Reviews

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

suvata's review

Continuing my TBR project:
This is one the oldest selection on my TBR list - Originally added February 7, 2015.

Apparently, I’m not a big fan of cyberpunk!

zandeaux's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A retro look at the future of VR under 1992’s lens of video tapes and CRT technology. 

Time spent in the Metaverse itself is sparse, but fun.

YT’s perspective is always fast-paced and enjoyable; Hiro’s pace is mostly fine but crashes to a halt with massive info dumps when talking with The Librarian.

Overall, the pace redeems itself, bringing the score from a 3.75 when slogging through The Librarian, to a 4.0 overall.

libraryam's review

2.0

DNF. Man, did I want to like this because it should’ve been my jam. However, it was just too beat-you-over-the-head, how-many-nerd-cards-can-I-play in one story?, are we there yet?”, for me.

And I was a huge LOST fan so I think my narrative patience is pretty strong.

manowar666's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

j3r3's review

4.0

Great read

Fascinating world and very nerdy a book that i didnt want to put down. A great story that kept me engaged and excited to find out what happens next.

dontthink2x's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

It was a rough read for me - I was not really into all the religion, babble and virus stuff. It dragged on and often did not explain WHY characters were doing what they were. Cool premise and world-building, though. 

malenfant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

libellum_aphrodite's review

3.0

I had an uncertain start with this book, the pizza empire and burbclave dystopia not really doing it for me, but then fell in deep with linguistic viruses, nam-shubs, and biblical reworkings. I was hooked right up until Hiro went on his re-explain-the-whole book rant, which wasted many pages and didn't even explain all the odd-ends. Between the very high upsides and very low downsides, the book averages out to a three for me.

**spoilers**

The Good: The Metaverse. The Snow Crash virus. Interesting economic landscape. me, nam-shubs, Sumeria, and the Tower of Babble. The Rat Thing's heartwarming ending.

The Bad: Hiro's giant restating of the book. Y.T. in general. The pizza mafia. Lackluster ending with the raf. Rife, the mediocre villain.

The Ugly: Raven and Y.T.'s fling. Eiw.

tarawe's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It was my first introduction into Stephenson's writing and was very example of his style. I look forward to reading more from him.

teal_owl's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5