“When the Deliverator puts the hammer down, shit happens.”
- Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
Snow Crash is a science fiction novel written by Neal Stephenson. It was published in 1992 and broke new ground as post-cyberpunk tour de force that became an immediate modern science fiction classic. Due to it's original lexicon, Snow Crash is not the easiest of reads initially, but is well worth the investment. The characters are well developed and complex. The story is unique and unfolds as a classic mystery with lots of discovery. As pure escapism, Snow Crash completely transports the reader into an alternate reality of a near future will be immediately recognized.
The novel begins with Hiro Protagonist, last of the freelance hackers and the greatest sword fighter in the world. Hiro works as a high-speed pizza deliverer for the Mafia (a Deliverator). Living in a U-Store-It near the Los Angeles airport, Hiro splits his time between the real world and the Metaverse, a three-dimensional virtual world accessed by personal computers and public terminals. Strapped for cash and living on the edge in reality, Hiro is a warrior prince and one of the original hacker elite that created and developed the Metaverse.
After an unfortunate mishap while delivering a pizza, Hiro teams up with Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a 15 year old female skateboard courier that is streetwise and sassy. Together, Hiro and Y.T are pursued by Raven, an Aleut harpoon Master that drives a motorcycle with a sidecar nuke. Their goal? Unravel the mystery that is Snow Crash, a new a dangerous drug and computer virus.
Snow Crash is a rocket ride from start to finish and one of my favorite novels. It is an absolute recommendation and a must read for any fan of cyberpunk or science fiction. If you have not read Snow Crash, what are you waiting for? If you have read Snow Crash, get comfy and read it again!
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Paper Trail:
▪ Neal Stephenson - Official Web Site
▪ Wikipedia - Snow Crash
▪ Amazon - Snow Crash
▪ Audible - Snow Crash
This post was originally published on Kerrsplat.com, dated October 27, 2013.