Classic Science Fiction Novels, March 2012

The United States is no longer whole. It has sold of great swaths of itself to corporations with societies within these segments existing in a state of anarcho-capitalism. The Metaverse has overtaken the internet; essentially a Second Life-style other world by which people interact. A new pseudo-narcotic is becoming all the rage: Snow Crash. The effects of the drug exist in real life AND in the Metaverse and is distributed via churches. SNOW CRASH is a remarkable novel, a merging of virtual reality and Sumerian mythology that proceed at a remarkable pace. While there is much here to remind a reader of William Gibson, Stephenson presents his own unique ideas and touches them with doses of humor. SNOW CRASH stands alongside Gibson's NEUROMANCER as iconic moments in cyberpunk sci-fi.