Snow Crash in Beyond Reality

Mar 06, 2012 mark monday rated it it was ok

Shelves: rain-man-reviews, scifi-modern, i-gave-up

derisively laugh to me for opportunities of full and cringe-worthy and tedious equally be to found i which, Against A Dark Background beloved the disliked who jackass of kind the am i that mind in keep also should you, seriously review this take you before but. FAIL. hipness insouciant of display a with audience its dazzle to designed lie a - lie brazen some of middle the in worship i someone catching like was it, one this with was i disappointed how express can't words. nowhere go but brilliant ...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Oni rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

This is not a book for everyone. First, it heavily scattered with computer terms, which might hinder some non-geek. Second, the hilarious and sarcastic style which will offend some readers. But if you are OK with that, this is an excellent book for you.

The story revolves around the protagonist, Hiro Protagonist (yes, that is his name), a pizza delivery man, a computer hacker, a part-time spy and a swordplay expert. You figure it out! The setting is a wholly privatized world, when the government ...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Banner rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

Snow Crash review

This was not what I expected. What did you expect (you may ask)? Something darker, more convoluted and maybe even a little harder science. These were the preconceived thoughts I had as I enter this messed up future America, home of Hiro Protagonist. Was I disappointed? Not really (maybe a little at the lack of hard science). What I was most pleasantly surprised by was the humor. Not that this was a comedy, but there were a couple laugh out loud moments and several smiles thr ...more

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Jun 08, 2015 Brian rated it it was amazing

This is a re-read; my first read through was over a decade ago. I remember the feeling of disorientation as Stephenson worked through all the actual historical data backing the narrative, and realizing that the future wasn't supposed to be a parody, but an actual possibility of where we could be headed. Or, you know, the usual "SF describes socially where we are now, not where we'll be." It was just as data-dense as I remembered, and flipping between the historical exposition and the futuristic ...more

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Nov 15, 2015 Tom Britz rated it it was amazing

Neal Stephenson is a phenomena. Though very different from Neil Gaimon, he is that type of writer that makes you want to see where he goes next.

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Oct 10, 2010 Adrienne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, science-fiction, mythology

I've never before cared as much about a pizza getting delivered on time as I did at the beginning of this book. Typically, the voice of the narrator was one of the book's strongest points (except for the part in the middle where I got bogged down in the Librarian and all the Sumerian mythology). Unfortunately by the end of this book, I was rushing through it so I could move on to my next book. I think it deserved better.

And by the end, I enjoyed the parts about YT much more than those about Hiro ...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Kerry marked it as dnf · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, ebooks, 2011

I'm calling it quits on this one.

While the general idea fascinates me, I just don't like the style. My CFS is playing up at the moment and that makes it all about cost/benefit ratios for me. Right now, the cost of reading this one is way higher than the benefits.

I know I didn't get far and maybe I'll try it again sometime (the book will happily sit on my Kindle waiting for me after all). But right now, it's not the right book for me. ...more

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Nov 29, 2013 Sandi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-express, audio, read-2013, scifi-fantasy-horror-althistory

This science fiction novel had so much going on that, at times, it was hard to know what was happening. It mixed Sumerian language, religion, computers, and a number of other things (some of which I sure I did not catch). The two lead characters though were quite well drawn and the narration of this audio by Jonathan Davis highlighted the humor and kept the plot moving at a brisk pace.

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