tannercurtis's review against another edition
2.0
Had a fun time reading this book for a bit then it suddenly became a chore. The voice and world are fun and well developed but the story drags. Didn’t finish it.
thewintersings's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
deborahwithanoh's review
From a collection of reviews posted on Substack c. January 2022:
I found this book in an L.A. bookstore and picked it up because a) Neal Stephenson, and b) this is apparently the book that coined the term “Metaverse” and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. A few more important things about this book: 1. Its main characters are named Hiro Protagonist and Yours Truly, 2. It’s literally about the intersection of coding and linguistics, which is my entire discipline, and 3. Facebook wishes it was the Metaverse lmao. It seemed to me at first that the book took a long time to get going, and for this reason it is inferior to Anathem in my heart (because in my opinion, Anathem is a paragon of science fiction). Then there are a lot of long explanatory conversations with a librarian daemon. But when it gets going, boy does it get going. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi or action, smart women, coding, linguistics, or ancient civilizations. The ideas in here about what the 21st century will look like are pretty amusing, though. This book definitely reads like it was written in 1992.
I found this book in an L.A. bookstore and picked it up because a) Neal Stephenson, and b) this is apparently the book that coined the term “Metaverse” and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. A few more important things about this book: 1. Its main characters are named Hiro Protagonist and Yours Truly, 2. It’s literally about the intersection of coding and linguistics, which is my entire discipline, and 3. Facebook wishes it was the Metaverse lmao. It seemed to me at first that the book took a long time to get going, and for this reason it is inferior to Anathem in my heart (because in my opinion, Anathem is a paragon of science fiction). Then there are a lot of long explanatory conversations with a librarian daemon. But when it gets going, boy does it get going. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi or action, smart women, coding, linguistics, or ancient civilizations. The ideas in here about what the 21st century will look like are pretty amusing, though. This book definitely reads like it was written in 1992.
shondawanders's review against another edition
DNF. Got 80% through and could not sustain my interest. Not sure I even care to know the ending. The novelty was all in the satirical world building aspects. Writing is dated and racist by today’s standards, though maybe in 1991 it was just “edgy”
gon8go's review against another edition
4.0
I had to check the original publication date of this several times because it seems much more recent. This is considered a seminal work of cyberpunk literature and deservedly so but the end felt a bit abrupt.
comrad3's review
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
danga5's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
briical's review
DNF
I think i just need to accept that sci-fi is not the genre for me
I think i just need to accept that sci-fi is not the genre for me
rockingreader's review
3.0
I know, I know, this is a classic of the cyberpunk, geek reads, and I wanted to like it more. The data dumps within (Linguistics and Sumerian history, wasn't expecting that!) kept pulling me out of the story, which was irritating. There is a lot here and while I took my time with it (no choice really), I feel like it deserves a re-read at a later time. So, 3 stars (for now).
bigsmiles's review
5.0
this was epic in the weirdest kind of way
Dystopian Sci-fi does not get quirkier than this, that's a fact.
If you are not completely into this book by the time the first few chapters roll by, you have no sense of cool and are no friend of mine.
The story kindof wants to be hijacked by a tremendous infodump somewhat towards the end (hell of a lot of sumerian babble, and gods and complicated stuff) but it's not nearly enough to ruin the experience.
the audiobook was dreadful and I'll make a point of never buying any book narrated by this particular guy because his voice was unbearably monotone.
Dystopian Sci-fi does not get quirkier than this, that's a fact.
If you are not completely into this book by the time the first few chapters roll by, you have no sense of cool and are no friend of mine.
The story kindof wants to be hijacked by a tremendous infodump somewhat towards the end (hell of a lot of sumerian babble, and gods and complicated stuff) but it's not nearly enough to ruin the experience.
the audiobook was dreadful and I'll make a point of never buying any book narrated by this particular guy because his voice was unbearably monotone.