Neal Stephenson
Sweet novel by Neal Stephenson. Set in the near future, the US has fallen into a collection of corporations controlling everything from Suburbia and Religion to Pizza Delivery. The Metaverse becomes the global vessel for person to person interaction, and Hiro, the main character knows his shit about the metaverse. But when Da5id, Hiro’s close friend and co-conspirating hacker is infected with a deadly virus after watching a virtual video, Hiro knows something big is happening.
I read this all in one day, starting after lunch and finishing just after dinner. I couldn’t put it down for more then a drink, trip to the bathroom and maybe quick snack. It was fascinating. Lots of interesting ideas.
The idea of the story really is good, the book reminded of a Dan Brown, but with about sixty times the interesting ideas and plot features that make you turn Brown’s pages.
Language is one of my favorite things right now, the idea of communication in different ways, how the brain works with language, and all the linguistic ideas in this book were great.
On page 256 Hiro enters one of his dialogues with the Librarian, in which the universalist and relativist theories of linguistics are glossed over, as they relate to Lagos’ ideas on the Tower of Babel. Page 369 is where the whole story comes together, with all the Asherah and virus talk, and makes about ten marvelous pages.
The action in the book is great too, with battles and chases galore.