Life, the Metaverse and Everything
14 of 14 Ciao Users found the following review helpful
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Advantages fast paced, brilliant story
Disadvantages may be too bizarre for some
Many people regard William Gibson’s Neuromancer as the definitive Cyberpunk Novel.
It can be safely assumed that these people haven’t read Snow Crash.
What this book achieves and what Neuromancer fails to do, is give you a highly imaginative cypberpunk story that ISN’T confusing to read. It also leaves you in no doubt of the authors intentions. Something I found lacking in the deeply confusing Neuromancer.
The Metaverse is a kind of Virtual Reality Internet in which the user walks around in the form of an avatar of his own choice. (Note: an avatar is an incarnation in human form)
Here lies the catch. The computer virus “Snow Crash” effects the users and not the computer.So when the lead characters best friend’s brain gets fried by this virus – and his ex-girlfriend requests his help on the matter, what else can a man with the name Hiro Protagonist do?
Hiro is a pizza delivery driver / hacker / samurai swordsman and along with the help of a young girl sets about to rescue the whole sorry mess.All this may sound a little bizarre, but the book is clever enough to make it all very plausible. Its full of original ideas, entwined in a brilliant story.
The author also gives credit to one of his friends at the end of the book. Instead of trying to reword his friends thoughts on the world, he places him in the book in the form of the librarian. This character seems to slow the books fast pace down a little in places, but in the end rewards the reader with some truly thought provoking material.Detailed Rating
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| 1 - 5 out of 14 comments
cocoklo 12/12/2005 15:56
good review!! I've been on the brink of reading this for ages, but you've convinced me to start it now!!!
JamesMoore 11/10/2005 09:13
Elf_Child 01/03/2001 12:12
bazza1603 28/02/2001 22:27
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| 1 - 5 out of 14 comments
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After the Internet, what came next? Enter the Metaverse - cyberspace home to avatars and software daemons, where anything and just about everything... |
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From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a... |
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Paperback, Goldmann Wilhelm GmbH |
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Shipping: £2.80 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days |
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Paperback, Goldmann Wilhelm GmbH |
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Shipping: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours |
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After the Internet, what came next? Enter the Metaverse - cyberspace home to avatars and software daemons, where anything and just about everything... |
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Shipping: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours |
Just started reading this book and you're right, it's very interesting. Though at first I wasn't sure I'd like it. It's quite odd. Thanks for a good review. -Am