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Snow Crash
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
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Snow Crash
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-
Cryptonomicon
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 153
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the US Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detachment 2702 - commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe - is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. In the present, Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia....
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Very long and marginally interesting
- By Martin Halliday on 2023-02-01
Written by: Neal Stephenson
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Seveneves
- A Novel
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal, Will Damron
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 571
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 514
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Great novel, only somewhat held back by narration
- By Ryan Love on 2019-02-27
Written by: Neal Stephenson
-
Neuromancer
- Written by: William Gibson
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 225
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 189
Twenty years ago, it was as if someone turned on a light. The future blazed into existence with each deliberate word that William Gibson laid down. The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer didn't just explode onto the science fiction scene - it permeated into the collective consciousness, culture, science, and technology.Today, there is only one science fiction masterpiece to thank for the term "cyberpunk," for easing the way into the information age and Internet society.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narration was dreadful, book was excellent.
- By WarriorsDawn on 2018-12-06
Written by: William Gibson
-
Reamde
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 38 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Neal Stephenson is continually rocking the literary world with his brazen and brilliant fictional creations - whether he’s reimagining the past (The Baroque Cycle), inventing the future (Snow Crash), or both (Cryptonomicon).
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4 out of 5 stars
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Stick with it!
- By Rgjenks on 2020-03-21
Written by: Neal Stephenson
-
Termination Shock
- A Novel
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 22 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 111
One man—visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D.—has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work? Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming.
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2 out of 5 stars
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more than meets the eye? nope
- By Scott Fox on 2022-07-29
Written by: Neal Stephenson
-
Altered Carbon
- Written by: Richard K. Morgan
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 480
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 432
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 430
In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Good book, awful audio quality
- By Alex on 2018-02-18
Written by: Richard K. Morgan
-
Cryptonomicon
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 153
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the US Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detachment 2702 - commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe - is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. In the present, Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia....
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Very long and marginally interesting
- By Martin Halliday on 2023-02-01
Written by: Neal Stephenson
-
Seveneves
- A Novel
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal, Will Damron
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 571
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 514
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great novel, only somewhat held back by narration
- By Ryan Love on 2019-02-27
Written by: Neal Stephenson
-
Neuromancer
- Written by: William Gibson
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 225
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 189
Twenty years ago, it was as if someone turned on a light. The future blazed into existence with each deliberate word that William Gibson laid down. The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer didn't just explode onto the science fiction scene - it permeated into the collective consciousness, culture, science, and technology.Today, there is only one science fiction masterpiece to thank for the term "cyberpunk," for easing the way into the information age and Internet society.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Narration was dreadful, book was excellent.
- By WarriorsDawn on 2018-12-06
Written by: William Gibson
-
Reamde
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 38 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anathem, Neal Stephenson is continually rocking the literary world with his brazen and brilliant fictional creations - whether he’s reimagining the past (The Baroque Cycle), inventing the future (Snow Crash), or both (Cryptonomicon).
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Stick with it!
- By Rgjenks on 2020-03-21
Written by: Neal Stephenson
-
Termination Shock
- A Novel
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 22 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 111
One man—visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D.—has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work? Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
more than meets the eye? nope
- By Scott Fox on 2022-07-29
Written by: Neal Stephenson
-
Altered Carbon
- Written by: Richard K. Morgan
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 480
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 432
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 430
In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Good book, awful audio quality
- By Alex on 2018-02-18
Written by: Richard K. Morgan
-
Anathem
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
Fraa Erasmus is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the "Saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities, and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs, bloody violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Only for elite hard sci fi lovers
- By Robert on 2018-04-21
Written by: Neal Stephenson
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The Diamond Age
- Written by: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Jennifer Wiltsie
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
Neal Stephenson, "the hottest science fiction writer in America", takes science fiction to dazzling new levels. The Diamond Age is a stunning tale; set in 21st-century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens what a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life, and the entire future of humanity, is about to be decoded and reprogrammed.
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4 out of 5 stars
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this amazing book must be re-recorded
- By Peter on 2022-03-29
Written by: Neal Stephenson
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The Kaiju Preservation Society
- Written by: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 405
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 403
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Strong Sunday School energy.
- By Andrew on 2022-05-16
Written by: John Scalzi
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Children of Time
- Written by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,343
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,340
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.
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5 out of 5 stars
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SF masterwork in the style of Brin or Vinge
- By Blythe on 2018-09-16
Written by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
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Hyperion
- Written by: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 651
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 559
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 559
On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Simmons is a complete hack
- By FuzzyThoughts on 2021-04-14
Written by: Dan Simmons
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The Collapsing Empire
- The Interdependency, Book 1
- Written by: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 537
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 499
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 498
Our universe is ruled by physics, and faster-than-light travel is not possible - until the discovery of The Flow, an extradimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transports us to other worlds, around other stars. Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It's a hedge against interstellar war - and a system of control for the rulers of the empire.
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3 out of 5 stars
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ok novel
- By Scott Duncan on 2017-11-03
Written by: John Scalzi
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Necronomicon
- Written by: H. P. Lovecraft
- Narrated by: Richard Powers, Bronson Pinchot, Stephen R. Thorne, and others
- Length: 21 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Originally written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and '30s, H. P. Lovecraft's astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction, and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when first published. This tome brings together all of Lovecraft's harrowing stories, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were when first released.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Spot on performances
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-04-21
Written by: H. P. Lovecraft
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A Canticle for Leibowitz
- Written by: Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature—a chilling and still-provocative look at a postapocalyptic future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Vivid and Dynamic
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-08-01
Written by: Walter M. Miller Jr.
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Artemis
- Written by: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,409
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,115
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Story4 out of 5 stars 3,111
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not so great
- By plaj on 2017-11-28
Written by: Andy Weir
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The Mote in God's Eye
- Written by: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
The Mote In God's Eye is their acknowledged masterpiece, an epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre. No lesser an authority than Robert A. Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read".
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4 out of 5 stars
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Classic science fiction story.
- By Lamerok on 2018-09-20
Written by: Larry Niven, and others
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The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke
- Written by: Arthur C. Clarke
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister, Ray Porter, Jonathan Davis
- Length: 51 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
From early work like "Rescue Party" and "The Lion of Comarre", through classic stories including "The Star", "Earthlight", "The Nine Billion Names of God", and "The Sentinel" (kernel of the later novel and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey), all the way to later work like "A Meeting with Medusa" and "The Hammer of God", this comprehensive short story collection encapsulates one of the great science fiction careers of all time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing Narration of Clarke’s Imagination
- By Mason on 2018-11-10
Written by: Arthur C. Clarke
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Blade Runner
- Originally published as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
- Written by: Philip K. Dick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 294
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 251
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 251
It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill. Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignment: find them and then..."retire" them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found!
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4 out of 5 stars
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Weird book, man.
- By Marcus on 2021-05-18
Written by: Philip K. Dick
Publisher's Summary
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he's a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about Infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous...you'll recognize it immediately.
What the critics say
"Brilliantly realized...Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Fast-forward free-style mall mythology for the 21st century." (William Gibson)
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What listeners say about Snow Crash
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jeff
- 2019-06-06
Rambling and incoherent
The author wanders through a random collection of thoughts with no real connection to each other. These may tie together later, but the mix of excruciating detail of a pizza delivery car, the musings of a robot dog and some bad k-pop lyrics don't draw me in enough that I want to find out.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2018-09-13
Sci-Fi Done Right
Enter the world of Snow Crash, set in a futuristic, corporate controlled America, complete with the metaverse, robotic guard dogs, and one hell of a pizza delivery service.
Snow Crash was a great read, very interesting plot and original setting and continually provides both absurd and insightful ideas. If you like Sci-fi, I highly recommend it.
P.S. #Audible1 for those sweet prizes, but legit, read this.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Evan Bennewies
- 2018-02-16
A scary and not-so-impossible future
The world and setup is amazing, I could listen to a whole book just describing this bizarre but totally believable alternate universe. At times the story can be a bit dense for an audiobook, could probably get a lot out of reading a hardcopy version now. The extra sound effects were unnecessary and didn't make any sense until almost half way through. Narration was good, character voices were consistent and entertaining, but not really necessary.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Scott Brandt
- 2018-09-26
A cyberpunk tale for the ages.
Only drawback is the varying sound quality, it will swap between high, low, and medium abruptly throughout most chapters.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- vicster
- 2020-09-20
still holds up
Read this way back when it came out. the narrator did a really good night job with different characters voices.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T Quinn
- 2018-09-08
Highly engaging and entertaining.
Well done. Written a while ago but still relevant. Highly recommended if you enjoy scifi tech novels with a nice blend of "hacker" or Cyber punk, subtle humour and commentary on religion, government and society.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- James
- 2018-03-30
Amazing and weird funny story
A little hard to follow on place but otherwise awesome! I highly recommend giving it a read/listen of you have the time
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Alina
- 2018-02-01
Painful listening
Trying to describe action scenes in painful details does not work. Leave it to the movie screen Mr Stephenson.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lisa
- 2022-06-07
A Wild Ride of Presient Satire
I went into this novel knowing only the elevator pitch: it was a cyberpunk satire novel from the 90s.
I took my time with it and I don't regret it. There are a handful of lore dumps where Stephenson clearly wanted to show his work that dragged a bit, but the bits and pieces from them are used well and come together for an explosive, white-knuckle final third.
I think the satire angle might be missed if you go in without knowing it. The writing is *very* straight, and all of the humor is in the subtext, like in how the Italian mafia just operates openly as a private corporation because 'crime' doesn't exist when the entire country breaks up into privately owned micronations, or how teenaged protagonist YT is constantly sexualized by older strangers because of how morally bankrupt society has become, or how our other protagonist (named Hiro Protagonist) is an unapologetic weirdo who thinks a leather kimono and a pair of swords is the peak of chic. If you go in realizing how absurd it's all going to be, you will enjoy it far more.
Fair warning for some readers: there are a number of instances (though no more than you can count on both hands) where, as you might expect in a novel about a world with extremely loose moral fabric, some very uncomfortable slurs are used in mostly casual fashion. It's not egregious enough to ruin the story, but brace yourself accordingly for some colorful language that might hit your ears in unpleasant fashion.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shirley's awesome reads
- 2021-05-18
Snow Crash
Some interesting theories on religion. But non-stop action, dystopian world, unlikely heroes and plot twists. It's fun, involving, never boring. I recommend that you read this book
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Brent
- 2003-02-05
A solid sci-fi novel
This book has a lot going for it. For starters the plot is great. A lot of twists and turns and you're never quite sure what's going to happen (or even what's going on). The characters are wonderfully crafted and the dialog is well written and entertaining. A wonderfully dry humor is mixed in well with the action. Also, major kudos to the narrator. He does such a great job that the audio book may very well be better then paper edition.
Part of the plot revolves around the study of biblical era documents, including the bible itself. I did sometimes find this part of the plot somewhat frustrating. But that's probably due to the fact that I know something about biblical exegesis, and the conclusions drawn by the characters in the book are wildly inaccurate. I suppose this frustration would be similar to the frustration felt by a physicist as he watched Star Trek. Or by a military tactician as he watched a Rambo film. It can just be frustrating to have a subject that you know about used as a plot device. Let's just say that you'll learn about as much about biblical study after reading Snow Crash as you'd learn about physics by watching Captain Picard use "and inverted tachyon beam to scan the wormhole."
Don't get this book if you'll be offended by the use of Christian and biblical events as a plot device. Also be aware that there is some profanity. It's not gratuitous, but it is fairly frequent.
But all of that aside, this is a really good book. If you're a sci-fi fan, you'll probably like it. If you're a cyber-punk fan, this is required reading. But even if you're not a sci-fi fan, you could very well enjoy this book. Just keep an open mind and buckle your seat belt. It's quite a ride.
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299 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Jim "The Impatient"
- 2011-03-12
Cool, but complicated
After reading the first two chapters, I thought Wow, I have found a new favorite author. The action was great and the characters interesting. Stephenson's metaphors and use of language are genius. I soon got lost in the complicated plot and what little I understood sounded extremely far fetched. If you are a layman of average intelligence like me you may find this a hard read, but the educated tech heads may love this book. I do want to read more of Stephenson.
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136 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- A. Tuck
- 2008-10-16
Classic Stephenson
It's been several years since I read this book, so thought it'd be fun to give the audiobook a listen. I do have to say that I think it's one of those books that is better read than listened to via audio. That said, I think the narrator did a good job capturing the book and it is a fun story. First released in 1992, the same year "www" was coined, it's interesting to see how many of his "predictions" have come true and how much sounds dated. Stephenson is someone who explains tech in detail - all of his books are that way - which I find fascinating. But, if in-depth explanations bore you, he's not the author for you.
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136 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Scott Eberhart
- 2014-05-11
Great Story, Terrible Audio Quality
Any additional comments?
The story is engaging and fast paced and it leaves you with a lot to think about. Not to mention it's a great ride.
But the audio quality absolutely sucks. The narrator is fine, it just sounds like he was trapped in a tin box for the entire story. And chapters are buffeted by horrible sound effects and someone sing-speaking in gibberish. I get that it's trying to set a mood, but it's awful. And the worst part is that there are frequent brief episodes of completely different sound quality, that sound like they were added later.
If you can deal with the bad sound quality, this is definitely worth a listen. I really did love the story.
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75 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Tony
- 2003-03-09
Excellent example of what an audiobook should be
Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. I listen to audiobooks quite frequently and I can honestly say this is my favorite. A reasonably intelligent use of sound effects and excellent vocalizing make this a joy to listen to. I had originally read this in paperback and was quite suprised to find myself identifying MORE with the characters through the audiobook than I had in my original reading.
While this IS considered sci-fi and/or cyberpunk, don't let those terms scare you off. The envisioned future is pretty realistic and just 'gritty' enough to give you a good feel for it. Most of the technology is pretty conceivable and easy to understand - and very little of it is thrown in just because the author's supposed to be writing 'sci-fi'.
The audio version does bog down a bit in one or two spots. Some of the religious lingo/jargon/names was a bit easier to absorb in hardcopy. It's a lot easier to look back a page or two - or know you read that name just a minute ago and glance back over a paragraph or three - than it is to zap your MP3 player back 6 or 7 minutes. You might want to bookmark the beginning of such sections if you're either a die-hard fan or a theology major... Otherwise, listen through it and absorb what you can. You'll get a good idea where things are heading in short order.
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75 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robert
- 2011-10-03
Unfreakingbelievable
A few years ago when I had become interested in the virtual reality of Second Life, a friend recommended Snow Crash to me. I had not heard of the book but having such a high regard for the friend, I kept it tucked away in my synapses. Boy am I glad that I did. This is a book about virtual reality that is very much like Second Life. But it is so, so much more. In fact I think that there is no end to the more. It includes Sumerian myth, a hero/protagonist named Hiro Protagonist and a landscape so much like modern-day America, you won't miss it. Hopefully you won't miss the book either. It is funny, hip and cool as can be. The book is mind boggling, outrageous and not like anything I have ever read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Danny
- 2002-12-24
Cyberpunk
So far the two Neil Stevenson books I have listened to, Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, have proved to be very entertaining and thought provoking. The techknolodgy he creates as part of the setting and times is both imaginative and maybe even wildly plausable. I think for me , what sets him apart is his sense of humour. The combination makes for a very enjoyable read.
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62 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 2003-01-16
A very clever book.
Snow Crash is not only very entertaining, it has a series of clever twists and a strong back story that set it aside from many science fiction stories.
Comedy and drama are well entwined throughout, neither detracting from the overall mood and pace of the book and the protagonists are well drawn.
I can highly recommend the excellent audio recording, which is a great format for this novel.
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55 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- D. McMillen
- 2003-09-22
You'll love it or you'll hate
I love the fact that the reviews of "Snow Crash" are so mixed -- if someone doesn't give it a 4 or 5, they give it a 1 (and probably only because they can't give it a zero). It's probably very much a function of your personality: if you're the right type, it'll grab you and you'll love it. Otherwise, it'll seem stupid, boring, and pointless. I'm in the former group: I love it!
Either way, you won't have anything to complain about in the narration, in my opinion. Jonathan Davis does an excellent job.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Vic
- 2003-03-18
A Journey Into Escapism
This is one of my first audiobooks selections and I chose it for it's length (value) and my interests in computers, technology, and future predictions. I listened to the sample and it sounded a little too "off the wall" for me, but I decided to give it a go anyway.
At first I was distracted by the verbal landscape but soon I was drawn in and the characters began to become likable and someone that I could relate to.
Concepts that I really liked:
1. A cyber universe where one could almost live, die, and play in... an Internet on steroids?
2. A virus that could gap the digital world to the physical world.
3. An ancient language that was, and is, common to all people
The characters are inventive, interesting, and quite unusual. The plot takes all kinds of twists and kept me anxiously wanting to go back to listening. The reader does a great job and does not detract from the story.
Bottom line, I found this a strange, yet compelling, story that I enjoyed very much.
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40 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- kakkun
- 2023-05-24
Read William Gibson's Neuromancer instead
[Spoiler alert!] Almost every article mentioning the Metaverse since Facebook became Meta keeps pointing at Snow Crash as the book that introduced the term "Metaverse". This is maybe one the rare innovations you'll find in here, as most of the names chosen by the author are very unimaginative: the "hero" is named "Hiro Protagonist", he is a skilled biker and katana sword fighter both in the real and the virtual world. He is delivering pizza, for the mafia. Other characters include an underage roller skating girl named YT, a "Rat Thing", a pirate named "Bruce Lee" and so on.
There are references to the Vietnam war, and to nuclear bombs. It all feels very shallow, almost as tasteless as a mashup of every bad action movie of the 80s and the 90s.
The description of the virtual world has too many pointless and overly detailed descriptions to try and sound cool, or technologically advanced, like explaining that 2^16 = 65536 or referring to port 127, which are obvious numbers to computer scientists and maybe pointless references to other readers. Nothing is ever subtle or suggested, as if the reader did not have enough neurons or imagination.
Maybe all these clichés are here for a reason. They are not necessary funny, and many times they are close to racist stereotypes, so they could be used on purpose to describe a mindless and brainwashed society, having a hard time to think. Or maybe the real world is already a Meta Metaverse on its own, with new rules and abnormal situations, as well as silly names sounding like social media handles?
In contrast, there are a few interesting, metaphysical and philosophical theories introduced in this book. Sumerian legends and early languages and abstract phones which can be seen as the "machine code" of the brain. Also there is the idea that brains could be controlled by cleverly crafted sounds and images, just like machines can be attacked by computer viruses.
So is the author trying to show how the world has been collapsing and declining since the ancient days, mostly because of mass media and weak governments, and that ancient knowledge was ultimately more advanced than any modern technology?
Despite anticipating AI assistants, Google Earth / Maps, and avatars, there is nothing really interesting in this book that could not have been written in a few lines.
William Gibson's Neuromancer, which was written before Snow Crash, is much better at making you feel the alterations of the human brain when on drugs or when controlled by technology, and it does so in a very clever and subtle way, waiting for the reader to "hack" the text to understand it completely.
The performance doesn't help: the audio version uses a monotonous and annoying voice, with some terrible accents at times.
Read Neuromancer instead.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Pierre Gauthier
- 2022-01-16
Disappointing!
This very long novel published in 1992 certainly proves to be original and imaginative, yet all may not appreciate it. In fact, many may feel that the author strives too much to be creative and that the storyline is just an excuse to line up elements that he personally considers “cool”: car and skateboard chases worthy of video games, equally outré gunfights and swordfights, lengthy references to the Bible and to Antiquity, a dog’s stream of consciousness, etc. In fact, by the end of the book, some sub-plots are still unresolved.
There is no attempt to be remotely plausible. For instance, the main character, called “Hiro Protagonist”, is a computer hacker and a Samurai sword virtuoso who now delivers pizzas for a living and has a keen interest in the ancient Sumerian language. His female counterpart, called ‘YT” (for “Yours truly”), is a 15-year-old courier gratified with super high-tech clothing and equipment. She lives with her mother but there is no mention of her ever going to school.
The novel is set in an unspecified future which is not so distant from the book’s release since many characters are Vietnam War veterans and Hiro’s father was a soldier in Nagasaki in 1945. The times are dystopian, and the United States government has given up power over most of its former territory, which is now broken up into multiple autonomous units, many controlled by the American Mafia or by “Buy and Fly”.
The novel is credited for anticipating many innovations: the notion of “metaverse”, and the word itself, first appeared here. The book also matter-of-factly includes cell phones (called “personal phones”) as well as the equivalents of Google Earth (though it provides live images), email, Roomba and Waze. Strangely, however, videotapes are still around as well as 3-ring binders and xeroxing. Also, some technology featured has not become generalized 30 years later, notably all-terrain skateboards, wearable airbags and… portable hydrogen bombs.
Many may consider that the novel would have immensely benefited being edited to perhaps half its current length.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SL
- 2018-09-26
Brillant SF novel
The plot is thrilling, mixing computer science / cyber punk / history with subtlety. Snowcrash’s characters are well depicted and profound. The narrator’s voice is deep, engaging and powerful. 5 stars audiobook!
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