| Author: |
|
Neal Stephenson
|
| Title: |
 |
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer |
| Moochable copies: |
|
No copies available |
| Recommended: |
|
| Topics: |
|
| Published in: |
|
English |
| Binding: |
|
Paperback |
| Pages: |
|
512 |
| Date: |
|
1998-08-27 |
| ASIN/ISBN: |
|
014027037X |
| Publisher: |
|
Penguin Books Ltd |
| Size: |
|
x 110 x 180 millimeters |
| Previous givers: |
|
| Previous moochers: |
|
| Wishlists: |
|
| Reviews: |
|
cyberpoet (USA: FL) (2008/12/29):
Like everything I have read by Stephenson, this one was a superb work that belies the state of the SciFi writing industry as a whole. Deep, exceptionally well thought-out, plausible given the concept of nano-scale automation being feasible.
True hard-core SciFi meets the Sherlock-Holmes-like victorian era. Set in a future greater-Shanghai, the city's wealthier sections (think suburb developments) are divided into enclaves, each of which has specific rules and themes, and most of which are not accessible to the public in general.
The core one to our protagonist is an enclave made to resemble victorian England, complete with mores and ethos affiliated with it. Set against this back-drop, a wealthy man has hired a programmer to create an illustrated (computerized) primer targeted specifically for his grand-daughter, to help her see the world according to his desires. When an illegal copy of the primer falls into the hands of a working class girl, the story truly starts to go into full gear, with twists and turns (and story sections divied up by various view-points in a chronological order) befitting of a Tom Clancy novel.
Exceptional book, and one of the ten best I've read over the past decade.
|
|
|
