.
The book ranges a pretty wide variety of topics, probably more interesting to readers who program.
Wrote a whole long review about why I didn't like it, but got bored of my own opinion.
In short:
While clever, the linguistic virus, Sumerian, and religion lessons were long and dull
Characters unbelievable, and didn't really invest in them.
Sex with a minor scene - didn't want that
Did like:
the world
the technology
the prologue bit about pizza delivery. Loved that world building, really great opening! Then the main story wrecked it (for me).
This is an excellent story but the worldbuilding is what floored me most. The Street of the Metaverse, Asherah/Enki Sumerian religion, glossolalia, and computer viruses all unite to create a world where a pizza delivery man/hacker and a resourceful delivery kourier can figure in an apocalyptic game for the future of the world. It's, in a word, brilliant. I loved the characters, but even they pale against the canvas Stephenson created.
4.5 stars!
In the early 90s, I was a huge fan of the FASA game Shadowrun. I never managed to actually find a group to play it with, but I consumed sourcebooks and novels greedily. I loved the setting very much. Now that I have read Snow Crash, I am vividly reminded of it, and my love for cyberpunk. I think I will need to read Neuromancer next.
I was slightly taken aback in the beginning, because it's a very different style. Fast-paced, with its own lingo, dropping you right into this world where franchises rule the world, where the Mafia controls pizza deliveries, and where couriers work between the lines on their skateboards. Woven inbetween is the metaverse, the virtual reality that must have been the inspiration for Tad Williams' Otherlands VR.
I loved the characters, above all Y.T. They were all very interesting. It would be a full …
4.5 stars!
In the early 90s, I was a huge fan of the FASA game Shadowrun. I never managed to actually find a group to play it with, but I consumed sourcebooks and novels greedily. I loved the setting very much. Now that I have read Snow Crash, I am vividly reminded of it, and my love for cyberpunk. I think I will need to read Neuromancer next.
I was slightly taken aback in the beginning, because it's a very different style. Fast-paced, with its own lingo, dropping you right into this world where franchises rule the world, where the Mafia controls pizza deliveries, and where couriers work between the lines on their skateboards. Woven inbetween is the metaverse, the virtual reality that must have been the inspiration for Tad Williams' Otherlands VR.
I loved the characters, above all Y.T. They were all very interesting. It would be a full five stars if I hadn't been overwhelmed by the basic premise behind Snow Crash. I found the nam-shub stuff hard to follow. Fascinating, no doubt, but maybe a little bit over my head.
Definitely recommending this book whole-heartedly, it's one of the most entertaining books I have read this year. Now I have to see if I can get my hands on the old Shadowrun novels, especially 2XS. Loved that one. Aaaah, glorious cyberpunk.
