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The Diamond Age
First off, let me say we know that Diamond Age came out 1995. It is not our intention to review every book ever written, but Stephenson has received so much attention lately from Cryptonomicon that it is of some use to show that he did not spring fully formed from the head of Zeus. For those old school fans of Stephenson, this review will allow them to sit in renewed righteousness, while helping the new fan pick their next Stephenson read, assuming they managed to pound through all nine hundred plus pages of Cryptonomicon.
I'm going to spare you the book synopsis other than to say that this is a science fiction novel set in the not too distant future. It is heavy into nanotechnology, and treats the subject with insight and forethought. The real glory of this book, however, is in its examination of the nature of intelligence, human social interaction, and culture.
Stephenson crafts a very believable story centered around a genius nanotechnologist who breaks the rules of his tribe to help his daughter, and the young girl from a poor background he inadvertantly helps. The development of Nell, the tortured child who rises above her early experiences, allows the author to dive deeply into the differences between knowledge and intelligence, offering up a richly detailed conversation with the reader.
What's Bad?
There are passages in the book where the protagonist is in a computer story of sorts, engaged in a fantasy setting. While these pieces aren't bad per se, I treated them a little like the poetry fragments in Tolkien. They're OK sometimes, but I skipped them maybe more than I should have. There is also a very annoying character named Miranda who seems superfluous to the story to me.
The other trouble I have with the book is the way it ends. Now Stephenson, like Orson Scott Card, seems to have a damned tough time ending a book. For Card it stems from deep personal philosophies, but I'm not sure that's the case for Stephenson. Still, while the last five pages of the book slide, it does not detract significantly from the rest of the book.
What's Good?
Alot. First of all, this is a very believable view of life after nanotechnology hits its stride. It's also a great forecast on future geopolitical tensions, and how the next century will deal with group identification when physical distance is overwhelmed by omnipresent communications.
Still, the most enjoyable part of this book is the examination of what makes people both intelligent and driven. Stephenson seems to say that a rough childhood can sometimes create an adult who is super intelligent. Many Slashdotters may agree with this sentiment. Though it's not a completely convincing argument, it is good to see a book treat it not in just a singular character sense, but as a larger social phenomenon.
So What's In It For Me?
Reading this book will not only satisfy that craving for quality science fiction, but will make you think also. Very few writers are able to do that, and Stephenson seems to have it down. It's one of those books where a few weeks after finishing it you'll still turn some of its ideas around in your noggin. It's probably not as good as Cryptonomicon, but it's pretty darned close.
Go buy this book. Do whatever it takes to convince Stephenson to continue writing quality science fiction.
Other important links... Check out the Slashdot review of Cryptonomicon .
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Zodiac is still my favoriate. It isn't real sf in the same sense as Snow Crash or Diamond Age, but is a great, great book. Living in Boston makes it even better. I've had to cross comm ave at a dead traffic light ... :)
I've read both Diamond Age and Snow Crash. Both books had great beginnings, but both books ended up meandering off into a very speculative (credulity-straining) endings.
Both books had a semi-mystic subplot. In Diamond Age it was the cult of the mass-human-hosted computer. In Snow Crash it was the idea that our minds have a sort of primative assembly language that can be used to reprogram them. In both stories, these ideas were blown up too far. We get fantastic imagry of the driven scientist in Diamond Age, falling down into insanity as he is drawn toward the drummer cult (a group of people who together comprise a giant biologicly hosted computer). But at the same time, the wonderful future detail of the book is dropped as Stephenson descends into the murky realm of the mind. I love how he can paint the future--but switching gears bogs down his books.
Compared with Snow Crash (8/10), I would give Diamond Age a 6/10. The first half of the book is so much fun to read. You just want to be a part of his future world (or at least, want to be shown more of it). But that just makes the second half more depressingly mediocre. And of course, you have a sudden, jolting ending as loose plot ends are quickly tied up and the whole thing shudders to a halt.
I have a feeling the Crypt. is much better--and it's on my reading list. Stephenson is good, but not 9/10 good. Not in Diamond Age, at least.
-- Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?
The Diamond Age remains my favorite Stephenson novel. I've read all of his novels that he's published under his own name (I've read that he has a psuedonym, too) except for The Big U which I haven't managed to find.
I find it interesting that the reviewer didn't like Miranda:
There is also a very annoying character named Miranda who seems superfluous to the story to me.
She's one of the reasons I liked this book so much. Stephenson's very good about speculating on what the future may hold (It's a good thing he's a speculative fiction writer, huh ;) ). I don't want to give too much away, but I think it's really important that Stephenson added her character into the interaction of the primer. I don't think that the primer could have worked without her. It raised Nell. I don't care how intricate a computer intelligence is, there's a level of human interaction necessary for raising a healthy child. I think Miranda represents the human aspect of advancing technology, and as such, she is in no way superfluous.
On another note, I read The Diamond Age while studying for the GRE. I had to look up alot of words (i.e. "a Propaedeutic Enchridion" p. 184 paperback edition) that I'd never even remotely seen before. I ended up scoring really highly on the Verbal section, so perhaps I have Neal Stephenson to thank for that ;)
I recommend all of Stephenson's novels. One criticism many people have about his novels are the detail he gives to secondary characters such as Miranda. I think this is one of the reasons why he's not only a good writer when it comes to scientific speculation, but why he's a great writer, period. He actually develops all of his characters to the point where he creates believable worlds and communities instead of empty plot outlines to show off his ideas like many SF writers unfortunately do. His books are literature. Read them.
Think like a person of action, act like a person of thought. --H. Bergson
Not that playing favorites with an author's books is a particularly productive exercise, but Diamond Age was one of my favorites. Aside from Stephenson's writing style, Cryptonomicon was an entirely different novel. Also a book which I enjoyed immensely.
I believe the order in which you read Stephenson's work is imporant. Starting with Snow Crash, I read them in the order in which they were released (haven't read Zodiak so I don't know what that does to my theory):
I at least recommend reading his earlier works before attempting Cryptonomicon. They will give you a taste of his writing style, which he takes to the max in Crypto, and I can imagine might be a turn off for the uninitiated.
As far as this review, I disagree with all but one of the complaints. The ending is too abrupt, but then again, that seems to be a trait of Stephenson's work.
Aside from the "moral" of the story, I also enjoyed Stephenson's great capacity to produce metaphors. Diamond Age is dominated by metaphors. Whereas the reviewer found them boring, I actually enjoyed them. I kept imagining what it would have been like to have that Book when I was a kid. It reminded how receiving a TI 99/4a computer as a child really started me on a different path from my peers. Anyhow, I liked the stories within the story...but then I also liked the movie Hackers so what do I know?
...the technical book on the real discipline: Nanosystems, by father of the field Eric Drexler. While Engines of Creation explores the vision, Nanosystems explores how we'll really get there.
- Read fiction at www.espressostories.com
Stephenson has 2 other books out, written in collaboration with someone else (his uncle?) under the pseudonym Stephen Bury. There's The Cobweb, which I haven't read, and Interface, which I have, and which is a chunky (700 pages) and pretty good techno-thriller. Synopsis; Candidate in 2000 presidential election suffers stroke, has experimental brain implant, his backers use it to control his thoughts/actions. Plenty of ramblings on politics, neurosurgery, etc if you like that sort of thing.