About a year ago I started digging back into science fiction reading. I wanted to spend some time getting back into something I had really enjoyed when I was younger. As a goal I decided to start reading Hugo Award winning books. In the last year I have read a number of great science fiction novels from a variety of sub-generas, but none have taken hold of my imagination like the works of Neal Stephenson.
About 6 months ago I picked up The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. I had read an article about a reprinting of The Diamond Age which made the book sound fascinating, and it was a Hugo winner so it fit into my reading list. Upon getting about 20 pages in, I thought nothing was further from the truth. I wanted to put the book down and never see it again. The story was confusing; it was being told from the perspective of about 7 different people most of whom didn’t interact with each other. A coworker that had read the book some years before recommend I read to page 100, and if I still didn’t like it that I should quit. By the time I got to page 100 I was enthralled with the book. The depth in which Mr. Stephenson had researched numerous cultures and technologies was amazing, the characters he portrayed were multi-layered and real, and the various plots he was carefully weaving from multiple starting points had hints of dovetailing into something marvelous. By the end of the book I was eagerly waiting for something fantastic, and the book did not disappoint.
It was with this experience that I purchased Snow Crash. The publishing of Snow Crash predates that of the The Diamond Age by 3 years. Snow Crash had apparently been the break through book for Stephenson back in the early 90s. I dove right in. This time I knew that the plot might be disorienting and splintered at first, but that I should pay attention and stick to it. Snow Crash did not let me down. Again I was impressed with the level or research Stephenson must have done in religion, ancient cultures, technology and various other subjects. The characters and locations were futuristic yet real. I found myself cheering for the Protagonist in the book (capitalized because that was his name) and his side-kick (which is what he referrers to her as). The book has a wonder self-referential feel that one usually see from more mature, already-confident-from-their-success authors. Stephenson knew what his world was, knew who his characters were, and knew what happened to them. The book was a tour de force with no apologies. When it ended I wished for a sequel which Stephenson has not written and probably will not.
I settled for the next best thing: I ordered a couple more Neal Stephenson book. I have just cracked into my 3rd of his books, and am just now at that threshold where his initial introduction of characters is starting to turn to coherent plot. Now I cannot believe that I ever disliked this style of writing.
I would highly recommend both The Diamond Age and Snow Crash to anyone looking for hard science fiction. They are both well written, seem (for the most part) technically accurate, and will leave your mind racing after you are done.
Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and Cryptanomicon are all awesome. Cryptanomicon was his first big novel away from pure sf, but hits home. I couldn’t get into his newer material, The Baroque Cycle, and haven’t read any of his works since then.