Rating: 
Summary: SF with a toe in Respectability's door
Review: This book is NOT another "Snow Crash", so if that's what you're looking for, you didn't come to the right place. Although "The Diamond Age" contains elements of the same type of flashy, cooler-than-thou techno-glitz that made the other book so much fun to read (as long as you DIDN'T take it seriously), this Neil Stephenson masterpiece demands respectibility. It demands that the reader think.More than a book about technology, it is a book about culture, and the effect of bringing ancient culture into the future. It is about information and learning and a push into tomorrow's tomorrow. It examines how we will cope with technology when it is so advanced, we only know it is there when it tells us so. In typical Stephenson fashion, the plot is engaging and vital, with exuberant creativity and a scope as large as all imagination. A book with powerful characters, sharp imagery, beautiful prose, and unparalleled vision, "The Diamond Age" is not just an SF novel; it is a Novel--in the truest and most enjoyable sense of the word. CAUTION: thinking required
Rating: 
Summary: An absorbing futuristic thriller with a lot to say
Review: An absorbing and witty futuristic thriller, "The Diamond Age" casts a unique light on class structure. John Hackworth is a brilliant nanoengineer whose masterwork, a hypertext called "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer," falls into the hands of Nell, a resourceful young girl who finds her life forever changed. Stephenson conjures up a fascinating cast of characters, giving readers an intimate portrait of a world living on the razor's edge of tomorrow's technology. "The Diamond Age" is a kaleidoscopic, visionary work of steadily escalating strangeness.
Rating:
Summary: The Diamond Age
Review: I have to admit that I am surprised by the reviews I have been reading. The Diamond Age is not just another cyberpunk book. It is not just about Nell's growth and developement through her primer, but about the basis a person needs for self-cultivation. We should look at the book as our own primer, teaching us lessons through the multiple storylines, all of which deal with moral decisions and test the characters' judgement. The ending may be abrupt, but consider the fact that it leaves you with questions about what reality is, what humans are, and what the future of society will be. Maybe it was abrupt for the purpose of letting you decide what YOUR ending is. It disturbs me that readers have become trained to look for satisfying endings that leave no room for thought.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but some flaws
Review: I've just finished reading the previous 178 reviews, and have to agree with the main themes: 1) The ending is abrupt and leaves major storylines unresolved. 2) The book is not light reading. It reminds me of the old Far Side cartoons which were hilarious to some but incomprehensible to others. 3) The peek at a possible future is excellent, especially the use of nanotechnology. Most of the reviews speak of the "Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" as a book that teaches a girl how to survive on the streets and to be an independent thinker. What they don't mention, and what I think is vital, is that one of the main themes in the design of the book was "subversion". The book was meant to guide a young girl on her path to becoming a free-thinking and subversive woman. Such a person would inevitably become a force, either positive or negative, in the book's rigid society. Having read 3 of Mr. Stephenson's books (Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, and Diamond Age), I must agree that each one has a somewhat abrupt ending -- although Diamond Age seems to be the worst. In general, Mr. Stephenson tends to leave storylines open and let the reader's imagination take over. While this is a valid literary style, it quickly gets annoying. While Diamond Age may not have been a straight cyberpunk novel, the environment is certainly similar to what you see in William Gibson's Neuromancer. In essence, future society has broken down into "tribes" with a significant barrier dividing the upper and lower classes. The story contains quite a bit of the Oriental class (caste?) system that you see in cyberpunk, and it also adds a Victorian class system that isn't much different. I noticed that a significant number of reviewers were upset because Diamond Age wasn't as "good" as Snow Crash. I agree. This book is NOT another Snow Crash, nor is it a Cryptonomicon, and I enjoyed both of those books more than I enjoyed this one. That is not, however, a reason to give the book a bad review. In general, I enjoyed this book but did not keep it after I finished reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Diamond Age-Worthwhile read
Review: If you're looking for a quick read, Stephenson is not the author for you. He writes incredibly dense, complicated books with lots of characters and plotlines that weave back and forth and by the end of the book, generally end up related. That being said, if you're willing to spend some time with a book, then this is the book for you. It reads much like a science fiction fairy-tale and presents a surpisingly believable and interesting future world. The story focuses, as much as anything by Stephenson has a focus, on the quest of a little girl and the events that happen to her over many years. Saying more about the plot becomes much too complicated, but suffice to say that this is an amazing read. This book gets 4 out of 5 stars because at the end of the book, I was unsure how to feel about the outcome or exactly what the outcome was. I wasn't exactly annoyed by this because the rest of the book was so entertaining and the ending allows one to consider everything they have read and possibly read the book again. It's an amazing read and recommended to even the most casual science fiction reader.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and Amazing
Review: This book was the most inventive and entertaining work on an alternative future that I have come across. I have been reading this genre for the last fifteen years and read the Diamond Age after recommendation from a friend. The detail that Stephenson uses in both medical and technical subjects is awe-inspiring, rivaled only by "the Hunt for Red October". Every sci-fi fan should read this book!
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Summary: Stephenson Will Draw You In
Review: This novel is one of the most outstandingly original works of science fiction that I have had the good fortune to read. Stephenson's futurescape, while not entirely believable (what Sci Fi future can make that claim, anyway?) is fresh and richly described. Most enjoyable about this book is Stephenson's stark contrast of his setting - a completely technologically dependent future - with the predominant cultures he presents. His depiction of the struggles and compromises between this future and the antiquated Victorian (newly revived) and Mandarin (staunchly preserved) cultures is, to my mind, the highlight of the book. Like many of the other reviewers, my interest in Science Fiction was revived by The Diamond Age. The strains of fantasy in the form of the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer as well as the characteristic feature technology (nanotech) appealed to my Inner Geek while the sociological and philosophical aspects spoke to the Intellectual Adult Reader in me. The Diamond Age is highly engaging thought-fuel. I recommend it to anyone who loves or once loved Science Fiction.
Rating:
Summary: The Diamond Age
Review: The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson is a fascinating edition to the cyberpunk genre. Stephenson uses the same style that brought him so much acclaim for his earlier work, Snowcrash. Although The Diamond Age doesn't quite live up to the expectations after reading Snowcrash, it certainly comes close. The Diamond Age is a typical Stephenson book in that he uses an extreme view of what one future might be like in order to demonstrate for modern day society the evils that it could fall into. Stephenson does this with his usual style of using many interweaving characters, an extreme futuristic society, and of course his sardonic sense of humor. The world in which The Diamond Age takes place is a world where you can do pretty much everything. Almost everything is made using nanotechnology, using small machines to build something or to build something from the atoms up. Engineers in this book actually construct things by assembling them on the atomic level. They are then actually made in the Matter Compiler. Everything from clothes, food, and buildings to chopsticks is made in this fashion. This is the world that Nell, the main character, grows up in. She is raised without any education until her brother gives her The Primer. The Primer is an incredably powerful book that adapts itself to Nell and teaches her everything from reading to self-defense. The Primer also have virtual reality (or ractive ability as it is called in this world) so that the user can experience what's going on. In short The Diamond Age is a book that will be enjoyed by people who like an alternate glimpse into what the future may hold. The many characters and plot twists are sure to catch and hold the attention of most readers. With this work Stephenson has shown that the success and brilliance he portrayed in Snowcrash was not luck but a habit.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable
Review: Neal Stephenson has created a remarkable vision of the future. It would be enough to read about how nanotechnology changes the way people live in the Diamond Age, and probably more than one could ask for to have a fully realized, bravura description of the remarkable society in this tale of the distant future. But the truly remarkable part of this novel is the character of Nell, the destitute young girl who obtains a copy of the "Young Lady's Illustrated Primer." We are able to watch Nell as she acquires knowledge, strength and wisdom. And we root for her every step of the way. I take away one star because I found the end of the novel disappointing (maybe I just didn't want it to be over). The politics get a bit complex, and the ending comes quite abruptly. That said, I was absolutely lost in "The Diamond Age." I stole every available minute to read as much as I could. It is a lyrical, transcendent novel that I would recommend to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Difficult but Charming Tale of a little Girl
Review: The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson is a story about a young girl named Nell who gets a magic book that her older brother stole for her. Through this book, Nell gets an education completely different from what is offered in the futuristic society of Shanghai. It teaches her the alphabet, self defense, and even how to escape from her mother's abusive boyfriends. It consoles her through her losses, it teaches her critical thinking skills, and overall shapes her into a unique and beautiful person. Throughout it all, the reader gets an interesting glimpse of what the future could hold. Biological warfare is no longer a threat here. A major key to understanding the plot of the book is understanding the importance of a single atom, also known as nanotechnology. Through these particles, scientists and doctors send critical information that is used to kill, injure, torture, or even protect people by injecting these particles into their bloodstream. This is part of the way the different social phyles fight each other. The nanotechnology is also used to create objects. At one point in the story, Nell and her brother Harv are cold so they go to the M.C., the matter compiler, to make a blanket. This device makes originality very rare here, and some people pay exceptional amounts of money for it. The book, overall, is good, but does have a bit of a drawn out ending. I would recommend this book to the serious reader who enjoys technology and interesting advancements in it.
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