Snow Crash

Snow Crash is a 1992 science fiction novel by American author Neal Stephenson. Like many of Stephenson's novels, the book covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, genetics, and philosophy all at once. Stephenson originally planned Snow Crash as a computer-generated graphic novel in collaboration with artist Tony Sheeder. Snow Crash was nominated for the British Science Fiction Award in 1992, and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1993.

The story, a dystopia, opens in Los Angeles in the 21st century, an unspecified number of years after a worldwide economic collapse. Los Angeles is no longer part of the United States, since the federal government has ceded most of its power and territory to private organizations and entrepreneurs. Franchising, individual sovereignty, and private vehicles reign supreme. Mercenary armies compete for national defense contracts while private security guards preserve the peace in sovereign, gated housing developments. Highway companies compete to attract drivers to their roads and all mail delivery is by hired courier. The remnants of government maintain authority only in isolated compounds where they do tedious make-work that is, by and large, irrelevant to the society around them.

Plot
Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia. He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier (courier) who refers to herself in the third person, during a failed attempt to make a delivery on time. Y.T. completes the delivery on his behalf and they strike up a partnership, gathering intel and selling it to the CIC, the for-profit organization that evolved from the CIA's merger with the Library of Congress. Within the Metaverse, Hiro is offered a datafile named Snow Crash by a man named Raven who hints that it is a form of narcotic. Hiro's friend and fellow hacker Da5id views a bitmap image contained in the file which causes his computer to crash and Da5id to suffer brain damage in the real world. Hiro meets his ex-girlfriend Juanita Marquez, who gives him a database containing a large amount of research compiled by her associate, Lagos. This research posits connections between the virus, ancient Sumerian culture, and the legend of the Tower of Babel. Juanita advises him to be careful and disappears.

The Mafia boss Uncle Enzo begins to take a paternal interest in Y.T. Impressed by her attitude and initiative, he arranges to meet her and offers her freelance jobs. Hiro's investigations and Y.T.'s intelligence gathering begin to coincide, with links between the neuro-linguistic viruses, a religious organization known as Reverend Wayne's Pearly Gates and a media magnate named L. Bob Rife beginning to emerge. Lagos's research showed that the ancient Sumerian ur-language allowed brain function to be 'programmed' using audio stimuli in conjunction with a DNA altering virus. Sumerian culture was organized around these programs (known as me) which were administered by priests to the populace. Enki, a figure of legend, developed a counter-virus (known as the nam-shub of Enki) which when delivered stopped the Sumerian language from being processed by the brain and led to the development of other, less literal languages, giving birth to the Babel myth. L. Bob Rife had been collecting Sumerian artifacts and developed the drug Snow Crash in order to make the public vulnerable to new forms of me which he would control. The physical form of the virus is distributed in the form of an addictive drug and within Reverend Wayne's church via infected blood. There is also a digital version to which hackers are especially vulnerable as they are accustomed to processing information in binary form.

Hiro heads north to where the Raft, a huge collection of boats containing Eurasian refugees, is approaching the American coast. The center of the Raft is L Bob Rife's yacht, formerly the USS Enterprise nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Rife has been using the Raft as a mechanism to indoctrinate and infect thousands with the virus and to import it to America. Y.T. is captured and brought to Rife on the Raft, who intends to use her as a hostage, knowing her connection to Uncle Enzo. With help from the Mafia, Hiro makes it onto the raft and recovers the nam-shub of Enki which Rife had been concealing. With help from Juanita who had previously infiltrated the Raft, the nam-shub is read out and Rife's control over the Raft is broken. Rife flees the Raft, taking Y.T., and Raven attempts to activate the digital form of Snow Crash at a virtual concert within the Metaverse. Hiro is able to neutralize the virus and Y.T. escapes. After a confrontation with the Mafia, Raven is injured, and Rife is killed as he attempts to flee on his private jet. Y.T. is reunited with her mother and Hiro and Juanita appear reconciled.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The novel takes place in a future that seems foreign and familiar all at the same time. Distribution of wealth is a problem within the novel, and only a very thin veil stands between the wealthy controlling the rest of the population. That veil is language and the novel focuses on how important language can be.
 * 2) Hiro is an awesome narrator, in that he is very relatable and offers a unique, humorous perspective on a lot of the events going on.
 * 3) The idea of giving language literal magic power, due to the new structures it has to shape society in more depth than it does now, is interesting, particularly with the "universal language" created in the book.
 * 4) The Metaverse, much like the Sprawl in Neuromancer, is very similar to what virtual reality systems and various other networks across the Internet became.
 * 5) While the story is set in the future with advanced technology taking up every aspect of people's lives, there's also a unique combination of fantasy elements and medieval/historical references that make the novel almost science fantasy as well. Hiro is a skilled swordsman, for example, and Raven is very similar to the typical "Ranger" class in RPG games.
 * 6) There are some memorable and interesting twists throughout.
 * 7) Stephenson's worldbuilding is meticulous and honestly masterful, and the attention to detail he has makes it a wonderful reading experience.
 * 8) While it shows negative outcomes of both centralization and decentralization, it still analyzes the Internet and its futures interestingly.
 * 9) Clever title, as a "snow crash" is both an object (drug) talked about in the book and another name for TV static.
 * 10) Also like Neuromancer, this novel was iconic and helped start and spread the cyberpunk genre.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The portrayals of some character's deaths are too fast and almost seem disconnected to the story.
 * 2) There's a lot of filler between important plot points (mostly backstory) that can be tedious to read due to how much of the story it erases. While some parts, like the prehistory of the Metaverse, are interesting reads, others are downright boring.

Trivia

 * 1) Joe Cornish, the director of Attack the Block, stated in an interview that he wants to direct a film based on the book as it is one of his favorites.