Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Diamond Age

4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 · rating details · 32,965 ratings · 1,642 reviews

The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a science fiction coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial inte...more

Paperback, Trade Reissue, 499 pages

Published May 2nd 2000 by Spectra (first published 1995)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

40th out of 2,947 books — 12,433 voters

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Best of Cyberpunk

3rd out of 143 books — 518 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 04, 2013 Clouds - (¿head-in-the?) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-stand-alone, locus-sci-fi, hugo, science-fiction, 5-star, reviewed

Christmas 2010: I realised that I had got stuck in a rut. I was re-reading old favourites again and again, waiting for a few trusted authors to release new works. Something had to be done.

On the spur of the moment I set myself a challenge, to read every book to have won the Locus Sci-Fi award. That’s 35 books, 6 of which I’d previously read, leaving 29 titles by 14 authors who were new to me.

While working through this reading list I got married, went on my honeymoon, switched career and became...more

28 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I get the feeling that Stephenson's writing process goes something like this:

Hey, I found a really cool idea here. I wonder what I can do about it....

He then writes about 200 pages of really awesome, meticulous world-building, with innovative ideas about, in the case of this book, the possibly uses of nanotechnology and its eventual social ramifications, and then goes, Oh, damn, I'm writing a story, and high-tails it to the end of the book, leaving the reader a little wind-blown and confused. It...more I get the feeling that Stephenson's writing process goes something like this:

Hey, I found a really cool idea here. I wonder what I can do about it....

He then writes about 200 pages of really awesome, meticulous world-building, with innovative ideas about, in the case of this book, the possibly uses of nanotechnology and its eventual social ramifications, and then goes, Oh, damn, I'm writing a story, and high-tails it to the end of the book, leaving the reader a little wind-blown and confused. It happened in Snow Crash, where he was playing with the origins of language and the fundamental functioning of the human mind. It happened in Cryptonomicon, where he dove into the murky waters of cryptography and brought up brilliant gems, and it happened here, too.

The Diamond Age is, fundamentally, about what would happen, or what might happen, if we really got nanotechnology working properly. How would society adapt if, suddenly, government became obsolete? With the Feed and the Matter Compilers able to create anything out of nothing, the entire economic and political underpinnings of the planet came undone, and people banded together into phyles. Like-minded individuals bonded with each other through shared values and morality, united only by a commonly upheld treaty which, in turn, rested on the new economy that nanotechnology allowed.

Within one of the phyles, the Neo-Victorians, one of the more highly-placed Lords realized what was wrong with the world. The problem wasn't the corruption of values of which the old always accuse the young - indeed it was that those values were passed on too well. Children did not elect to join their phyles, they were indoctrinated into them from birth, which made them, well, boring.

And so Lord Finkle-McGraw commissioned a great work - The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer to guide his granddaughter to a more interesting life. And had that been all that happened, the story would have been short. But two other copes of the Primer were made - one for the daughter of the book's designer, and another that fell into the hands of Nell, a young girl born into poverty and otherwise destined to lead a life of misery and sorrow.

The Primer is a smart book, fully interactive, able to teach reading, science, history and martial arts, among other things. And what it teaches little Nell is how to be great.

All of this is quite awesome - there's a great hunt for the Primer, plans within plans and all that. And then, suddenly, a new plot about a technology to supplant the Feed and some kind of Chinese revolution and the whole book runs off the rails.

I know a lot of people love Neal Stephenson, and I can understand why. He's an incomparably imaginative man, who is able to find ways to express ideas that some of us couldn't even imagine. He's an heir to the world of that William Gibson and his contemporaries pioneered. He creates captivating worlds and characters and problems without simple solutions.

He just keeps bollixing up the endings. Seriously, it's like a whole different story kicks in around page 250. I'm willing to read more of his works, though, in the hope that he's getting his act together....(less)

110 likes · like · see review

Jun 23, 2010 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, here's what this Stephenson guy did with his novel. He got together a focus group of 25 unpaid, thirteen year old boys and made them puke out as many buzz words in 10 minutes that they could about science fiction. The buzz words had to be something that would palliate the hyperactive endocrine glands of 13 year old males. Stephenson then roiled together this mess with a rag mop and wrung it into a bucket called The Diamond Age: Or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.

To give you a thin sample...more

17 likes · like · see review

Nov 10, 2010 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk, steampunk-month, adventure, epic, cyber-punk, favorites

Is it possible to feel nostalgia for a place in the future? The crowded, multi-factioned, multi-leveled city of Shanghai and nearby Pudong made me miss my hometown terribly. Stephenson's descriptions of brightly lit Nanjing Road and small, dim, alleys of hawkers was so spot on. The mix of high technology, the sophisticated neo-Victorians, and the Confuscians made a confusing but ultimately satisfying story.

I came to The Diamond Age with a vague idea of what the book was about. Like previous stea...more

22 likes · like · see review

Jun 04, 2008 Miss Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Miss Michael by: James

Stephenson is undoubtedly a good writer. I feel as though that's a trite thing to say, but I'm not talking about the overall story, I'm talking about the way each sentence is crafted. Also, I felt the need to read the book with a dictionary next to me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I suppose. As far as the overall story, there's a lot to like, plenty of varied characters, several story lines that are more closely woven than one might originally think, and plenty of action. There's a kind...more

9 likes · like · see review

Dec 29, 2007 Vassilissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sff

I gulped down the 500 pages in four days, and it was not an easy read. I admit ruefully that Stephenson's vocabulary is better than mine. I feel like this book demands analysis, and I don't know enough to provide it. All I could do is count heads and make remarks about the colour and gender and fate of each major character. Which, OK, is worth doing, but it's 3:42am and I've been reading since about 8pm, so forgive me if I don't open it up again just now.

I want a primer.

I also want more about Dr...more

20 likes · like · see review

Sep 19, 2007 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

First half of the book gets 4 stars; the second half gets 2 stars. Average = 3 stars.

I really liked the first half of the book. His description of technology is wonderful, and the relationship between Nell and the Primer are quite captivating. Much to my dismay, the book fell apart at the end. Characters are disposed quite expediently, conflict is introduced with little or no explanation, very illogical events occur, and then the book stops. If I could give different ratings to both half of the...more

14 likes · like · see review

Jan 13, 2012 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: steampunk/nanotech fans

Shelves: due-for-re-read

I bought a used copy of The Diamond Age : Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer in March, after having read & very much enjoyed Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash. Oddly enough, Stephenson's books seem to be summer reading for me, or at least that's how it works out.

As usual, Stephenson drops us into the middle of the story, with little explicit explanation of what's going on. John Percival Hackworth, neo-Victorian nano-engineer (makes perfect sense in the novel!) is putting the finishing touches...more I bought a used copy of The Diamond Age : Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer in March, after having read & very much enjoyed Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash. Oddly enough, Stephenson's books seem to be summer reading for me, or at least that's how it works out.

As usual, Stephenson drops us into the middle of the story, with little explicit explanation of what's going on. John Percival Hackworth, neo-Victorian nano-engineer (makes perfect sense in the novel!) is putting the finishing touches on the primer of the title; a wholly remarkable supercomputer designed to teach through stories *. It was commissioned by one of the Equity Lords of the region for his granddaughter; however, John decides to make a copy for his own daughter. Things get complicated when Dr. X, a grey market entrepreneur who John enlists to make the copy, decides that the book will assist in a project of his own. Along the way, the original copy ends up in the hands of Nell, a child from a dysfunctional, low class family with very little hope for the future... at least other than what the book provides. She becomes the main character of the story, with her adventures, both real & fictional providing the impetus for the plot.

The parallel stories of Nell, John and Dr. X, and the book itself (telling stories that tie nicely into the current events, at times) weave around and through one another, spanning a period of about a decade. The clave environment will look familiar to readers of Snow Crash - and the concept of the neo-Victorians is explored to a satisfying depth. Stephenson has put a great deal of thought into this environment, and it shows; however, he rarely fails to provide enough detail for new readers to catch on quickly. The technology could easily overwhelm the plot, but Stephenson manages to keep it under control throughout the threads of the story, whose pace speeds up considerably at the end, almost as if he realized he had a lot of plot points to wrap up; this seems to be a minor flaw of his work, IMHO.

Recommended to fans of more positive uses of nanotech & those intrigued by the ideas of culturally based (vs geographical) nations.

* - I'm now torn between wanting a copy of the Primer vs the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!
(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 25, 2012 Tfitoby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

If Snow Crash was so good that cyberpunk went in to a coma, The Diamond Age effectively pulled the plug.

Much like seemingly everyone else I loved the first part of this book and felt that the second part didn't quite live up to the same extremely high standard.

Aside from the literary death of cyberpunk when Bud (a character that I'm sure we've all read about many times before but still want to know his story in this instance) is the victim of Confuscian capital punishment and the data transfer i...more

13 likes · like · see review

Jun 08, 2012 Ken-ichi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, escape

Welcome to Stephensonland! Wait, sir? Sir? Yes you. I'm afraid you'll have to check your need for believable characters with me. Here's a numerical token you can use to reclaim it at the end of the day. Oh, and hold on. Is that an expectation of coherent plotting in your back pocket? I'm afraid those are also disallowed in Stephensonland. It'll be perfectly safe here behind the counter. Now, here's your complementary CS patch. That's right, it's very similar, except instead of nicotine, this wil...more

10 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Mike Reiring rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is the novel that, along with Snow Crash, put Neal Stephenson on the map in the mid 90's. Stephenson has since written a string of imaginative, thought provoking books that all touch on some aspect of the nature of information and it's movement. While it's never stated, Diamond Age seems to be set about 50 - 75 years after Snow Crash.

The first part of the title is a reference to the names that anthropologists and historians use to describe th...more The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is the novel that, along with Snow Crash, put Neal Stephenson on the map in the mid 90's. Stephenson has since written a string of imaginative, thought provoking books that all touch on some aspect of the nature of information and it's movement. While it's never stated, Diamond Age seems to be set about 50 - 75 years after Snow Crash.

The first part of the title is a reference to the names that anthropologists and historians use to describe the technological ages of humans: Stone Age, Bronze Age, etc. Some believe that we will one day have the ability to create objects and devices at the atomic level. One result of this might be the ability to synthesize carbon based objects which use the crystalline structure of diamonds. This may yield materials that might be, among other properties, extremely light and rigid. Hence, the Diamond Age.

Like the other his works, Stephenson touches on a wide variety of subjects. The future according to Stephenson includes the perfection of nanotechnology, obsolescence of nation-states, distributed consciousness, and an emphasis of culture over ethnicity.

Set in this world is the story of John Hackworth, a leading nanotech engineer, and Nell, a young girl of humble birth. Hackworth is commissioned to create the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, a futuristic book which is capable of tailoring its content to the reader's interests and abilities. Nell's life is changed dramatically when her brother gives her the primer after mugging Hackworth and stealing a copy of the Primer.

Diamond Age was not an easy book to get into initially. I read the book over the course of two months, with other reading interspersed. I never really lost interest, but it took awhile before the book really grabbed me. Stephenson writes with a focus on narrative. There is relatively little dialog, and the characters are not as fully developed as some might like. In spite of these things, the book is well worth the effort. The stories of Hackworth and Nell are compelling, and the vision of the future put forth is like nothing I've ever read. Unlike most science fiction, Diamond Age and Snow Crash contain a future world that could believably exist in our lifetime.(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 30, 2013 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of Neuromancer

Shelves: iownthis, technology, scifi

I originally read this book in May 2008. Here is my review from then:

I liked the first half of this book better, when it was still just "here are a lot of new ideas!" and wasn't concerned with tying up the plot. But it was still really great.

I really, really heart Neal Stephenson. He writes the most likable characters I have ever read. Hackworth is a Waterhouse, of course, and he can't ever seem to come up with more than one kickass female per book (I barely count Miranda, since she was in the...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Thermalsatsuma rated it 5 of 5 stars

If 'Snow Crash' was the definitive cyberpunk book, then 'The Diamond Age or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer' is the last word on that particular genre. It's nominally set in the same world as the earlier book and shares some of the geo-political background. Nation states are an outdated concept, and now people are grouped into phyles by a common culture or other affiliation. Three major world views are uneasy neighbours - the neo Victorians of New Atlantis with their mannered stoicism and care...more If 'Snow Crash' was the definitive cyberpunk book, then 'The Diamond Age or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer' is the last word on that particular genre. It's nominally set in the same world as the earlier book and shares some of the geo-political background. Nation states are an outdated concept, and now people are grouped into phyles by a common culture or other affiliation. Three major world views are uneasy neighbours - the neo Victorians of New Atlantis with their mannered stoicism and carefully managed hypocrisy sit alongside the Confucianism of the Han Chinese and the Nipponese.

The plot centres around a peculiar book commissioned by Lord Alexander Chung-Sik Finkle McGraw as a present for his grand-daughter, designed and built by the nano engineer John Percival Hackworth who steals a copy of book for his own daughter, which as a result of a street robbery then falls into the hands of Nell, a young girl living in wretched circumstances in the leased territory of a future Shanghai. The book has been designed as a fully interactive education for a young lady from the age of five or six through to adolescence as a subversive alternative to the stifling conformity of the Neo Victorian system. Nell's education over the course of many years, including insights into subjects starting with self defence, history, nano engineering and finally the limits of artificial intelligence (or pseudo intelligence as Hackworth defines it) of Turing machines, has far reaching and startling consequences.

I particularly enjoyed the segments of the book told from the viewpoint of the protagonist of the Primer - Princess Nell and her companions Dinosaur, Duck, Peter Rabbit and Purple who are based on the few toys owned by the Nell of the real world. The self defence taught by Dojo the mouse and Princess Nell's slow unravelling of the relentless logic of Castle Turing are the high points.

If the book has any failings, it is the rather abrupt and rushed ending which leaves many things open and unresolved, although in retrospect the consequences of a world profoundly changed are thought provoking indeed.

(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2008 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jonathan by: Someone on Myspace

Shelves: science-fiction

"The Vickys have an elaborate code of morals and conduct. It grew out of the moral squalor of an earlier generation, just as the original Victorians were preceded by the Georgians and the Regency. The old guard believe in that code because they came to it the hard way. They raise their children to believe in that code – but their children believe it for entirely different reasons."

"They believe it," the Constable said, "because they have been indoctrinated to believe it."

"Yes. Some of them never...more

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 23, 2010 Ron rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, apochalypse

A well-conceived near future dys/utopia with interesting characters. What's not to like? The clunky writing. Stephenson needs to take a basic writing course. He obviously worked hard to fine just the right vocabulary to express the social and scientific aspects of his world, but ruined it with high school prose.

The climax was especially unsatisfying as the big meeting between two principal characters is described by a third character some distance away. Bleeds all the emotion and satisfaction ou...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 10, 2012 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: steam-punk, sci-fi

It's around 2050 in the Shanghai region of China. Different tribes of peoples live on artificial islands in the bay outside the city. In the prosperous community of the Neo-Victorians a nano technology engineer named John Hacksworth takes on a commission to create a book - 'The Young Ladies Illustrated Primer.' The book is an ever changing story, an AI device that teaches young ladies to be maverick individuals. Nell, a young Dickensian heroine from a broken home in the modern projects receives...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 27, 2012 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, my-collection

I loved this book, especially the Neo-Victorian culture. I did feel that some parts lagged and I did flick forward a bit midway. Neal Stephenson is one of my favourite authors, and I do give him credit for each of his books being based on a completely different paradigm.
Beautifully written but not quite on the same level as Snow Crash or Anathem for instance.

10 likes · like · see review

Sep 25, 2008 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cyberpunk, fiction, read-2008, hugo-award, science-fiction

This is a hard book to rate. I'll give it a four just based on how "cool" the book is. The world is awesome...one of the best I can think of...but it never really grabbed me. It was certainly interesting, but I had a hard time reading a lot in a sitting.

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 11, 2012 Philip rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, audible, audio-book, science-fiction, cyberpunk, 2012, sff-audio, re-read, speculative-fiction

I really wish I had listened to Oliver Twist before listening to this audiobook. The style of writing is a wonderful homage to Dickens that seemed very foreign and strange to me, but makes much sense after listening to Oliver Twist.

Review of re-read:
This was my second listen of the audio version narrated by Jennifer Wiltsie, which I enjoyed more thoroughly than the first time. Perhaps the main reason for this was that I happened to listen to Oliver Twist in between and discovered that Neal Steph...more I really wish I had listened to Oliver Twist before listening to this audiobook. The style of writing is a wonderful homage to Dickens that seemed very foreign and strange to me, but makes much sense after listening to Oliver Twist.

Review of re-read:
This was my second listen of the audio version narrated by Jennifer Wiltsie, which I enjoyed more thoroughly than the first time. Perhaps the main reason for this was that I happened to listen to Oliver Twist in between and discovered that Neal Stephenson had written a wonderful homage to Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, unbeknownst to me. That is not to say that reading Oliver Twist is a requirement for liking this book, but that it is a great way to fully appreciate the author’s style in this story, which was somewhat foreign to me at first. The Diamond Age is the sort of book that has the amusing ability to make me feel both more and less intelligent than I really am. Stephenson has a style of genre bending all his own that I like to think of as Neal-punk. At times he’ll mix it with some Dickensian dialogue that makes perfect sense to me. Other times his writing flies right over my head and convinces me that I’d need a significant amount of time and effort doing research in order to get his meaning, which is okay with me. It all lends itself to the sort of layered writing that bears up well to multiple readings, getting more and more understanding and appreciation each time. That is not so say that it requires a re-read in order to enjoy, it just helped me out quite a bit. I also happen to be an avid re-reader.

The characters in this book are diverse, interesting, often funny, and easy to sympathize with, especially Nell. I would mostly recommend this to people who enjoy an esoteric story that gives you a lot of food for thought. Neal Stephenson has a bit of a reputation for writing not-so-great endings. I don’t think The Diamond Age has a cut and dried conclusion, leaving room for the listener’s own imagination to wonder about and fill in some details. I can see how this may be dissatisfying to some, but I rather like a story that leaves me thinking about it afterwards. Jennifer Wiltsie did an excellent job with the narration, smoothly going from one character’s voice to another and delivering some lovely Victorian dialogue flawlessly to my American ears. All in all, I found it to be unique, imaginative, and quite fun.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 10, 2009 J. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Up to about halfway through, I was in love with this book, but then Hackworth goes to the Drummers and we skip 10 years, and my thoughts are like this: if you as a writer didn't care about those 10 years enough to write about them, why do I care enough to read them? Worse, science fiction is already more concerned with the ideas than the characters, but when the writer is consciously trying to mimic the further-removed-from-reality discourses of Victorian-era writing, we wind up so distanced fro...more

9 likes · like · see review

Nov 28, 2008 Nicholas Karpuk rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Almost Anyone

Recommended to Nicholas by: Boing Boing

It's not often that I get to read science fiction where characters wear top hats. That's the sort of class that Neal Stephenson brings to the table.

I entered into "The Diamond Age" with very few preconceptions. The story had been described on Boing Boing, and it intrigued me enough to pick it up. The idea of a girl being raised by a high tech book was a pretty nifty pitch, especially for someone raised on Inspector Gadget cartoons and a love of computers.

The thing that hit me almost immediately...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 10, 2009 Kevin rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Diamond Age is an interesting, mostly thought provoking book, with a fairly creative vision of the future. At the same time it has some serious flaws, especially in the second half of the book, which somewhat derails a lot of ideas that Neal Stephenson sets up. It is by no means a short book, being close to 500 pages, and it has taken me several months of off and on reading to complete it.

There are definitely some good parts to it, including interesting multi-dimensional characters, a look a...more The Diamond Age is an interesting, mostly thought provoking book, with a fairly creative vision of the future. At the same time it has some serious flaws, especially in the second half of the book, which somewhat derails a lot of ideas that Neal Stephenson sets up. It is by no means a short book, being close to 500 pages, and it has taken me several months of off and on reading to complete it.

There are definitely some good parts to it, including interesting multi-dimensional characters, a look at how societies might form in a technology-immersed future, and most interestingly, the growth and development of the main character, Nell. I didn't quite buy into all of it, especially his views on how societies would be organized, but I give him credit for such an ambitious and detailed vision. Had the book focused on the characters more (especially Nell), it could have been an excellent book.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest problem is that the book buckles under the weight of its own ideas. One of the major premises of the book is the idea of a future with nanotechnology, where almost anything is possible. Nanotechnology is pervasive, creating a futuristic world with lots of imaginative ideas. At the time it was written (1995) I am sure the future Stephenson envisioned was incredibly novel. However he relies on the "wow" of nanotechnology too strongly, especially towards the later half of the book, where he constantly barrages the reader with the idea that nanotechnology can create impossibly light, strong, and complex structures. There also seems to be a lot of contradictions; nanotechnology, powerful and prevalent enough to create buildings hundreds of stories high, is at the same time unable to provide citizens with enough defense to stop a few people with bamboo sticks and crude explosives. Despite the incredibly advanced technology available, much of the action in the book is devoted to people engaged in hand-to-hand combat, either unarmed or with swords. While I understand his attempts to contrast the future's technology with societies grounded firmly in the past (specifically the Neo-Victorians), this made little sense.

Stephenson has similar problems of over-doing a cool idea throughout the book. In the beginning it was Bud and his body tech, such as his skull gun. In the middle, the primer's stories (an interactive storybook meant to teach the reader) weigh the book down. In the end, it's a futuristic Boxer Rebellion, Turing machines, human computers called Drummers, and some oddly thrown together new technology ideas. (Actually, all of this is about 80% of the last 200 pages.) The book is littered with tons of interesting ideas ranging from subversion being healthy for society to the necessity of human interaction in a world dominated by technology. But these take a major back seat to decidedly less interesting ideas.

Overall I liked the book, although the incredibly abrupt ending was off-putting. While I don't expect every loose end to be tied up, I don't think it's appropriate to have almost every plot advancement and reveal happen only in the last 100 pages or so. This flaw aside, the characters themselves are endearing, and take you for an imaginative ride through the future that leaves you constantly wanting to know what's around the next corner.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 28, 2008 Manzoid rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is pleasantly dense with interesting ideas about what the future holds. The title refers to the progression of material-driven stages of human progress -- the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, etc. In "the Diamond Age", matter compilers can easily create diamonds out of raw carbon. Basic foodstuffs and many other material wants can be satisfied by these matter compilers. This has created a world in which no one need starve. However there are still tremendous disparities between rich and poor,...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Toby rated it 4 of 5 stars

In "The Diamond Age" Stephenson both treads some of the same terrain as his previous novel, "Snow Crash" and foreshadows material from his followup "Cryptonomicon." Nanotechnology, culture, cryptography, subversion, and nature-vs-nurture feature as strong thematic elements in this book.

As "postcyberpunk," The Diamond Age posits a world in which the "franchulates" from Snow Crash evolve to their logical conclusion as full-fledged world governments along cultural, not geographic lines. One of thes...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Sean rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

I read this the first time when I was a young, impressionable, repressed, closeted Mormon boy. (Oh, god, so many of my reviews seem to start this way.) Stephenson's vision of a future shocked and titillated me, and years later I still found it returning to haunt me. Yet I don't think I ever truly understood the story, and certainly not the ending.

Now I think I do. In a future where synthetically assembled diamond is as ubiquitous as glass, where almost anything can be designed and created atom b...more

10 likes · like · see review

Nov 24, 2008 Izlinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Amazon recommended this book to me during the summer. I don't remember why, perhaps because I had purchased Elizabeth Hand's Winterlong from that site. The part in the blurb that drew me, though, was about Nell finding a book, the Primer, that would send her on a quest through an enchanted land and she would come out with wisdom and knowledge. I was compelled to check this book out when I found out the AI professor had handed her class an excerpt of this book and I rather liked the excerpt when...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 21, 2008 Chandler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting at first, the book effectively explores how societies might react to the proliferation of nano-technology and ubiquitous access to molecular assemblers.

Yikes.

Ok, so The Diamond Age is ~500 pages of fragmented stories. Although the book begins at a comfortable pace, taking time with each individual narrative and fleshing out the events leading to Nell's story, with each turned page the narrative cohesion drops and the motivations of the characters/events become less and less clear. By...more

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Stephen Dranger rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I absolutely adore everything Stephenson writes, and this book is no exception. As with every Stephenson book, it has its fair share of ideas: how children find their role in society; comparing Victorian, Confucian, and 20th century society; what makes a human more than a computer (a theme present in every Stephenson book). As sci-fi, it works at least 5 times better than Snow Crash, whose ideas about future society seem downright silly compared to this vision of the future. The things this book...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Aerin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, urban-bizarre

I liked this book, although not so well as Snow Crash. It takes place in a much more distant future, and I adored the world Stephenson created for this; his ideas about nanotech are fully believable (I want a molecular feed that can create anything I desire from scratch!) and his society comprised of franchise-nations is novel and very cool. I also liked the heroine; she was smart and resourceful and ultimately kicked a lot of ass.

On the other hand, the entire plot was a bit overblown, and slowe...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 21, 2011 Xdyj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: o, poc, rtw

This is the second book I read by Neal Stephenson after Snow Crash, and is, at least in my opinion, just as idea-packed and as awesome as the previous book.
It is an amazing mix of cyberpunk, high fantasy (the Primer), coming-of-age, nanotechnology (though I don't know whether or not the tech shown in it is against the laws of thermodynamics), philosophical problems of AI, the collapse of nation states, 19c Chinese nationalism (the Fist) and Dickens (neo-Victorians, probably Nell's name), and, es...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Who is writing sci-fi that pushes the limits these days?	21	147	May 22, 2013 08:11pm
Reddit SF Book Club: The Diamond Age is January's rSFBC selection!	1	17	Jan 05, 2013 01:09am
SciFi and Fantasy...: For Those Who Have Finished Spoilers	9	158	Jan 03, 2013 10:31pm
SciFi and Fantasy...: Which Phyle Would You Join? Spoilers	2	136	Jan 02, 2013 02:47am
SciFi and Fantasy...: First Impressions No Spoilers	20	126	Dec 24, 2012 08:46am
Nanotechnology in literature	9	119	Sep 10, 2012 10:04pm
Vaginal Fantasy H...: Influences from The Diamond Age	4	136	Apr 09, 2012 03:26pm

combine
Other Editions (47)

More editions...

Genres

Science Fiction

1,094 users

Science Fiction > Cyberpunk

277 users

Science Fiction > Steampunk

199 users

Fantasy

126 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

106 users

Speculative Fiction

41 users

Science Fiction > Dystopia

41 users

Novels

31 users

Cultural > China

26 users

Science > Technology

25 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Neal Stephenson

Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known primarily for his science fiction works in the postcyberpunk genre with a penchant for explorations of society, mathematics, cryptography, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired Magazine, and has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (funded by Jeff...more

More about Neal Stephenson...

Books by Neal Stephenson

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Diamond Age

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Diamond Age

“The difference between stupid and intelligent people – and this is true whether or not they are well-educated – is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. ” — 207 people liked it

“Nell," the Constable continued, indicating through his tone of voice that the lesson was concluding, "the difference between ignorant and educated people is that the latter know more facts. But that has nothing to do with whether they are stupid or intelligent. The difference between stupid and intelligent people—and this is true whether or not they are well-educated—is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations—in fact, they expect them and are apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward.” — 59 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Diamond Age
avg rating	preview: The Diamond Age Goodreads rating: 4.17 (32965 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/827.The_Diamond_Age?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320415915l/827.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/827.The_Diamond_Age?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson[/url]

The Diamond Age

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website