SNOWCRASH by Neal Stephenson

Narrated by Jonathan Davis

Babel Infocalypse

Ultima Ratio Regium – The Last Argument of Kings

This is my favorite Neal Stephenson novel.  I read it years ago and after listening to READY PLAYER ONE by Ernst Cline I thought I would revisit some related virtual reality novels. It has all the street lingo and tech savvy one would expect from state of the art cyber-punk and doesn't get so bogged down in the details to forget to make things fun. The characters are very engaging and easy to relate to, which allows the listener to navigate in and out of situations so foreign to normality that they would otherwise be alienating; Stephenson here handles them in a masterly fashion. He has created a high-tech post-civilized civilization where national governments compete with local business franchises for relevancy in the economy.

Along the way Stephenson manages to take time to deliver a Liberal’s take on some of the cherished truths of Christianity, but don’t let that disturb you too much, it is all part of an involved, and quite ingenious, explanation of Sumerian myth and how it connects to computer virus infestation. Believe it or not, that last sentence will actually make sense after you have listened to the book. It seems more like an intellectual exercise as a plot device than it does as a revisionist assault on the truth. Stephenson is prone to taking the listener on long rabbit trails, but in this book they themselves are interesting and add to the texture of the story. On such diversions your mind sort of places itself on hold and goes with flow until the side-bar is over, then the story can resume, but with the necessary background to enrich it with significance.

Jonathan Davis proves again that he is in the top rank of performers with a reading that is so spot on that it becomes transparent. The book becomes part of your consciousness like a waking dream. If you like this try his reading of Gene Wolfe’s THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN: a completely different book, but masterful just the same on a whole different level.

Beware! The language of this novel is so cool that it will make you think you can effortlessly smooth your way into Gangland USA or hang with nuke-wielding bikers just by mentioning your mad hacking skills. Stick to reality! Remove your earbuds, take twenty deep breaths and order a pizza. And if the delivery guy’s name is Hiro it does not mean that you have lost your grip on reality. It is just a coincidence. Now if he is also wearing a Samurai sword…