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aconnors12's review against another edition
2.0
***Did Not Finish***
Didn’t know what I was expecting from a book about the Metaverse from the 90s. I thought maybe I’d give it a shot. Maybe it would be nice to see what someone thought the Metaverse was and what it is today.
This book did not age well.
I made it through roughly 60 pages, fighting to give this book a chance after a couple off the cuff racial generalizations of made up countries and the frivlous tossing of the R-word. (It was the 90s, sure.) I even was willing to overlook for a few chapters the terrible Thesaurus like word dropping of random big letter adjectives mixed with lazy made up languages like “Taxilinga” the language of Taxi drivers. So much exposition and yet I still knew nothing of the world. Then I read through part of the Metaverse that was essentially a white supremacist community and that was a bit of a flag there.
Really what came down to it was that this protagonist was like every single twitch gamer bro that thought he was better than everyone else and “pwned” everyone that I grew up with and to this day know exist.
The only reason I didn’t give it 1 star is that for a book in the 90s, it does show virtual reality in a very similar light to what we see with the internet today.
Didn’t know what I was expecting from a book about the Metaverse from the 90s. I thought maybe I’d give it a shot. Maybe it would be nice to see what someone thought the Metaverse was and what it is today.
This book did not age well.
I made it through roughly 60 pages, fighting to give this book a chance after a couple off the cuff racial generalizations of made up countries and the frivlous tossing of the R-word. (It was the 90s, sure.) I even was willing to overlook for a few chapters the terrible Thesaurus like word dropping of random big letter adjectives mixed with lazy made up languages like “Taxilinga” the language of Taxi drivers. So much exposition and yet I still knew nothing of the world. Then I read through part of the Metaverse that was essentially a white supremacist community and that was a bit of a flag there.
Really what came down to it was that this protagonist was like every single twitch gamer bro that thought he was better than everyone else and “pwned” everyone that I grew up with and to this day know exist.
The only reason I didn’t give it 1 star is that for a book in the 90s, it does show virtual reality in a very similar light to what we see with the internet today.
6_am_hotdog's review
adventurous
funny
fast-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
1.25
Holy shit this was bad.
jamo_etc's review against another edition
Maybe Neal Stephenson is not for me. Guy sure has some thoughts on religion and race.
bianchini_arthur's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, this book, being written in 1992, is absolutely crazy!
From what I understood, he coined the term Metaverse, which is widely used nowadays (2023 -2024), and got many cyberpunk futuristic ideas kind of right. I expect we will see people connected to the metaverse using goggles and walking on the street like "gargoyles" soon.
I did not like that much the amount of world-building, and sometimes it was not as gripping as expected, so I would give 3.8 for this book.
Obs: For a non-English native speaker, it was a bit hard; even though I read many books in english, there were a lot of new words for me.
From what I understood, he coined the term Metaverse, which is widely used nowadays (2023 -2024), and got many cyberpunk futuristic ideas kind of right. I expect we will see people connected to the metaverse using goggles and walking on the street like "gargoyles" soon.
I did not like that much the amount of world-building, and sometimes it was not as gripping as expected, so I would give 3.8 for this book.
Obs: For a non-English native speaker, it was a bit hard; even though I read many books in english, there were a lot of new words for me.
allie_rose's review against another edition
4.25
Fast paced (to its own confusing detriment sometimes) but also fits the tone of this richly detailed and fascinating world. Loved the sociopolitical commentaries
hollandvk's review
4.0
It's like entering the absurd world of Tom Robbins, but at a point in the not-too-distant future. This novel explores franchises, religion, technology and more. Hiro Protagonist is ridiculously talented and Y.T. is never without spunk. Definitely a worthwhile read.
katieinca's review
4.0
Mostly loved. Didn't love the long explainy bits. Without which, I realize, the plot would make no sense. I need to go back and reread Diamond Age now, don't I?
zechms's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
fiiidget's review
I got like two pages in before my eyes rolled so hard I became illiterate.