Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson



This is a stark view our humankind's not so distant future. The world has been broken apart and separated into albeit smaller, more powerful forces. The United States of America's government has been reduce to several small fenced-in miles, hosting boring gray-stone official looking buildings that do an incredible amount of nothing to help govern their remaining citizen. Yet those still employed by the USA are subjected to the most rigorous, stress filled exams almost weekly, to obviously ensure that they are not giving away secrets. The only way to unwind and not succumb to complete and total insanity is to spend your every waking moment in a virtual reality known as, "The Meta Verse."

With the downfall of any real organized government, naturally the Mafia is at an all time high in ownership, however crime is no longer their number 1 import/export, ironically enough, delivering pizza in less than 30 is Uncle Enzo's top priority, and at a 99.99% customer satisfaction rating he aims to keep it that way.

Insert main character Hiro Protagonist, appropriately named. Hiro deliver's for Uncle Enzo but after having a rather strange run-in with a local courier his life and entire understanding changes drastically. After losing his Mafia pizza delivery job Hiro spends quite a bit of time surfing around the Meta Verse. Here anything goes. You can purchase actual real-estate, build houses, customize your avatar to your sad little hearts content, and as some of the most proactive hackers have recently discovered do drugs. Insert Snow Crash. This however is not a drug, it's a virus and it's slowly taking over the entire world. Below are some of my favorite quotes:

"Now I have a different perspective on it. America must look, to those poor little buggers down there, about the same as Crete looked to those poor Greek suckers. Except that there's no coercion involved. Those people down there gve up their children willingly. Send them into the labyrinth by the millions to be eaten up. The industry feeds on them and spits them back images, sends out wealth and exotics things beyond their wildest dreams, back to the people, and it gives them something to dream about, something to aspire to. And that is the function of the Raft. It's just a big old krill carrier." [Chapter 14, Page 119]

"The people of America, who live in the world's most surprising and terrible country, take comfort in that motto. Follow the loglo outward, to where the growth is enfolded into the valleys and canyons, and you find the and of the refugees" [Chapter 24, Page 191]

Hiro, along with several colorful characters, including the Courier that cost him his job, Y.T. [presumably meaning Yours Truly] set out on an insane rumpus to discover those behind Snow Crash and try to put an end to it before the world is destroyed.

For more information on Snow Crash or Neal Stephenson, please visit his Goodreads page.

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