I was nervous to read Snow Crash again because it was a really impactful book for me in high-school. If anything, it was even better than I remembered - the action and big tech ideas had stuck with me, but I'd forgotten how funny this book is!
Here's the setup (back of the book style, but in spoiler tags in case you like to go in totally blind): >!Hiro Protagonist (yes, you read that right - the book really isn't trying to take itself too seriously) is a self-described hacker working as a pizza-delivery driver and living in a storage unit at LAX.!<
>!He lives in a US that has been fully corporatized - from Judge Bob’s Judicial System to Pastor Wayne’s Pearly Gates.!<
>!To get away, Hiro spends much of his free-time in the Metaverse, where he wrote many of the subroutines that underpin the virtual world. One of his hacker friends, Da5id, is given a new virtual drug called Snow Crash that not only crashes his computer, but also destroys his brain in the real world. Hiro (and a hilarious cadre of friends) are drawn ever deeper into the worldwide conspiracy that is spilling out of the virtual world to threaten the real world.!<
There are so many things about this book I love, but I’ll try to pick just a few to highlight:
First, the big tech ideas that stuck with me over the twenty years since I read it the first time. It has the most fun and engrossing description of a VR world that I've read so far - it's everything Ready Player One was trying to be and so much more. It even coined the term Metaverse! Then there is the skateboard with smart wheels that adjusts to the terrain so you can skate right over potholes (or even down a forested hillside). A nuclear-powered gatling gun in a suitcase. And so, so many others.
The narrative voice is also amazing and truly unique. Humor rare in sci-fi, but this book shows that it can be done really successfully. The narrator establishes the general satirical tone, but it also adjusts to match whichever character it's currently following. That match of narrative voice to character brings us into the world in a much deeper way, and is also a big part of making all characters so likeable and fun. Are they burnouts or are they superheroes? Why not both!
One watch out - there is one cringe-inducing section of the book where one of the main characters, who is 15, gets sexually involved with an adult. Its a bad guy who is pursuing her, so presumably Neal Stephenson would say it was part of establishing him as evil - but it still feels like it could have been avoided without taking anything away from the book.
Finally, the 'big idea' underneath the novel is really interesting. I won't spoil anything, but let's just say its about the intersection of language, religion, and ideas as viruses and potential tools of control. The actual details of how Snow Crash itself works in the book are a little ridiculous, but given the overall ridiculous tone of the novel it totally fits, and doesn't take away from the very-thought provoking big idea.
If you haven't read it, check it out - you're in for such a fun, wild ride!
PS: Part of an ongoing series covering the best sci-fi books of all time. If you're interested in other great SF books, a deeper discussion about Snow Crash, or related book recommendations search 'Hugonauts' on your podcast app of choice or youtube. Happy reading y'all!