Neal Stephenson

Sorted By: Sorting
Books in Collection: 4
Page # 1

Cryptonomicon
Neal Stephenson Eos Literature & Fiction 928
Summary: Neal Stephenson enjoys cult status among science fiction fans and techie types thanks to "Snow Crash", which so completely redefined conventional notions of the high-tech future that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. But if his cyberpunk classic was big, "Cryptonomicon" is huge... gargantuan... massive, not just in size (a hefty 918 pages including appendices) but in scope and appeal. It's the hip, readable heir to "Gravity's Rainbow" and the Illuminatus trilogy. And it's only the first of a proposed series--for more information, read our interview with Stephenson.
"Cryptonomicon" zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods--World War II and the present. Our 1940s heroes are the brilliant mathematician Lawrence Waterhouse, cryptanalyst extraordinaire, and gung ho, morphine-addicted marine Bobby Shaftoe. They're part of Detachment 2702, an Allied group trying to break Axis communication codes while simultaneously preventing the enemy from figuring out that their codes have been broken. Their job boils down to layer upon layer of deception. Dr. Alan Turing is also a member of 2702, and he explains the unit's strange workings to Waterhouse. "When we want to sink a convoy, we send out an observation plane first.... Of course, to observe is not its "real" duty--we already know exactly where the convoy is. Its "real" duty is "to be observed".... Then, when we come round and sink them, the Germans will not find it suspicious."
All of this secrecy resonates in the present-day story line, in which the grandchildren of the WWII heroes--inimitable programming geek Randy Waterhouse and the lovely and powerful Amy Shaftoe--team up to help create an offshore data haven in Southeast Asia and maybe uncover some gold once destined for Nazi coffers. To top off the paranoiac tone of the book, the mysterious Enoch Root, key member of Detachment 2702 and the "Societas Eruditorum", pops up with an unbreakable encryption scheme left over from WWII to befuddle the 1990s protagonists with conspiratorial ties.
"Cryptonomicon" is vintage Stephenson from start to finish: short on plot, but long on detail so precise it's exhausting. Every page has a math problem, a quotable in-joke, an amazing idea, or a bit of sharp prose. "Cryptonomicon" is also packed with truly weird characters, funky tech, and crypto--all the crypto you'll ever need, in fact, not to mention all the computer jargon of the moment. A word to the wise: if you read this book in one sitting, you may die of information overload (and starvation). "--Therese Littleton"


My Comments: A fictional novel about Codes and Codebreakers, which leaps back and forth between a World War II past, and the World Wide Web of today. Absolutely fantastic; a must read!

Snow Crash
Neal Stephenson Spectra Science Fiction & Fantasy 440
Summary: From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel "Snow Crash", Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, "Snow Crash" interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, "Snow Crash" is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.

My Comments: Another splendid novel by Neal Stephenson. Presenting a highly plausible view of our dark future. Rich characters, and a believable plot which reaches right into today's headlines to rip out a gripping yarn.

The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
Neal Stephenson Spectra Science Fiction & Fantasy 499
Summary: 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.

My Comments: A spectacular spellbinder. Social engineering on a grand scale.

Zodiac
Neal Stephenson Spectra Literature & Fiction 320
Summary: Believe it or not, some readers find "Zodiac" even more fun than Neal Stephenson's defining 1990s cyberpunk novel, "Snow Crash". "Zodiac" is set in Boston, and hero Sangamon Taylor (S. T.) ironically describes his hilarious exploits in the first person. S. T. is a modern superhero, a self-proclaimed Toxic Spiderman. With stealth, spunk, and the backing of GEE (a non-profit environmental group) as his weapons, S. T. chases down the bad guys with James Bond-like Zen.
Cruising Boston Harbor with lab tests and scuba gear, S. T. rides in with the ecosystem cavalry on his 40-horsepower Zodiac raft. His job of tracking down poisonous runoff and embarrassing the powerful corporations who caused them becomes more sticky than usual; run-ins with a gang of satanic rock fans, a deranged geneticist, and a mysterious PCB contamination that may or may not be man-made--plus a falling-out with his competent ("I adore stress") girlfriend--all complicate his mission.
Stephenson/S. T.'s irreverent, facetious, esprit-filled voice make this near-future tale a joy to read.


My Comments: Could make a good movie if it were pared down some.

Back to the Books Page or / the Front Page of Rob's World!.
Created using Bookpedia

Author: Robert L. Vaessen e-mail: