| Village Voice calls Neal Stephenson "the Quentin Tarantino of
postcyberpunk science fiction" on the cover of The Diamond Age (1995)
499 pages Penguin - £6.99. The Diamond Age or A Young Lady’s
Illustrated Primer concerns John Percival Hackworth, a nanotechnologist
who lives in a ‘tribe’ of neo-Victorians who rule a 21st
century Atlantis / Shangai. Hackworth creates a magical book for the
education of a young lady (similar to a PDA) which is crammed with
folklore, science and the martial arts. It is intended as a means of
teaching young women of the upper social strata how to think for
themselves. Unfortunately for Hackworth, an illegal copy falls into the
hands of Nell, a poor orphan girl. At its most basic, this is a 21st
century version of Pygmalion. However, it is also a broad prediction of
the possible structure of society when and if nanotechnology takes off. As
usual, Stephenson uses his powerful imagination to good effect, painting a
full and robust description of a multi-layered society.
At a pinch it could be called Cyberpunk, but equally it could be called
Nanobotpunk or whatever that particular genre is called by the
cognoscenti. Anyone who has read his Snow Crash will recognise the style.
There is an online magazine devoted to the subject of Nanotechnology at www.nanozine.com
for those that are interested; and an interview with Stephenson on
www.amazon.com
What is not in doubt is whether it is science fiction, unlike Stephenson’s
next offering : Cryptonomicon (1999) 918 pages Arrow - £7.99.
I have always been interested in Cryptanalysis, and combined with Neal
Stephenson as the author, I couldn’t resist this latest epic. There are
a couple of points to make before you, as SF & F readers get too
excited. Firstly, whatever the back cover says, in my opinion, this is NOT
SF or Cyberpunk or anything loosely related to the science fiction genre -
it is more a blend of World War 2 and modern-day thriller. Secondly,
whilst his characterisations are sometimes lacking in his SF novels such
as Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, on this occasion they are much more
rounded. In fact it could be argued that they were written by different
authors. The plot at times could have been more complex, but it is well
fleshed out.
So is he the Quentin Tarantino of post-cyberpunk SF? It would have to
be a pretty remarkable book to be as innovative as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir
Dogs, etc. The Diamond Age has some exciting new plot ideas, and
Cryptnomicon chops around quite a bit in a similar fashion to Pulp
Fiction. It is
a very eye-catching hook, but hardly. Equally he could be nominated as the
"Joseph Heller of modern-day thrillers". However I suspect that
wouldn’t sell as many copies.
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