In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in twenty-first century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a state-of-the-art interactive device falls in the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life--and the entire future of humanity--is about to be decoded and reprogrammed...
John Percival Hackworth is a nanotech engineer on the rise when he steals a copy of "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" for his daughter Fiona. The primer is actually a super computer built with nanotechnology that was designed to educate Lord Finkle-McGraw's daughter and to teach her how to think for herself in the stifling neo-Victorian society. But Hackworth loses the primer before he can give it to Fiona, and now the "book" has fallen into the hands of young Nell, an underprivileged girl whose life is about to change.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Diappointing Vision of Future Shanghai:
After Snow Crash, a sci-fi masterpiece, I can't tell you how genuinely excited I was when I picked-up and began to read Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I was particularly drawn to this book given that it was set in a future Shanghai, the city in which I now reside. I cannot even begin to express the disappointment I had in The Diamond Age. Although there are a lot of interesting ideas and compelling characters, almost all of the elements involving China fall very flat. It is clear that Stephenson has... more info
Brilliant:
Absolutely one of the best science fiction novels I have ever read. Mind blowing in its scope and vision. It's images and idea will stay with you long after you read the last page. I only wish Neal Stephenson would continue to explore the world created in The Diamond Age.
Total crap:
Snow Crash was brilliant, this story was pathetic and poorly put together. There is no point to the majority of what happens in this novel and the ramblings of the author could have easily been cut in half. Worse still, all the possibly interesting contents -- Hackworth's story, Dr. X, CryptNet -- weren't flushed out and instead ignored in this tale about nothing. A war happens at the end, unexplored and for no purpose to the plot. Read a different novel, as this one isn't worth your time. I want the time I... more info
Would get 4 stars if the ending wasn't such a wreck:
I'd read Snow Crash about a year ago, and despite some problems with pacing and blatant Deux Ex Machina, I liked it enough to give Stephenson another go. I gather Diamond Age is his second novel, and he certainly has improved in style over his original offering (Snow Crash.) This book consciously imitates Victorian (late 18th-century English) prose and dialogue, which can be awkward to the unsuspecting but is very much justified by the narrative framework. The setting was intriguing, and... more info
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