Science Fiction

Snow Crash

Snow Crash

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  • Create Date：2021-10-24 07:52:39
  • Update Date：2025-09-13
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Neal Stephenson
  • ISBN：0241953189
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Summary

After the Internet， what came next？
Enter the Metaverse - cyberspace home to avatars and software daemons， where anything and just about everything goes。 Newly available on the Street - the Metaverse's main drag - is Snow Crash， a cyberdrug。 Trouble is Snow Crash is also a computer virus - and something more。 Because once taken it infects the person behind the avatar。 Snow Crash bleeds into reality。
Which is really bad news for Hiro - freelance hacker and the Metaverse's best swordfighter （he wrote the code） - and Y。 T。 - skateboard kourier， street imp and mouthy teenage girl - because reality was shitty enough before someone started messing with it 。 。 。
Exploring linguistics， religion， computer science， politics， philosophy， cryptography and the future of pizza delivery， Snow Crash is a riveting， brake-neck adventure into the fast-approaching future。

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Reviews

Gordon ，

Really enjoyed it

James ，

Just ok

Ees ，

A more youthful take on dystopia than Gibson。Not as much my bag。 Maybe its the prose

Dexter Adams ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Please shoot me if I ever attempt self referential satir。I didn't like this book。 It reads like a version of Space Jam directed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone。The first half is indearing enough， it's very nineties radical with skateboards， katanas and pizza， so props to the author for predicting 9gag in 1992。 Enough of it is self aware enough that the parodic elements come through and there are some genuinely fun ideas。 A favourite of mine is the sovereign corporate franchises like Mr Lee's New H Please shoot me if I ever attempt self referential satir。I didn't like this book。 It reads like a version of Space Jam directed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone。The first half is indearing enough， it's very nineties radical with skateboards， katanas and pizza， so props to the author for predicting 9gag in 1992。 Enough of it is self aware enough that the parodic elements come through and there are some genuinely fun ideas。 A favourite of mine is the sovereign corporate franchises like Mr Lee's New Hong Kong and his Kong Dollars， tying economy， borders， and sovereignty together in an interesting and flavourful way。 Ironically， the "metaverse"， while surely inventive at the time， these days just comes across as a bit silly。 The main character， Hiro， can't help but call every single coder or computer programmer a "hacker" or call anti-viruses "medecine"。 He walks through the Street™ with a 3D rendered avatar fully equipped with Katana and Wakizashi， and races through the metaverse on a super radical motorbike that can go a bajillion billion kilometers per hour but not just teleport somehow。。。 It's all very Tron， and for a snap shot of the Nineties™ it's fun and engaging。All of that is chucked to the side around the middle of the book however when an AI character called The Librarian， who serves no real other purpose， sits Hiro down and explains a lengthy language theory Neal Stephenson just came up with。 It reads like the author is 15 and just finished a Chomsky book。 "A comet brought an information meta virus from space and infected Mesopotamia with brain virus and that's how we got agriculture cause it's like computer code for humans， except then a dude cures them and that's how we got religion but still now there's a secret cabal of people who do blood rituals passing down the brain virus and now they've translated the brain virus into a bitmap and now hackers are getting infected cause they can read bitmaps because they're hackers" explains one character， "well that's fucking dumb" replies no other character， somehow。 The whole thing feels like it was written by Jordan Peterson in collaboration with a thirteen year old， as Hiro interrupts the Librarian's story to make coding puns。 By the time you're done reeling from the thwump of information and pseudo scientific declarations， you'll come to and realise that most of the wimzy radicality has slowly been replaced by increasingly gross and juvenile racism， hatred and pointless violence。 Hiro is mixed race Korean and African American， and despite being a blasian badie， manages to both call his mother Nipponese and do an Aunt Jemima impression within the first couple of chapters， and gets hurled slurs at by some random dude every time we need to be reminded that he's good at swords。 The book seemingly takes place in a parallel universe where everyone is super racist。 A universe presumably called the Nineties™。 Raven， Hiro's foil， flutters randomly between caricatural nobel native warrior seeking revenge for his people and Loony Tunes Villain， up to and including riding around on a giant bomb that may as well say "Acme" on it。 He has a seemingly endless supply of bamboo Spears stored on his person and "wants to Nuke America"。 I'm with you up to this point Raven mate。 Then he picks up （literally， by the armpits） a 15 year old his gang has kidnapped and eventually convinces her to fuck him。 That's where you lost me Raven mate。 That would be Y。 T。， the secondary main character， a child who wears an anti rape dentata and is totally spunky and a girlboss except for when she's getting coerced by fully grown men into dealing drugs/sleeping with them， with shockingly little resistance。 Which is most of the time。 Its not even just the "woke" politics that are all over the show here。 Snow Crashes's ideology is confusing and contradictory， with the semi endorsement of corporate ethnostates， but a reviled hatred for the monopolists， but also an even stronger hatred of the CIA and the United States， and also possibly governments and nations in general， except we still definetly hate refugees from the "fifth world" （literally， so poor they skipped the fourth world） in fact in this universe we hate them so much that we call them "refuse" and they're all evil and stupid and they'll bum you the first chance they get。。。Its not that a book can't be good even if it does has shit politics。 But when the ideas below are so surface level， the nasty aesthetics truely become grating。 Obviously hindsight is twenty twenty， but in an age where we actually know how the virality of ideas works in a digital space， the concept of "programming language for humans except its an actual language" is just too dumb to stand up next to this amount of vitriol。 Here， it just looks like a post on a 2016 4chan page， next to an incel meme。My advice？ Just watch the Ready Player One movie。Ps: I understand this is an early book of the author's and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work， there's definitely passion here。 。。。more

Oleksiy Kovyrin ，

He's managed to build a really cool universe， but failed at English while writing a story about it。（view spoiler）[The ending is very anticlimactic as well。 Would have been 4/5 if not for that。（hide spoiler）] He's managed to build a really cool universe， but failed at English while writing a story about it。（view spoiler）[The ending is very anticlimactic as well。 Would have been 4/5 if not for that。（hide spoiler）] 。。。more

maskedbookblogger ，

Bei diesem Buch handelt es sich um die neue Auflage von Stephenson Sci-Fi Roman „Snow Crash“， welches nun im Fischer-Tor Verlag neu aufgelegt worden ist。 In diesem Buch geht es um einen jungen Mann namens Hiro。 Er ist auf seinem Fachgebiet， dem Programmieren， einer der Besten。 Nebenbei liefert Hiro Pizza für die Mafia aus。 Als wäre sein Leben nicht gefährlich genug， stößt er plötzlich auf eine Verschwörung。 Diese Verschwörung ist der Grund， warum in der realen aber auch der virtuellen Welt tagtä Bei diesem Buch handelt es sich um die neue Auflage von Stephenson Sci-Fi Roman „Snow Crash“， welches nun im Fischer-Tor Verlag neu aufgelegt worden ist。 In diesem Buch geht es um einen jungen Mann namens Hiro。 Er ist auf seinem Fachgebiet， dem Programmieren， einer der Besten。 Nebenbei liefert Hiro Pizza für die Mafia aus。 Als wäre sein Leben nicht gefährlich genug， stößt er plötzlich auf eine Verschwörung。 Diese Verschwörung ist der Grund， warum in der realen aber auch der virtuellen Welt tagtäglich Menschen sterben。 So begibt sich Hiro in die virtuelle Welt， um die Gefahr und die damit potentiell vorhandene Infokalypse zu verhindern。 Ist er bereit diese Quest zu meistern？Als erstes kann ich sagen， dass dieses Buch auf jeden Fall für Leser*in ist， die sich gerne auf ein Sci-Fi Abenteuer in die virtuelle Welt begeben müssen。 Fans von „88 Namen“ werden zum Beispiel bei diesem Buch voll auf ihre Kosten kommen， da es teilweise hinsichtlich der Thematik komplex werden kann。 Deswegen ist dieser Roman ein Buch， welches ich mit viel Geduld begegnet bin， um mich im Allgemeinen voll und ganz auf die Story einzulassen。 Zudem ist der Schreibstil nicht ganz einfach， sodass man sich beim Lesen dieses Buches wirklich konzentrieren muss。 Von einer schrägen Cyberwelt über High-Tech Waffen bis zu verrückten Hackern findet man eigentlich alles in diesem Buch， was ein Geek-Herz bereichert。 Die Neulogismen waren ein Gebiet für sich， da diese neben den IT-Begriffen sehr umfassend und bereichernd waren。 An der Seite von Hiro und Y。T。 begibt man sich in ein spannendes Abenteuer， welches durch den Autor sehr facettenreich beschrieben wird。 Außerdem kommt der Humor nicht zu kurz， sodass es viele Abschnitte gab， welche für den ein oder anderen Lacher bei mir gesorgt haben。 Mir hat die Geschichte im Gesamten irgendwie total gefallen – natürlich nicht wegen dem Geballer ;） – weil es trotz einer Sci-Fi Geschichte ein Hauch an Realität in dem Plot steckt。 Teilweise würde ich es erschreckend finden， wenn so das Zukunftsszenario unser Menschheit aussehen würde。 Fazit: Mehr bleibt mir zu diesem Buch nicht zu sagen， da ich eventuell auch schon spoilern würde。 Dieses Buch ist auf jeden Fall was， für Leser die mal wieder auf ein schräges Sci-Fi Abenteuer sich begeben möchten。 Glaubt mir: Dies ist keine normale Geschichte。 Es wird schräg！ Ich bewerte das Buch mit guten 4 Sternen！ 。。。more

Alex ，

As one of Time's 'Top 100 Books in English' of all time， this novel genuinely does make some really fascinating comments on the state of the human condition， individual consciousness， and general societal decay。 Personally， I wouldn't say it's one of the best books ever written， or anything， but it's definitely significant。 As a Hyper-Futuristic novel that was originally published in 1992， this definitely has a very Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell kinda vibe-- mainly that Life is still Life d As one of Time's 'Top 100 Books in English' of all time， this novel genuinely does make some really fascinating comments on the state of the human condition， individual consciousness， and general societal decay。 Personally， I wouldn't say it's one of the best books ever written， or anything， but it's definitely significant。 As a Hyper-Futuristic novel that was originally published in 1992， this definitely has a very Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell kinda vibe-- mainly that Life is still Life despite the calamity of the Technopocalypse， 90's grunge became more than just a fashion statement as the Government basically collapsed， and everything goes more smoothly when we all roll up to every negotiation with a health dose of sarcasm to play ball with。I definitely enjoyed the acknowledgement of the fact that people want Life to be a cliche and chipper-yet-dramatic action movie， to the point that people literally shape their lives into fitting the mold they'd envisioned， but I did feel it missed the mark in some places， simply because the narrative's official 'victory' didn't really deal with any part of the real Problem， it just removed the present Threat。 There's likely an intentional comment in that， but I feel like it's rendered ineffective because I'm more concerned with how the story feels unresolved in the big-picture view of it than I am with how it shows that leaving problem resolution unfinished is one of the main reasons the world collapsed to begin with。。。 The best part of the ending， absolutely， is the bit where when the world-ending threat is dealt with and all that， it's time to call Mom for a ride home （and she shows up to help， no questions asked， happy to not-quite participate and simply support her child）。I did also like the brief comments on the rest of the world。 American dystopia lit is chronically awful at remember that the rest of the world exists （and that， as a whole， most of it is better suited to adapting to Apocalypse World than the US population）。The narrative style was dramatic and highly unique。 While I didn't enjoy it， per se， I do think it was well-accomplished and that it suited the story it was meant to tell。 It DID produce a ton of really great quotable moments， though， which I highly appreciate。The characters were great， even though we only got to view them on a fairly surface level （a symptom of it being both an adult novel and being a product of 80's & 90's dystopia narrative convention）。 More importantly， I really enjoyed how our two main characters were essentially accidental BFFs and the narration never so much as hinted at there being any legitimate romantic potential between them。The plot was fun and worked into the grit of complex world building as an intrinsic and inevitable aspect of what a world like this would produce， so while I didn't actually like some of what happened， I DEEPLY enjoyed that the world's mechanics were so closely linked to what occurred within it and vice versa。The best bit over all though were the Nice Doggies。 Super Creepy？ Check。 Effectively utilized as narrative tools？ Check。 Rendered as both immoral and beneficent in turns？ Check。 PUPPERS BEING PUPPERS？ CHECK PLUS！ It's an apocalypse in America story， so obviously， someone shoots a dog。 But in this case the dog more or less survives and things work out well enough to make things feel optimistic。It's an excellent novel， that feels both dated and hyper-futuristic。 It misses the point， a bit， on how and why tech develops as rapidly and all-consuming-ly as it does， but it also makes great comments on why gangs develop and will never be eradicated （there's seriously very little way to corral the problem because the 'problem' is that gang-structure is the single-most efficient governing structure that humans have ever devised and the 'solution' being implements to solve it is a mish-mash of overlapping agencies that serve more to prove the gangs' point than anything）。I highly recommend it as a modern classic， and a necessary read for anyone to consider themselves well-rounded persons， but it's certainly not one that I'd consider a favorite of mine， personally。 。。。more

Anthony ，

To confess， I only was interested in this book because I liked the title。 I did not know what to expect。 No idea what 'cyberpunk' even was。 I just liked Snow and Crash。 What I got was one of my favourite books I have ever written。 The characters were wonderful， the story was wonderful， and if I have any thing bad to say， is that I wish there were more to read。 I think I found a new favourite author。 To confess， I only was interested in this book because I liked the title。 I did not know what to expect。 No idea what 'cyberpunk' even was。 I just liked Snow and Crash。 What I got was one of my favourite books I have ever written。 The characters were wonderful， the story was wonderful， and if I have any thing bad to say， is that I wish there were more to read。 I think I found a new favourite author。 。。。more

Martin ，

While the story isn't that great， the concept was SO visionary for its time， it's absolutely amazing！！！ While the story isn't that great， the concept was SO visionary for its time， it's absolutely amazing！！！ 。。。more

Terry ，

The worst book I've ever read。 Had to stop at 70% as I couldn't care less about anything that's happening or anyone who it's happening to。 The worst book I've ever read。 Had to stop at 70% as I couldn't care less about anything that's happening or anyone who it's happening to。 。。。more

Andric ，

Wonderful。 An indictment of postmodern ideals， a satirical take on anarchocapitalistic society， and a cautionary tale for technological optimists， for “Snow Crash” shows us a possible failure mode if we worked hard at developing technologies， but not ways of organizing our societies or our sense of morality。Technology is but one leg of human civilization， and if we ignore the others – society， economy， and environment – we might find ourselves in a world much like Snow Crash， where it’s possible Wonderful。 An indictment of postmodern ideals， a satirical take on anarchocapitalistic society， and a cautionary tale for technological optimists， for “Snow Crash” shows us a possible failure mode if we worked hard at developing technologies， but not ways of organizing our societies or our sense of morality。Technology is but one leg of human civilization， and if we ignore the others – society， economy， and environment – we might find ourselves in a world much like Snow Crash， where it’s possible to have all the technology but none of the progress。 In many ways， we’re already living in that world， the world made up of global franchise ghettos， refugees， and dumb escapist entertainment – moreso now than it was in the 90s when this tale was first written。 An absolute must-read， especially now when technological escapism and postmodern culture is experiencing a surge in popularity。 。。。more

Denis ，

Entertaining enough to keep me reading， but kind of a mess of ideas， characters， and concepts。 Might have been groundbreaking 30+ years ago， but some of it hasn't aged well - looking especially at YT and Raven。 Entertaining enough to keep me reading， but kind of a mess of ideas， characters， and concepts。 Might have been groundbreaking 30+ years ago， but some of it hasn't aged well - looking especially at YT and Raven。 。。。more

K。A。 Clark ，

I own multiple lending copies of this book as well as my own personal hardcover copy。 It is a personal favorite。 I love intelligent satire and exaggeration of current American life that makes his world so ridiculously real。 A must read for those that see the real world and facepalm。

James Porteous ，

It's a bit 。。。 much at times - the satire， the imaginative flights。 I found the plot incomprehensible at times and in fact still not quite sure what happened。 And quite large chunks of the book are merely Stephenson writing an essay about religion-as-virus and putting it into the mouths of his characters to 'explain' for pages on end。 Despite those criticisms， very enjoyable and entertaining It's a bit 。。。 much at times - the satire， the imaginative flights。 I found the plot incomprehensible at times and in fact still not quite sure what happened。 And quite large chunks of the book are merely Stephenson writing an essay about religion-as-virus and putting it into the mouths of his characters to 'explain' for pages on end。 Despite those criticisms， very enjoyable and entertaining 。。。more

Evie Menoudakis ，

DNF - listened to the audiobook with my dad; i had a better time making fun of the unecessary scenes and overly detailed descriptions of mundane moments （like how exactly the wheels squeaked when the pizza delivery guy did a U turn）， than actually reading this

Aviva Rosman ，

Basically Infinite Jest if David Foster Wallace was a hacker and also stopped caring about the larger purpose of creating art。 The politics are nihilistic， the history is downright silly， and the 90s-era feminism pretty iffy towards the end as the punk girlpower gets unnecessarily psychosexual - but the swordfights are pretty great。 In Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America， Richard Rorty said that Snow Crash， "contribute[s] to a more fundamental failure to appreciat Basically Infinite Jest if David Foster Wallace was a hacker and also stopped caring about the larger purpose of creating art。 The politics are nihilistic， the history is downright silly， and the 90s-era feminism pretty iffy towards the end as the punk girlpower gets unnecessarily psychosexual - but the swordfights are pretty great。 In Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America， Richard Rorty said that Snow Crash， "contribute[s] to a more fundamental failure to appreciate the value of inspiration—and hence of literature—itself。" This is probably true， but also - lighten up Richard Rorty！ Are you truly saying you didn't enjoy Hiro Protagonist taking on an entire airforce carrier with a uranium rotary cannon and his katanas？ Worth reading if only to understand what Mark Zuckerberg is talking about when he says he wants to create a "a metaverse company" and also because it's pretty fun。 。。。more

Alexandra Pa ，

All the technology part is pretty cool considering its been written in 1992， but otherwise plot and characters are not that well done especially in the last 1/3 of the book

Natasha Holme ，

I rather enjoyed this at first， a bit bonkers and reminiscent of the superb Ready Player One （a near future dystopia often escaped from into a virtual reality world）。 However， it rapidly declined into incomprehensible， repetitive drivel。 No idea what happened in the end。 I completely lost the plot。Also， why did the kick-arse female character have to be fifteen？ And have a sex scene with an adult male？ Isn’t that rape？ In UK law at least a child under 16 can’t consent to sex。 I was expecting revi I rather enjoyed this at first， a bit bonkers and reminiscent of the superb Ready Player One （a near future dystopia often escaped from into a virtual reality world）。 However， it rapidly declined into incomprehensible， repetitive drivel。 No idea what happened in the end。 I completely lost the plot。Also， why did the kick-arse female character have to be fifteen？ And have a sex scene with an adult male？ Isn’t that rape？ In UK law at least a child under 16 can’t consent to sex。 I was expecting reviews to make this point。 Does this bother no-one？ 。。。more

Faye Ng ，

Another amazing book I’ve read by Neal Stephenson。 （The last was Seveneves）。 Just like Seveneves， this book explores a possible future that’s neither utopian nor dystopian， because it’s so well thought out that it makes one think， Why not？Considering this book was written in 1992，it is eerily prescient。

Micah Taylor ，

Stephenson has created one of the most interesting and vivid worlds I have ever read; his descriptive language is unique and elegant。 By contrast， the dialogue is elementary and laughable， which makes the one-forth of the book that is basically an essay on ancient language almost unbearably difficult。 There are moments of the book that feel like homework， but when it’s good， it’s very good。

Susan Boos ，

One of the best and most exciting books I've ever read。 If you like technology stories， archeology， ancient people and languages， religion and fascinating characters each distinctly different from each other， you will love this book。 I listened to it in my car and once the last disk was in I couldn't stop I just drive around till it was done， screaming and yelling at the characters and laughing when they survived。 I'm sorry it's done。 I would love this to become a series。 I want to follow them i One of the best and most exciting books I've ever read。 If you like technology stories， archeology， ancient people and languages， religion and fascinating characters each distinctly different from each other， you will love this book。 I listened to it in my car and once the last disk was in I couldn't stop I just drive around till it was done， screaming and yelling at the characters and laughing when they survived。 I'm sorry it's done。 I would love this to become a series。 I want to follow them in their next adventure。 。。。more

Rosemary Standeven ，

I really enjoyed this book – though I really don’t know what was going on。 I listened the audio book， and after a short while of trying to make sense of it， I just relaxed and let it all flow over me。 The writing was just superb， the characters and the world building – just the story line was confusing – but it really did not interfere with my enjoyment at all。The world was a sort of dystopian/fantasy near future full of gated communities， recognisable – but with all the normal hierarchies out t I really enjoyed this book – though I really don’t know what was going on。 I listened the audio book， and after a short while of trying to make sense of it， I just relaxed and let it all flow over me。 The writing was just superb， the characters and the world building – just the story line was confusing – but it really did not interfere with my enjoyment at all。The world was a sort of dystopian/fantasy near future full of gated communities， recognisable – but with all the normal hierarchies out the window。 The Mafia （run by Uncle Enzo） are running a pizza delivery service with their usual criminal ruthlessness。 People live in the ‘normal’ world and online in the metaverse as avatars。 It is not always clear which world they are in as they seem to jump between seamlessly。The two main characters are the katana wielding， motorbike-riding Hiro Protagonist， and the plank-riding teenage girl courier YT。 Hiro is a computer hacker， who starts the book delivering pizzas。 He and YT meet and form an alliance – in the first instance to get a pizza delivered on time。 There is a new drug/virus called Snow Crash on the market。 It appears to target hackers and computer programmers， and may have been released by media mogul L Bob Rife in his push for world domination。 Hiro and YT investigate – want to stop it。 … “Make up your mind。 This Snow Crash thing—is it a virus， a drug， or a religion？” Juanita shrugs。 “What’s the difference？” There are many， many info dumps in this book， which some may not like。 But I loved them。 A lot were about the structure of the real world and metaverse， but later in the book were large sections on Sumerian and other religions， and ancient history – described by the online librarian to Hiro。 The Snow Crash virus has Sumerian roots， and has something to do with free abstract thought （or lack of it）。 The Tower of Babel comes into to it somewhere， and mono-theist religions with strict rules （and non-changing texts） may protect against or amplify the effects of Snow Crash – I couldn’t grasp which， but am sure it is important to know。Anyway， the cure/counter-virus for Snow Crash turns out to be the ‘nam-shub of Enki’ – what an amazing phrase！ Apparently Enki was a neurolinguistic hacker， and the first fully conscious human being。 He also lived thousands of years ago （ancient Sumeria？）， so his ability to construct a （computer） virus or counter-virus doesn’t make a lot of sense – but， hey， accept it， and wallow in how the ‘nam-shub of Enki’ sounds。The real treat in this book is the writing – so witty， sarcastic， imaginative …For example， when Hiro is fighting a Nipponese business man: “It is the kind of coarse and disappointing translation that makes the dismembered bodies of Samurai warriors spin in their graves。 The word ‘zanshin’ is larded down with a lot of other folderol that you have to be Nipponese to understand。 And Hiro thinks frankly that most of it is pseudo-mystical crap on the same level as his old high-school football coach exhorting his men to play at 110%” Or a comment on the current landscape: The people of America， who live in the world’s most surprising and terrible country， take comfort in that motto。 Follow the loglo outward， to where the growth is enfolded into the valleys and the canyons， and you find the land of the refugees。 They have fled from the true America， the America of atomic bombs， scalpings， hip-hop， chaos theory， cement overshoes， snake handlers， spree killers， space walks， buffalo jumps， drive-bys， cruise missiles， Sherman’s March， gridlock， motorcycle gangs， and bungee jumping。 They have parallel-parked their bimbo boxes in identical computer-designed Burbclave street patterns and secreted themselves in symmetrical sheetrock shitholes with vinyl floors and ill-fitting woodwork and no sidewalks， vast house farms out in the loglo wilderness， a culture medium for a medium culture。” Or on popular culture: “A television set bolted onto one wall is showing foreign cartoons， done up in a two-color scheme of faded magenta and lime green， in which a ghoulish wolf， kind of like Wile E。 Coyote with rabies， gets repeatedly executed in ways more violent than even Warner Bros。 could think up。” A minor， but eventually important character is the guard robot， Fido。 Fido is a very simple being， which is well depicted in his childlike thoughts voiced in very short basic sentences。 Fido sees himself as a “good doggie” – but YT refers to him as a Rat Thing”。 Again， I loved the substory of Fido and all the other “good doggies”， and their desire to help。 “The bark is spreading to another place far away。 All the nice doggies who live in this faraway place are being warned to look out for the very bad strangers and the girl who loves Fido … As part of Mr。 Lee’s good neighbor policy， all Rat Things are programmed never to break the sound barrier in a populated area。 But Fido’s in too much of a hurry to worry about the good neighbor policy。 Jack the sound barrier。 Bring the noise” You may have more luck that me in making sense of all this， but if you don’t – do not despair。 It still remains a masterpiece of fantasy / scifi writing。 A lengthy book – but really， really worth reading – or listening to。 The narrator does a very good job。 。。。more

Janet ，

So sad to see it end！This is one of those novels that requires an investment at the beginning and provides an incredible payoff throughout until the very end。 There are so many genres tumbled up into this one that I cannot identify a single description that would do it justice。 All I can really say is — read it！

Kay ，

Weird， fast paced look at an alternative American where the mafia controls pizza deliver， gated communities are individual city states and people are being turned into religious zombies through the internet on steroids。

Igor Radchenko ，

An incredibly smart novel that unfortunately pays for it with a lack of focus。

J ，

With certainty， I can easily say this is one of the coolest books I've ever read。 This is like Neuromancer with a sense of humor， and functions in equal parts like a parody of the cyberpunk genre and something that is in absolute awe of it。 I love the ideas it puts forward concerning the future of government and the corporatized hellscape the world will turn into， as well as all tbe crazy action， hacking shenanigans and how it all ties together with the sumerian texts and equating religion and l With certainty， I can easily say this is one of the coolest books I've ever read。 This is like Neuromancer with a sense of humor， and functions in equal parts like a parody of the cyberpunk genre and something that is in absolute awe of it。 I love the ideas it puts forward concerning the future of government and the corporatized hellscape the world will turn into， as well as all tbe crazy action， hacking shenanigans and how it all ties together with the sumerian texts and equating religion and language with a computer virus。 。。。more

Gary Koelling ，

Ugh

Michelle ，

Dystopian （still recognizable） future set in the United States。 There's a crazy power hungry guy who wants to set himself up as the new religion and he's spent a lot of time and resources to learn how to "crash" the human brain so that it falls back on its very basic of languages。 Y。T。 and Uncle Enzo were my favorite characters with their own tough somwhat questionable moral compasses still pointing in the right direction。 This one gets 4 stars because it hits true， taking as face value a world Dystopian （still recognizable） future set in the United States。 There's a crazy power hungry guy who wants to set himself up as the new religion and he's spent a lot of time and resources to learn how to "crash" the human brain so that it falls back on its very basic of languages。 Y。T。 and Uncle Enzo were my favorite characters with their own tough somwhat questionable moral compasses still pointing in the right direction。 This one gets 4 stars because it hits true， taking as face value a world where humanity just accepts what's happened to the world which is entirely what most of us do。 。。。more

Mary ，

Generally， I find that its hard to hit home with the cyberpunk genre。 But here， Neal Stephenson absolutely launched the ball out of the park。 The technological elements to the story bring such an absolute vividness that I'm afraid I'll never find something like it ever again。 As someone with a strong love for anything cyber whether that be videogames， art， or books， Snow Crash was a fresh gasp of air after being under the water for so long。 To this day， my brother and I reminisce on how great th Generally， I find that its hard to hit home with the cyberpunk genre。 But here， Neal Stephenson absolutely launched the ball out of the park。 The technological elements to the story bring such an absolute vividness that I'm afraid I'll never find something like it ever again。 As someone with a strong love for anything cyber whether that be videogames， art， or books， Snow Crash was a fresh gasp of air after being under the water for so long。 To this day， my brother and I reminisce on how great the book was。 When we wander the book store and I ask what he has in mind， he always says the same thing， "Something like Snow Crash， if there can ever be such a thing。" 。。。more

Timothy D Beckett ，

The premise of the story is pretty good but the execution of the story is juvenile at best。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Snow Crash

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Snow Crash&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Snow Crash&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0