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Snow Crash (1992)

by Neal Stephenson

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
19,656383220 (4.09)656
Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison--a writer so original, he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age. Snow Crash 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. "Brilliantly realized...Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow." --New York Times Book Review… (more)
Recently added byMaryjane75, lycheee, private library, jeffairwin, Nightshelf, darius52, Scheherazade1001, Caezary
Legacy LibrariesTerence Kemp McKenna
  1. 273
    Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (moonstormer)
  2. 190
    Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (davesmind, jbgryphon, fulner)
    davesmind: Although Snow Crash is a classic of cyberpunk, I think Ready Player One has a more captivating story - especially if you played video games in the 80's
    jbgryphon: RPO's OASIS owes it's existence as much to Neil Stephenson's Metaverse as to the miriad of geek universes that are included in it.
    fulner: Ready player one is what Snow crash should have been. A story focused primarily on the inter-personal-relationships of others "online" in a futuristic version of the internet in which we live in a 3-D world as the real world around us crashes and burns. The biggest difference is Ready Player One Doesn't Suck. Still somewhat heretical, but its heresy can be easily dismissed on that the protagonist is an atheist.… (more)
  3. 120
    Neuromancer by William Gibson (thebookpile)
  4. 70
    Daemon by Daniel Suarez (thehoodedone)
  5. 60
    The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (atrautz)
  6. 50
    Count Zero by William Gibson (thebookpile)
  7. 62
    Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (JFDR)
  8. 40
    Halting State by Charles Stross (infiniteletters)
  9. 30
    Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (ecureuil)
  10. 20
    Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (electronicmemory)
  11. 20
    Omnitopia Dawn by Diane Duane (pammab)
    pammab: To explore the possibilities of virtual reality in the near future. Duane's is much more traditional and pro-corporate fantasy; Stephenson's is more humor-based anti-corporate cyberpunk.
  12. 20
    The Star Fraction by Ken MacLeod (Noisy)
    Noisy: Anarchy viewed from both sides of the fence. 'Snow Crash' offers the capitalist view and 'The Star Fraction' offers the socialist counterpart.
  13. 32
    Virtual Light by William Gibson (Moehrendorf)
  14. 10
    The Stone Canal by Ken MacLeod (bsackerman)
  15. 21
    City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams (romula)
  16. 10
    Trouble and Her Friends by Melissa Scott (vwinsloe)
    vwinsloe: Cyberpunk
  17. 11
    This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities by Jim Rossignol (infiniteletters)
  18. 13
    The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (fulner)
    fulner: Heretical Fiction
1990s (94)
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» See also 656 mentions

English (374)  French (3)  Italian (2)  Hungarian (1)  German (1)  Swedish (1)  All languages (382)
Showing 1-5 of 374 (next | show all)
This book is set in a future world different to, but not indistinguishable from, our own. Huge swathes of society have become commercialised as for-profit organisations, many owned by openly criminal gangs, with the government acting more as an (ineffective) cross between an evil corporation and a secret society. Identitarianism has move on apace resulting in almost everyone living in some community enclave focused on their ethnicity, class status or other aspect of who they are. The internet has become a giant virtual reality representation of the world with many people living their lives online.

Into this world comes a computer virus, Snow Crash, that not only destroys the computer host it arrives at, but enslaves the user creating a sort-of zombie army.

The story revolves around plucky heroes initially trying to grab some personal advantage from the virus’ impact, but later working to defeat the masterminds trying to enslave the planet.

This is a book chock full of ideas and predictions that takes a hard look at impacts and consequences, good and bad. Stephenson has a knack for seeing beyond what a technology can do into what it means when that technology has become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. Even though it is 30 years old, this book has a lot to say and show us about how the technologies we rely on today are affecting how society works and where that could lead.

The book does not have the sophistication of Stephenson’s later work and relies too much on crash-bang action, but is nevertheless an important work in the science fiction field, and a good read as well. ( )
  pierthinker | Aug 25, 2023 |
Absolutely bonzo extrapolation of a privatized future and science fiction application of computer viruses to the human condition. When the protagonists are samurai pizza delivery men, renegade computer hackers, underage skateboard messengers, Mafia dons, and Asian businessmen, you know things are messed up. But it all seems perfectly plausible here. ( )
  zot79 | Aug 20, 2023 |
This was such a fun and interesting book. Very fast moving and full of a billion little details that just tweaked my brain in all kinds of directions. Really, a very cool book.

The ending might be a little too pat, but that's okay, I kind of like them that way.
( )
  beentsy | Aug 12, 2023 |
More like 3.5, starts out incredibly strong, presents intriguing ideas and the setting is groundbreaking (for its time). Unfortunately, it gets bogged down about 2/3 of the way through and never recovers. Also, for a 550 page book, the actual climax is just the last 10 pages and there is no denouement. It's almost like his friends were going out for drinks and Stephenson said "give me 5 minutes guys" and finished the book. ( )
  TheMagicRat | Aug 11, 2023 |
I was asked to read this book, reluctantly started it, dragged through it (only because I was constantly told how awesome it was by someone who barely reads) and found myself struggling to care. I confused about what the whole point of it was (if there was one). I could see it as a film or a graphic novel. Definitely one of the books I chose to not finish. ( )
  AAPremlall | Jul 23, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 374 (next | show all)
Hiro Protagonist (who has chosen his own name, of course) turns out to be entertaining company, and Mr. Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow that is as farcical as it is horrific.
 
Stephenson has not stepped, he has vaulted onto the literary stage with this novel.
added by GYKM | editLos Angeles Reader
 
A cross between Neuromancer and Thomas Pynchon's Vineland. This is no mere hyperbole.
added by GYKM | editSan Francisco Bay Guardian
 

» Add other authors (10 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Stephenson, Nealprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Davis, JonathanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jensen, BruceCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Körber, JoachimÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Podevin, Jean-FrançoisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
snow n. . . . 2.a. Anything resembling snow. b. The white specks on a television screen resulting from weak reception.

crash v....--intr. . . . 5. To fail suddenly, as a business or an economy.
---The American Heritage Dictionary

virus. . . . [L. virus slimy liquid, poison, offensive odor or taste.] 1. Venom, such as is emitted by a poisonous animal. 2. Path a. A morbid principle or poisonous substance produced in the body as the result of some disease, esp. one capable of being introduced into other persons or animals by inoculations or otherwise and of developing the same disease in them. . . . 3. fig. A moral or intellectual poison, or poisonous influence.
--The Oxford English Dictionary
Dedication
First words
The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. He's got esprit up to here.
Quotations
HIRO PROTAGONIST
Last of the freelance hackers
Greatest sword fighter in the world
Stringer, Central Intelligence Corporation
Specializing in software-related intel
(music, movies & microcode)
When you are wrestling for possession of a sword, the man with the handle always wins.
"Did you win your sword fight?"
"Of course I won the fucking sword fight," Hiro says. "I'm the greatest sword fighter in the world."
"And you wrote the software."
"Yeah. That, too," Hiro says.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison--a writer so original, he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age. Snow Crash 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. "Brilliantly realized...Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow." --New York Times Book Review

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Book description
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra 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.
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