Snow Crash (1992)

by Neal Stephenson

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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In the future the only relief from the sea of logos is the computer-generated universe of virtual reality. Now a strange computer virus, called Snow Crash, is striking down hackers, leaving an unlikely young man as humankind's last hope.

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243
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (moonstormer)
150
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)
100
Neuromancer by William Gibson (thebookpile)
60
Daemon by Daniel Suarez (thehoodedone)
50
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (atrautz)
50
Count Zero by William Gibson (thebookpile)
40
Halting State by Charles Stross (infiniteletters)
62
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (JFDR)
30
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (ecureuil)
20
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (electronicmemory)
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.
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.
10
The Stone Canal by Ken MacLeod (bsackerman)
10
Trouble and Her Friends by Melissa Scott (vwinsloe)
vwinsloe: Cyberpunk
21
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32
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11
This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities by Jim Rossignol (infiniteletters)
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The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (fulner)
fulner: Heretical Fiction

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English (335) French (2) Swedish (1) German (1) Hungarian (1) Italian (1) All languages (341)

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Showing 1-5 of 335 (next | show all)

A cyberpunk novel with ninjas and Harley's. Very entertaining. (

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illmunkeys | Apr 22, 2021 |

Good ideas, bad storytelling. Yawn. (

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rolfmblindgren | Mar 26, 2021 |

Hiro Protagonist teams up with 15 year old YT to gather information and disseminate across the Metaverse where people goggle in to escape the drudgery of their lives and the post deterioration of the United States of America (Fedland) into business components, including CostaNostra Pizza, Inc. and Mr. Lee's Little Korea. When a computer virus called snow crash is released in the Metaverse turning programmer's minds to mush, Hiro finds himself in a bizarre race against time to prevent the infocalypse from occurring. It's sort of a roller coaster ride of emotions and one thing happening after the next. Written in 1992, the book is damn near prophetic in many ways. (

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phoenixcomet | Mar 24, 2021 |

I should have loved this book, it contains things that I usually really like but despite my best efforts I just couldn't finish it. In general I give books about 100 pages before abandoning them but I gave this book almost 300 pages before finally admitting defeat. I don't think it is bad, in fact many people love this book but it just didn't grab my attention. I didn't care for the characters and it felt very sloppy to me. It's a huge shame because I wanted to love this book and I had high hopes for it. (

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Brian. | Mar 20, 2021 |

Cool ideas and a version of the internet that I recognize from staring into black voids on an Apple II through my childhood. Would be excellent if Stephenson paused from telling us how brilliant and hip he is and focused on the story for once. Barely finished this one, threw Diamond Age against the wall. (

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EugenioNegro | Mar 17, 2021 |

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▾Published reviews

3 reviews

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thingScore 75

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.

added by Shortride | editThe New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas (Jun 14, 1992)

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

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (13 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Stephenson, Neal	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Davis, Jonathan	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Jensen, Bruce	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Körber, Joachim	Übersetzer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Podevin, Jean-François	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Goldmann (45302)

Science Fiction Book Club 50th Anniversary Collection (33)

Contains

Snow Crash {Part 1 of 2} by Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash {Part 2 of 2} by ニール・スティーヴンスン

Has as a student's study guide

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson | Summary & Study Guide by BookRags

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Snow Crash

Original title

Snow Crash

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1992-06

People/Characters

Hiro Protagonist

Y. T.

Dmitri Ravinoff (Raven)

Important places

Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong

The Raft

Black Sun (virtual nightclub)

(show all 9 items)

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist (1994)

Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (Roman étranger, 1997)

Premio Ignotus (novela extranjera 2001)

British Science Fiction Association Award Shortlist (1993.1|Novel, 1993)

Prometheus Award Shortlist (Novel, 1993)

(show all 12 items)

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

▾References

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Wikipedia in English (1)

Noach (parsha)

▾Book descriptions

In the future the only relief from the sea of logos is the computer-generated universe of virtual reality. Now a strange computer virus, called Snow Crash, is striking down hackers, leaving an unlikely young man as humankind's last hope.

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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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