This was a great read - I guess kind of required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in virtual worlds. It's kinda spooky just how similar some of the stuff is to Second Life - especially when you consider when the book was written. I loved the style of writing - naming the lead character Hiro Protagonist appears cool in a lazy/ slackerish sort of way but perhaps it's an ironic reference to the superficial protagonist-objective-antagonist formula. Whatever, it shows that Stephenson's not afraid to lose some suspension of disbelief for the sake of a clever reference.

In fact, although the characters start out as two-dimensional, protagonist-antagonist types, the plot takes some subtle twists and you start to see and understand some motives by the end of the book. The characters become more complex as their histories unfold around the events.

The pace of the book is fast and the perspectives change (for instance first person sections from the perspective of a robot guard dog). All done in a seamless way though. Really very good, I'll be back for more! ( )

This book seems to be classified as humorous fiction. It is not funny like Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat books or Bill the Galactic Hero. This book is a little offbeat and kind of way-out-there in terms of plausibility, but it is a GREAT sf/sci-fi/cyberpunk story. ( )

Crazy, strange, exciting, visionary, action-packed, sexy. Reading this book is like watching the Matrix for the first time. Though it may lack pretense of more complex literature, it asks vague and interesting enough questions to match The Bard's sophistry.

Beyond that it is just a great read. It shows a vision of the future that seems eminently likely, but unlike 1984 or Brave New World, has not started to feel stilted. It also lack the long-winded philosophical diatribes and allegories that stagnate that breed of classics. Gibson may have invented Cyberpunk, but Stephenson takes the genre out for a joyride and loses a hubcap on a bootstrap turn.

It was originally planned as a graphic novel, but when that got scrapped, Stephenson filled it out and got it published. Perhaps this is why his other works never match Snowcrash's frenetic teenage energy and sensuality. I wish there were more books this interesting and enjoyable. ( )

Snow Crash pretty much cracked sci-fi wide open. My only regret is not having read it 15 years ago or so - since so many of the ideas inside have become (or are becoming) cliche due to their influence on so many other creators.
If one measure of speculative fiction is how many things the reader sees differently in their day-to-day life after exposure - then this book is among the best I've read.
The concepts involved overshadowed the narrative itself, however, as I found the story to be choppy, inconsistent and poorly resolved.
In the end, it was a bit like a video game that was a hell of a good time to play, regardless of whether or not the plot was the focus. ( )

Avatars, the Metaverse and burbclaves. And swordfights.

“All these beefy Caucasians with guns! Get enough of them together, looking for the America they always believed they’d grow up in, and they glom together like overcooked rice, form integral, starchy little units. With their power tools, portable generators, four-wheel drive vehicles, and personal computers, they are like beavers hyped up on crystal meth, manic engineers without a blueprint, chewing through the wilderness, building things and abandoning them, altering the flow of mighty rivers and then moving on because the place ain’t what it used to be.”

Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock
Southern Tier Extraordinary Ale