About this title: Decades into our future, a brilliant nanotechnologist has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful "Neo-Victorians". He's made an illicit copy of a device designed to raise a girl capable of thinking for herself. Unfortunately for him he loses the copy with disastrous results.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: VIKING
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780670864140ISBN:0670864145
Description: Published by Viking in 1995. Paperback. Number of pages: 464. Condition: Very Good. May show some slight signs of wear. #8369341 Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Binding: Audio Book
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9781586211127ISBN:1586211129
Description: New in New dust jacket. 1586211129. 9 oz.; New Factory Sealed Gift Quality Abridged Audio Book 6 hrs 4 cassettes read by Jennifer Wiltsie. Neo-Victorian and genius nanotechnologist John Percival Hackworth has created an interactive educational device, the Primer, for the granddaughter of one of the rich and powerful. He also has created an illicit copy of the device for his own daughter, but that copy is stolen from him and given to Nell, a child with no prospects for education or advancement. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Bantom Bell
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780553380965ISBN:0553380966
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Great Copy. Binding is tight. Text is very clean and unmarked. Cover has mild edgewear and spine is slightly creased. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 512 p. Bantam Spectra Book. Audience: General/trade. read more
"Up to about halfway through, I was in love with this book, but then Hackworth goes to the Drummers and we skip 10 years, and my thoughts are like this: if you as a writer didn't care about those 10 years enough to write about them, why do I care enough to read them? Worse, science fiction is already more concerned with the ideas than the characters, but when the writer is consciously trying to mimic the further-removed-from-reality discourses of Victorian-era writing, we wind up so distanced from character that honestly? I powered through the last 100 pages more out of feeling of obligation than honest interest in the novel. Then there's the ending. The last 50 pages or so make zero sense given the rest of the novel, and the ending itself seems more like just a stop rather than an ending. So, if you're considering this novel because you loved "Snow Crash" (which was mindblowingly good), skip it, instead. The last 250 pages don't deliver on the fantastic promise that the first 250 showed."
"It's not often that I get to read science fiction where characters wear top hats. That's the sort of class that Neal Stephenson brings to the table.
I entered into "The Diamond Age" with very few preconceptions. The story had been described on Boing Boing, and it intrigued me enough to pick it up. The idea of a girl being raised by a high tech book was a pretty nifty pitch, especially for someone raised on Inspector Gadget cartoons and a love of computers.
The thing that hit me almost immediately is how effortlessly Stephenson is able to render some really sophisticated ideas. His stylish prose dances around complicated visions of a radically different future society built around commerce tribes and nano technology without the explanation ever feeling labored. It makes for a deeply engrossing read, because I never felt like there was a strain to wrap my head around the descriptions.
In style I found the odd reversal of steampunk to be a nice added bonus. One of the most powerful groups in the book was a group of Neo-Victorians who all follow a code of impeccable manners and stylish retro attire. It's good to see more authors who realize that your future setting comes off as less dated when you ground it in a particular motif.
My only real complaints are the few moments when he delves a little too deep into topics that seemed a bit obvious. The long explanation of the internet and how society functioned in a network environment seemed a bit much until I realized that the book was released in 1995, back when the internet was only starting to emerge as a real force. Those small sections are only going to seem more condescending and basic as the years go by.
Otherwise, this was a book I was sad to see end. He created characters you wanted to follow for as long as possible. The plot dodged left every time I expected it to go right, never following conventional expectations. I will most definitely be checking out Stephenson's other titles."
"The Diamond Age is an interesting, mostly thought provoking book, with a fairly creative vision of the future. At the same time it has some serious flaws, especially in the second half of the book, which somewhat derails a lot of ideas that Neal Stephenson sets up. It is by no means a short book, being close to 500 pages, and it has taken me several months of off and on reading to complete it.
There are definitely some good parts to it, including interesting multi-dimensional characters, a look at how societies might form in a technology-immersed future, and most interestingly, the growth and development of the main character, Nell. I didn't quite buy into all of it, especially his views on how societies would be organized, but I give him credit for such an ambitious and detailed vision. Had the book focused on the characters more (especially Nell), it could have been an excellent book.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest problem is that the book buckles under the weight of its own ideas. One of the major premises of the book is the idea of a future with nanotechnology, where almost anything is possible. Nanotechnology is pervasive, creating a futuristic world with lots of imaginative ideas. At the time it was written (1995) I am sure the future Stephenson envisioned was incredibly novel. However he relies on the "wow" of nanotechnology too strongly, especially towards the later half of the book, where he constantly barrages the reader with the idea that nanotechnology can create impossibly light, strong, and complex structures. There also seems to be a lot of contradictions; nanotechnology, powerful and prevalent enough to create buildings hundreds of stories high, is at the same time unable to provide citizens with enough defense to stop a few people with bamboo sticks and crude explosives. Despite the incredibly advanced technology available, much of the action in the book is devoted to people engaged in hand-to-hand combat, either unarmed or with swords. While I understand his attempts to contrast the future's technology with societies grounded firmly in the past (specifically the Neo-Victorians), this made little sense.
Stephenson has similar problems of over-doing a cool idea throughout the book. In the beginning it was Bud and his body tech, such as his skull gun. In the middle, the primer's stories (an interactive storybook meant to teach the reader) weigh the book down. In the end, it's a futuristic Boxer Rebellion, Turing machines, human computers called Drummers, and some oddly thrown together new technology ideas. (Actually, all of this is about 80% of the last 200 pages.) The book is littered with tons of interesting ideas ranging from subversion being healthy for society to the necessity of human interaction in a world dominated by technology. But these take a major back seat to decidedly less interesting ideas.
Overall I liked the book, although the incredibly abrupt ending was off-putting. While I don't expect every loose end to be tied up, I don't think it's appropriate to have almost every plot advancement and reveal happen only in the last 100 pages or so. This flaw aside, the characters themselves are endearing, and take you for an imaginative ride through the future that leaves you constantly wanting to know what's around the next corner."
"This book is pleasantly dense with interesting ideas about what the future holds. The title refers to the progression of material-driven stages of human progress -- the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, etc. In "the Diamond Age", matter compilers can easily create diamonds out of raw carbon. Basic foodstuffs and many other material wants can be satisfied by these matter compilers. This has created a world in which no one need starve. However there are still tremendous disparities between rich and poor, because many human comforts such as entertainment and fine food still require the services of other people, which must be bought in hard currency. Networked nano-technology is all-pervasive, with microscopic robots putting these poorer citizens under constant surveillance. Faced with this hyperactive stew of technologies, ancient instincts and traditions run strong. Crime, poverty, and tribal conflict are still rampant in this world. People cling to old ways of thought (a strong Confucian motif runs through the book) to help make human sense of the rapidly changing world. Against this backdrop, a fantastically advanced piece of technology (a sentient child's primer) is stolen, and winds up in the hands of a destitute young waif named Nell. Her resulting world-class education, and what she does with that education, is the binding for the various threads of the story.
The book's characters are well-realized for the most part, the writing style is honed and mature, the plot is intricate and engaging. The ending is controversial in its ambiguity, but that does not diminish the power of the book as a whole. In all, a very thought-provoking read."
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