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Summary: I WANT MORE WRITE FASTER
Review: One of the greatest things about Neal's books is that they arent a series where you have to wait for another book, to finish the stories. This is also the worst thing about them becase when you are done with one of his books you want to consume more of the incredible near future worlds that he creates. And you want to see where the characters progress after the books. I guess great fiction always leaves you wanting more of the authors writing. It is no surprise that three of his books are ranked so highly in sales.
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Summary: Pynchon for the new century
Review: Okay, my favorite authors are Pynchon, Umberto Eco and Haruki Murakami - and Stephenson's now added to the pantheon. If you like densely-crafted prose, complex ruminations on the esoteric order underlying chaos, subtle and complex social criticism, you'll love The Diamond Age. The ending completely threw me, though, and I was up half the night coordinating the various factions' views about technology and social control, and didn't get the pieces to fit together. I don't blame my confusion on the author (though I do think the climax was a little rushed) - rather, I think it's a sign of his ability to paint a balanced portrait of all his characters and cultures. There's no easy distinction between white hats and black hats - and the nature of the vice of hypocrisy is one of his themes, which comes into play heavily in the final scenes, I think. A brilliant, rich, complex work - and the indgredient list for "McWhorter's Original Condiment" is one of the funniest paragraphs I've ever read
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Summary: Great story... until it falls apart.
Review: I bought this book after reading "Snow Crash", which I thought was a really good book. It was with this expectations that I started reading "The Diamond Age." I loved the way he built upon the girl Nell, and how the story unfolded. Until around the middle of the book, when it gave me the impression that I was reading two or three different books at the same time. I was very disappointed by this (not to mention the ending). Buy this book if you like to change the channel in your TV every 5 seconds, but don't buy it if you like a good, solid story from start to end.
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Summary: i loved it..
Review: this is his best work yet!
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Summary: Wow!
Review: This book is one of the greatest books I've read in a long while. Together with SNOWCRASH is THE DIAMOND AGE one of the top Sf books ever written
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Summary: Absorbing though not quite coherent
Review: I found the world of this novel very engaging and vivid. The nanotech is a plausible extrapolation of today's fumbling attempts at atom manipulation, and Stephenson draws out some of the fascinating consequences of this technology (some of which are very disturbing, such as nanotechnological parasites, or "nanosites"). The cultural speculations are also rich and interesting: neo-Victorians, neo-Confucians, and a world organized not by nation-states, but by "phyles." I thought the characterization was a little simplistic, but I didn't mind. I did get a bit annoyed by the leaps in logic in the plot. If you try to figure out the connections, you're going to fail. In Stephenson's defense, I guess he is experimenting with connections that operate on the level of the collective unconscious. This is what's going on in the most bizarre parts of the novel, the scenes set among "the Drummers" -- a phyle that lives in undersea caverns, in a continual state of zombie-like sexual ritual, their minds linked by nanosites. The nanosites carry out computations, exchanging information with every fornication, in what Stephenson dubs "the wet net." A creepy idea.
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Summary: I am pleasantly surprised
Review: I was very pleased to see an author improve through time and work. Zodiac was fun (not too deep but fun), while Snowcrash was fine (fun again, but not too deep). Diamond Age is a leap and a homage to the Victorian school of science fiction as exemplified by Gibson and Sterling's _the Analytical Machine_ and other works. Stephenson handles female characters well and that is something to be proud of in a genre that has not been favourable towards complex female portrayals. I am further pleased that Stephenson has not fallen into the sequel trap but continued to explore other areas. I am one of those readers who always years to visit again worlds and locations e.g., Earthclan/Uplift saga but understand the need to step away (that is life). I would definitely take this book with me travelling and would definitely read it again. A fine work and good contribution to the field.
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Summary: The Diamond Age - The Way Science Fiction Novels Should Be
Review: Classically, there are several types of science fiction worlds, one of which is based on a single or several technological trends extrapolated to their logical conclusion. The Diamond Age is one of the best contemporary examples of this type, as Stephenson creates an extensive sociopolitical and technological landscape based on Humankind's mastery of nanotechnology. The advantage of this type of science fiction, as Stephenson clearly shows, is that human nature can be explored in a context different from our own, providing the reader with greater insight into people, just as other great authors of the past have done.
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Summary: pseudo intellectual garbage
Review: It is disconcering to find, that like in the world of art, the incomprehensible is seen as denoting a fine work. This read was tantamount to having a bad acid trip. The author has no concept of science and attempts to so confuse the reader that the reader is supposed to see greatness in a work that is merely jejune.
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Summary: We liked the ending!
Review: This book grabbed us and kept us delighted til the end. I started reading it again immediately something I am not prone to do. The image of the disenchanted army is one that will not soon leave our minds and dreams. The ending was uplifting and satisfying. We felt that there is a Hollywood mentality for most readers who would like the endings of books to tie up all loose ends and not pose any ambiguities. Humans have a unique and marvelous ability to hold conflicting thoughts and emotions simultaneously. Stephenson portrays this elegantly. We say bah humbug to those that want their reading to be pablum and speaking of bah humbug does anyone out there read Dickens anymore? It might have helped in understanding a novel so sweeping and unafraid to be heartfelt- even corny by times.
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