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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was written 30 years ago, when the predictions inside were just Cyberpunk. And yet, Stephenson got a lot right. The ubiquity of information, the massive corporate mergers, and the influence of those corporations over day-to-day life are just as important to the plot of this novel as the characters in it. Anyone familiar with the US in the 1980s will clearly see the influences of Reaganomics taken to the extreme in this novel, with the Gipper himself being the face on the $1 trillion bill thanks to the hyperinflation his policies resulted in. No, most of Stephenson's predictions did not come true, but so much of this book feels familiar to anyone on the internet today.
Overall, it’s a fine book if you don’t take it too seriously. The first half is wonderful, with light but effective world-building and interesting characters. The second half tries to weave a plot more complex than the book can support, and it falls off dramatically.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
I wanted to l love this book, I really did. On the one hand, Stephenson's vision of future technology is brilliantly prescient and his world-building, as always, is creative and engaging, and I enjoyed the ride for the first third of the book.
But after a while, I started to wonder when I was going to actually learn what the hell this book was about, only to suddenly be subjected to a lengthy 'exposition' (halfway through the book, mind you) in the form of an honest-to-god lecture on Sumerian mythology, Chomskyan linguistics, and...viruses. And that's when I knew this book was not going to end well.
This book ultimately suffers from a variety of issues: the pacing drags, having little to no structure; the premise, which seems promising at first, turns out to be laughably outlandish; and the final 'act' concludes with such a disappointing whimper that I was shocked that it was the real ending.
(And let's not even get into the statutory rape of a minor that's presented as a legitimately appealing sex scene...)
I'll give the book a couple of points for the short enjoyment I got riding the cyberpunk streets of Stephenson's dystopian future, but those are generous and I can't recommend this in good faith to anyone.
But after a while, I started to wonder when I was going to actually learn what the hell this book was about, only to suddenly be subjected to a lengthy 'exposition' (halfway through the book, mind you) in the form of an honest-to-god lecture on Sumerian mythology, Chomskyan linguistics, and...viruses. And that's when I knew this book was not going to end well.
This book ultimately suffers from a variety of issues: the pacing drags, having little to no structure; the premise, which seems promising at first, turns out to be laughably outlandish; and the final 'act' concludes with such a disappointing whimper that I was shocked that it was the real ending.
(And let's not even get into the statutory rape of a minor that's presented as a legitimately appealing sex scene...)
I'll give the book a couple of points for the short enjoyment I got riding the cyberpunk streets of Stephenson's dystopian future, but those are generous and I can't recommend this in good faith to anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Rape
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It baffles me how someone could write a fart joke for 438 pages.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I don't like science fiction, but I enjoyed this one. A cool world that is strikingly similar to what's going on today with some Sumerian mythology thrown in. A fairly complex book: I would compare him to an easier to read Pynchon (as others already have) as well as Tom Robbins and maybe Harlan Ellison. You'll have to turn to someone else for the sci-fi comparisons.
slow-paced
A meticulous, thoughtful reviewer might deduct a star for the ending and for the clunky librarian exposition, but I'm more the slipshod, effusive type and the book was just way too much fun to second guess.