Book Review of the Week(ish) – Summer Reading List Edition: Week 3

Neal Stephenson is not the greatest writer in history. He may not even represent the best writer of the 21st Century. Hell, he may not even be the greatest writer of his generation. He’s flawed. Sometimes very flawed. His characters occasionally stray towards the outrageous. He’s far too clever for his own good. He tends to the pedantic, using dialogue to hide exposition he can’t find any other way to reveal. And yet, his strangely compelling sci-fi masterpiece, "Snow Crash," provided one of the most fun reads I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy in some time.

Set in the very near future, the novel follows the actions of Hiro Protagonist, computer hacker and "world’s greatest swordsman." At least in the virtual world. Protagonist, a master of the virtual world – the Metaverse in Stephenson’s work – doesn’t function near so well in Reality. He’s got girlfriend troubles, work troubles, and life troubles. Unfortunately, the work of the story’s antagonist collapses the boundaries between Metaverse and Reality, leaving our Hiro, er, hero, to stumble through sorting out who, how, why, and whether he can put it right again.

Despite occasionally wooden, expository dialogue, Stephenson shines at both imagining what the world of the early 21st century looks like (the story was written between 1988 and 1991), and skewering it at the same time, delivering an amazingly prescient satire. Among the author’s targets: suburbia, business models, franchising, the Internet, Second Life (supposedly Linden Labs wanted to recreate the Metaverse in, um, reality), religion (particularly the retail religions of televangelists), and federal policy.

I can’t guarantee you won’t roll your eyes from time to time. But you’ll keep turning the pages. And you’ll marvel at what you find on each subsequent one.