Reddit reviews Snow Crash: A Novel
We found 20 Reddit comments about Snow Crash: A Novel. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Reddit reviews Snow Crash: A NovelWe found 20 Reddit comments about Snow Crash: A Novel. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Try Fallen Dragon by Hamilton..
Also Snow Crash, which does have another book in it's universe but is stand alone, the other book is Diamond Age Which I also recommend. If you end up liking Stephenson then try Anathem.
I too am a fan of stand alone novels, I wish author weren't pressured to turn everything into a saga.
I'm slowly but surely reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. ($9.99)
I'm traditionally more of a movie guy than a book guy, but my quest for more great cyberpunk has lead me all the way back to the roots of the genre. It's really cool to look back at what an author believed the future would be like, especially when they're right about parts.
Because Snow Crash was such an engrossing story.
This might seem like an off-the-wall suggestion, but Snow Crash satisfies your requirements, and is fantastic.
It's science fiction--cyberpunk, actually--from the early 90s, foundational to many modern concepts and ideas (the internet, viral media, avatars, etc), but the protagonist (whose name is, in fact, Hiro Protagonist) is the self-described Greatest Sword-fighter in the World. Of course he's also one of the only sword-fighters left, but his enemy in the novel wields monomolecular glass knives and can't be killed without killing yourself, so he gets lots of practice.
Seen from this zoom level it probably sounds cheesy, and the style is very manic, very old-school-90s-cool, but once it hooks you it becomes very serious, very hardcore, and one of the best novels you will ever read.
There's a fair amount of sword fighting, everything from Kendo screaming-at-the-other-guy to Pirate ship deck fights to cyberspace lightning duels to race riot bar brawls. Although he probably wasn't at the time, Stephenson is now an expert in swords, from forging them to using them, and what he lacked in knowledge as he wrote Snow Crash he certainly makes up for with enthusiasm.
It's worth a try, if you haven't read it already, and its future is, more or less, our present, minus the exaggerations. Which is an accomplishment in and of itself.
Edit: Fixed the link.
I don't know if 'beautifully written' is the way I would describe it, but the first 100 pages of Snow Crash are amazing. Read the 'Look Inside' at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBJCJE/
The story slows down after that, but I think it's still a fun read.
Fiction Books
Cryptonomicon - Very few books make up a cypher system based on playing cards, have a story that spans WW2 through the present day and in large part revolve around creating an alternate digital currency, a data haven and startup life.
Neuromancer - this is the book that created cyberpunk and that inspired all those bad movie ideas about hacking in 3D systems. That being said, it marked a real turning point in SciFi. Without this book "cyber" security specialists would probably be called something else.
Snow Crash - This is much more breezy than the other two but still has very recognizable hacking/security elements to it and is just fun.
Non Fiction
Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman - This isn't a book about technology so much as deduction and figuring things out (while being hilariously entertaining).
I included all these here in large part because they are what inspired me to get into development and sysadmin work and I bet that I'm about 20 years older than you if you're just getting into the field - so there's a decent chance that your coworkers are into them too.
Another vote for Snowcrash - and a link.
https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Novel-Neal-Stephenson-ebook/dp/B000FBJCJE/
Paid reviews are why I don't pay much attention to individual reviews, but the distribution of the ratings. Take Stephenson's Snow Crash, for example. 44 people gave it one star, but more people gave it two, and on up until 444 people gave it five stars. The distribution can be manipulated, too, but it's more difficult to because there are many honest reviewers as well.
A good distribution of ratings doesn't mean I'll like it, but at least it give me
domesome indication. Look at Fifty Shades of Grey. You either love it or hate it; I suspect I'd be in the latter.Edit: typo
For more on the history of Doom and Quake's development, check out the book Masters of Doom which chronicles both John Carmack's and John Romero's lives, and includes anecdotes from Michael Abrash.
You might also be interested in reading Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book, published in 1997 as a compilation of Michael's writings on assembly and graphics programming, as well as a specific chapter on Doom and Quake technology. It is fully available for free online.
The "Metaverse" that Michael Abrash references in his announcement is from Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. His vision of a virtual reality that inspired so many others is described on pages 23 to 27 from that novel and can be read online for free.
For some reason this didn't show up the first time I posted, so sorry if it shows up twice :-)
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2 (Snow is kind of reminiscent of rain)
3 (food related because I would serve hot meals on it; unusual because it is multifunctional)
4 is for my two year old daughter because she has the normal version, but loves it so much (probably her favorite thing) that it is now in three pieces with the cover off and losing pages every day, but this one has a carry handle and is smaller for toddlers and easier to carry around.
5 You need to read it because I've been told I need to read it.
6
7 because Catwoman
8 The picture of beauty! :-)
9 Because it's a classic. . . it's sweet, has adventure, and teamwork. . . dinosaurs.
10 because it's a sword that I will always have with me because it's a keychain
11 I'm on my 4th week of P90x, and I hate yoga day because I can't do all the moves, so I don't have the desire to do it, but this would help on moves where I am not as flexible.
12 I want these so I can make necklaces with them.
13 Because it has a swingset and a playhouse and my daughter (and when he's older, my son too) would love this, and I love them very much. So seeing them happy makes me happy :-).
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15 seeds are much smaller than golfballs
16 Nothing smells as good as a freshly bathed baby :-)
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18 I could practice my letters and spelling (as long as each letter was only used once) :-)
19 My current obsession is being a mom! All of my other obsessions are geeky stuff, so this is perfect!
20 I know this really needs no explanation as to why it is so grand and awe-inspiring, but here are 10 good reasons. . . First of all, it's huge because it's a rug. Second of all, it is from one of the greatest movies of all time, Star Wars Episode V. Third, it looks sooooo soft (it's so fluffy, I'm going to die). Fourth, how many people do you know who have this in their home? Fifth, it has claws. Sixth, it's smiling. Seventh, you could hide under it during a home invasion. Eighth, you could cover up with it if your power went out in a snowstorm. Ninth, (since you love cats) I bet cats love laying on a wampa rug. Finally tenth, it would be the perfect addition to this boy's nursery (I've shown this picture a lot on RAoA, but I can't help it. He's too cute!)
Bonus Item 1 will be PMd to you when I found out your real name, not if but when :-)
Bonus Item 2 Looks yummy!
fear cuts deeper than swords
This was super fun by the way! Thanks!
Some great books already on this list, I'll add in a few that I would also recommend, or that I see come up a lot:
Have fun dude!
Metagame
Ready Player One
Snow Crash
Tom Clancy's Net Force series
Oh man. I would really like a Kindle Fire for the added functionality. I'd really enjoy it for being able to get children's books and putting movies on it for my son for those long road trips and such. It'd also be neat for getting some ebooks for some harder to find books. Would really like Snow Crash actually. One of those books I've been wanting to read since I was in high school, but never really had a chance at it.
Oh, and thank you for the wonderful contest. You're going to make somebody's day. Heh.
Most of this is copypasta from another reply on this thread, since it seemed silly to just rephrase all the things. Please note the last paragraph if none of these seem fun. I read a lot, mostly exclusively SF/F (both adult and YA), and boy do I have opinions on it. And if you're not a reader starting with YA is a thought. There's a lot of fun, intelligent YA out there now as publishers realize teens don't actually want to be treated like they're stupid.
For a low commitment (i.e. not part of a series), humorous start there's Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman's Good Omens. I like a lot of Gaiman's work, which ranges from the strange and humorous (see: GO) to the strange and creepy (Anasazi Boys), but what I'd recommend from him depends on what you're looking for.
In the funny but harder scifi range I'd rec the beloved classic Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. This is seriously one of the wittiest books I've ever read besides being an action-packed scifi romp.
If you're interested in urban fantasy I have all the recs. Everything from Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series Book 1: Storm Front, for the grown-up wizard, to Seanan McGuire's October Daye series Book 1: Rosemary and Rue, if you're more into fae.
For the dark and more sexual (seriously, there is sex in these books) I highly recommend the Fever Series by Karen Moning, Book 1: Darkfever.
If you like SF/F books (like Discworld, Animorphs, etc.) let me know what subgenres (e.g. hard scifi, urban fantasy, urban scifi, fantasy romance, young adult _____ ) you think you might like and I guarantee you I have a recommendation or two. I read a lot.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBJCJE/#nav-subnav
For a FUN way to learn more about this, I recommend Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson ... a cyberpunk classic:
http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Bantam-Spectra-Book-ebook/dp/B000FBJCJE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1420319656&sr=1-1&keywords=snowcrash
You have described one of the major plot themes of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
Might be fun for you to read that book. It's classic dystopian hard science fiction, and still relevant today (though the dates are a bit wonky now).
Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
Someone never read Snow Crash