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iandependable's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
It was crazy to see so many analogs to current day there were. Sure the descriptions of the tech are a little outdated but it was a very believable world. My only issue is there were some pretty big unresolved questions that I feel like were just brought up and then forgotten about.
raj_8102018's review against another edition
4.0
My first novel in the cyberpunk genre. The plot includes metaverse, a neurolinguistic virus and a hacker named Hiro Protagonist. Although the sci-fi concepts made it very interesting, I couldn't invest in it to the extent I thought I would. It took a while for the plot to pick up the pace and move into an engaging narrative. The Matrix, Ready Player One, Free Guy, Cyberpunk 2077, Ender's Game and now I add Snow Crash to my list. This counts to my thought of how engaging too much in the digital realm constitutes an addiction. The addiction that takes us away from reality. People are so invested in social media exchanges even when they can perceive neither the intention nor the emotion behind the white screen. I see any futuristic reality set up in these books only leading to a dystopian future if it were to happen. However, Snow Crash has been quite a good experience, not great but good.
eleeeeleelee's review against another edition
slow-paced
0.5
To put it mildly, this book sucks ass. The writing is shit- between the poor pacing, weak character work, and both (somehow) over AND underdevelopment of the world- this book was hard to get through. Also I know it was published 32 years ago, but the undertones of sexism are hard to ignore- pair that with the extreme overtones of racism that appear to be so overt the author acts like it’s a tongue in cheek “self aware joke” that doesn’t land and is awful to read- and pair THAT with the aggressive homophobia that seems to just be there for kicks…. And then pair THAT!! With the fact that a child is literally r*ped by an adult who kidnaps her and the twist is that she’s into it and it’s important to the plot that she’s so into it she forgets about her own anti r*pe gear that takes him down????? Like what the actual fuck did I just read???? Throw it out throw the whole thing out. The fact that this is 550 pages when there is maybe 250 of relevant plot…. I don’t care that it’s a cool concept for a book- the execution sucks.
thinkspink's review against another edition
3.0
I had never read it, so finally I picked it up. And I liked some parts of this a lot - some of the predictions are so on the money it's unreal. And then there are some parts that dragged for me. I do think if I had read it at the time I would have loved it.
cpeters2384's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.75
basharria's review against another edition
3.0
Exposition heavy and somewhat dated, with a few brow-raising moments that put me off. The setting and the characters are quite enjoyable however.
writings_of_a_reader's review against another edition
This was our book club read for February and I tried but didn't get very far into it. Right off the bat the writing style annoyed me. Why drop the first word off your sentences? This was just not what I was expecting and just not for me.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince.
Not one person in the book club liked this book. I think we all may have just zeroed in on that opening line in the book's description and thought it sounded interesting. Personally I know I would rather the book had just stuck with the Pizza mafia theme - it sounded kind of kooky and fun. Instead the whole premise ended up being way too unbelievable even for a fantasy/sci-fi type book.
I ended up getting all the spoilers from my friend so I wouldn't have to finish the book. I have to add that I have an issue with the way a 15 year old girl is portrayed in the book. Needless to say, this was a disappointing read.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince.
Not one person in the book club liked this book. I think we all may have just zeroed in on that opening line in the book's description and thought it sounded interesting. Personally I know I would rather the book had just stuck with the Pizza mafia theme - it sounded kind of kooky and fun. Instead the whole premise ended up being way too unbelievable even for a fantasy/sci-fi type book.
I ended up getting all the spoilers from my friend so I wouldn't have to finish the book. I have to add that I have an issue with the way a 15 year old girl is portrayed in the book. Needless to say, this was a disappointing read.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
rottedroot's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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