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posatahchips's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
what can i even say about this book. reading it for the first time as an adult in 2024 was an absurd experience. i've never left so many notes that are just "[NAME OF AUTHOR IN ALL CAPS]?????". a lot of the concepts & even a lot of the writing is pretty great, in a way where i immediately understand its outsized influence on the genre, & it's also like... cartoonishly, jaw-droppingly racist. my brain kept trying to automatically tell me it was written ten or twenty years earlier, which still wouldn't excuse it, but would be less baffling. not even going to touch on everything going on with the sexualisation of a fifteen-year-old girl (who could have easily been a few years older with essentially no change).
the further i got into the book, the more the scales tipped, too. a lot of the strength of concept & writing is very front-loaded, & the more the wheels fall off, the more it's like, "why am i reading this???" somehow, it has the oddly distinct feeling of being, like, serially written-- like fanfiction that gets written & posted chapter by chapter, without a lot of structural editing to pull the whole thing together.
the part of me that loves pulp-y sci-fi trash can totally ride with the tonal whiplash & dissolving plot, but between the bigotry & the MULTIPLE CHAPTERS that are just dialogued christian atheist conspiracy loredumps & the bigotry (naming it again because oh my god), my patience definitely... waned. but, you know, i was warned multiple times by more than a handful of people who said they were glad they read it before they knew better, sooo can't say i shouldn't have seen it coming, lmao
the further i got into the book, the more the scales tipped, too. a lot of the strength of concept & writing is very front-loaded, & the more the wheels fall off, the more it's like, "why am i reading this???" somehow, it has the oddly distinct feeling of being, like, serially written-- like fanfiction that gets written & posted chapter by chapter, without a lot of structural editing to pull the whole thing together.
the part of me that loves pulp-y sci-fi trash can totally ride with the tonal whiplash & dissolving plot, but between the bigotry & the MULTIPLE CHAPTERS that are just dialogued christian atheist conspiracy loredumps & the bigotry (naming it again because oh my god), my patience definitely... waned. but, you know, i was warned multiple times by more than a handful of people who said they were glad they read it before they knew better, sooo can't say i shouldn't have seen it coming, lmao
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Ableism
cattit00d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Drug use, Rape, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia
erikwmj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Homophobia, Addiction, and Racism
Minor: War, Gun violence, and Gore
strawberrypinch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, War, Death, Police brutality, Classism, Drug use, Cursing, and Drug abuse
Minor: Sexism, Genocide, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Rape
queergoth_reads's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Prefacing this review with the face that I read this for a book club and would never have picked it myself.
I really dislike this. I know it was written in the 90s and there should be some leeway for things but this book aged very poorly. It feels like a self indulgent, self insert. The orientalism is very strong and it made me so uncomfortable. It felt like maybe it wanted to try and be satire but I didn't get that. It just felt racist, misogynistic and ableist.
There was absolutely no reason Y.T. needed to be 15 other than to fit some creepy fantasy.
I read somewhere that is was recommended reading a tech company and honestly when this is what people in stem have been hailing at the holy grail, it's no wonder there is so little empathy and diversity (I say this as someone in a stem career).
I will say some of the ideas we cool but the execution was all over the place.
I really dislike this. I know it was written in the 90s and there should be some leeway for things but this book aged very poorly. It feels like a self indulgent, self insert. The orientalism is very strong and it made me so uncomfortable. It felt like maybe it wanted to try and be satire but I didn't get that. It just felt racist, misogynistic and ableist.
There was absolutely no reason Y.T. needed to be 15 other than to fit some creepy fantasy.
I read somewhere that is was recommended reading a tech company and honestly when this is what people in stem have been hailing at the holy grail, it's no wonder there is so little empathy and diversity (I say this as someone in a stem career).
I will say some of the ideas we cool but the execution was all over the place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Racial slurs, Fatphobia, and Ableism
bites_of_books's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
I wanted to like this book much more but there were simply too many things that didn't do it for me.
The first couple of chapters I really enjoyed. As Stephenson described this futuristic world where corporations are the leaders of the world and where it is better to work for the Mafia than to get an education and try to have a traditional job, I could see how our world could end up like this in a couple of decades. The idea of the Metaverse was also very promising and interesting but unfortunately that never really took off.
Once Stephenson started to try to add too much logic to this futuristic, sci-fi world, it started to fall apart for me. There were chapters where one of the protagonists (called Hiro Protagonist ha) is basically getting a lecture from an AI about religious history, linguistics, and anthropology. Which are very interesting on their own but basically took me way out of the story and made my logic mind show up and be like "this makes zero sense." Then, in the next chapter we are back into exploring more of the ways that this corporation-led world is messed up and following (or trying to follow) the ways that our main characters are trying to solve the mystery of a virus that is affecting hackers but is also a drug in the real world... There's definitely mystery and intrigue but I ended up just wanting to know what was going to happen in order to be done with the book once and for all without really caring much about the main characters.
I am mostly frustrated because Stephenson has some great ideas, some really promising characters, and it all just ended up going nowhere for me. Like Y.T. was a super interesting character, a 15 year old girl who is super independent and wants to live her own life and not follow in her mother's footsteps as a government worker. Meanwhile she's just a means to an end and like that's it? Zero character development for anyone here. Oh and another super interesting character was Ng, a man who is paralyzed and heads one of the best security systems and rides around in a car that's been adapted so he can use it as a wheelchair/transportation/apartment/storage of very cool weapon system. His character was probably the best one who had clear intentions and purpose and I wish we'd had more of him throughout the book (he would have been a great main character!)
So disappointing... I'm not sure I'd want to try another of Stephenson's works, but who knows, maybe if he's done something a bit more cohesive and less all over the place I'll give it a shot.
The first couple of chapters I really enjoyed. As Stephenson described this futuristic world where corporations are the leaders of the world and where it is better to work for the Mafia than to get an education and try to have a traditional job, I could see how our world could end up like this in a couple of decades. The idea of the Metaverse was also very promising and interesting but unfortunately that never really took off.
Once Stephenson started to try to add too much logic to this futuristic, sci-fi world, it started to fall apart for me. There were chapters where one of the protagonists (called Hiro Protagonist ha) is basically getting a lecture from an AI about religious history, linguistics, and anthropology. Which are very interesting on their own but basically took me way out of the story and made my logic mind show up and be like "this makes zero sense." Then, in the next chapter we are back into exploring more of the ways that this corporation-led world is messed up and following (or trying to follow) the ways that our main characters are trying to solve the mystery of a virus that is affecting hackers but is also a drug in the real world... There's definitely mystery and intrigue but I ended up just wanting to know what was going to happen in order to be done with the book once and for all without really caring much about the main characters.
I am mostly frustrated because Stephenson has some great ideas, some really promising characters, and it all just ended up going nowhere for me. Like Y.T. was a super interesting character, a 15 year old girl who is super independent and wants to live her own life and not follow in her mother's footsteps as a government worker. Meanwhile she's just a means to an end and like that's it? Zero character development for anyone here. Oh and another super interesting character was Ng, a man who is paralyzed and heads one of the best security systems and rides around in a car that's been adapted so he can use it as a wheelchair/transportation/apartment/storage of very cool weapon system. His character was probably the best one who had clear intentions and purpose and I wish we'd had more of him throughout the book (he would have been a great main character!)
So disappointing... I'm not sure I'd want to try another of Stephenson's works, but who knows, maybe if he's done something a bit more cohesive and less all over the place I'll give it a shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Classism, Drug use, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual content
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
SNOW CRASH is a cyberpunk fantasy starts with a high-stakes pizza delivery and ends with some cool explosives, taking a path that leads through many burbclaves, at least one cult, and a lot of exposition that relies on fascinations explanations of ancient Sumer to discuss a computer virus that's messing up brains.
It's using and remixing available stereotypes to their limit to create cartoonishly distilled essences that allow for quick action in the partitioned but not wholly divided setting. There are stark boundary lines all over the place, governing laws, behavior, and life-or-death stakes for everyone within these borders, lit by each Franchise's signage and governed by their franchisee manuals. Where the grooves of life are so well worn around most denizens that they barely notice a disturbance to their routines, unless they’re the protagonist, Hiro Protagonist or perhaps the Kourier Y.T. There's a franchise for most things, and some of those things are racism. There's some fatphobia and scattered ableist language which seem to be regular levels of bigotry instead of forming the kind of pointed social commentary which underpins and incorporates the other -isms.
Hiro’s biracial identity (Black/Japanese) matters to the story and exists for more than the surface-level excuse to name the main character “hero protagonist” with alternate spelling. There are several moments where he figures out things based on how someone reacts (or doesn’t) to his appearance and background.
Y.T. isn't as introspective as Hiro, but she gets a decent amount of focus and her perspective is integral to the story, both as an active agent and as an observer with a very different point of view from Hiro, a non-hacker one.
As a cultural artifact, this feels more prescient than it perhaps has a right to be because a lot of people have tried to make things more like the world imagined here, and that's not always a good thing. Reading it now is strange because even something like the word "avatar" as a representation of one's physical self in a digital context was popularized by this book and so it doesn't feel new, though it was at the time.
It's using and remixing available stereotypes to their limit to create cartoonishly distilled essences that allow for quick action in the partitioned but not wholly divided setting. There are stark boundary lines all over the place, governing laws, behavior, and life-or-death stakes for everyone within these borders, lit by each Franchise's signage and governed by their franchisee manuals. Where the grooves of life are so well worn around most denizens that they barely notice a disturbance to their routines, unless they’re the protagonist, Hiro Protagonist or perhaps the Kourier Y.T. There's a franchise for most things, and some of those things are racism. There's some fatphobia and scattered ableist language which seem to be regular levels of bigotry instead of forming the kind of pointed social commentary which underpins and incorporates the other -isms.
Hiro’s biracial identity (Black/Japanese) matters to the story and exists for more than the surface-level excuse to name the main character “hero protagonist” with alternate spelling. There are several moments where he figures out things based on how someone reacts (or doesn’t) to his appearance and background.
Y.T. isn't as introspective as Hiro, but she gets a decent amount of focus and her perspective is integral to the story, both as an active agent and as an observer with a very different point of view from Hiro, a non-hacker one.
As a cultural artifact, this feels more prescient than it perhaps has a right to be because a lot of people have tried to make things more like the world imagined here, and that's not always a good thing. Reading it now is strange because even something like the word "avatar" as a representation of one's physical self in a digital context was popularized by this book and so it doesn't feel new, though it was at the time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Animal death
Minor: Pregnancy and Excrement
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