Snow Crash

I was instantly captivated by the name of this book’s lead character: Hiro Protagonist. Yes, he’s a nerd and an expert hacker, but he’s also much more than that. Hiro delivers pizza, does swordplay, and has trouble surviving in the world, like so many people.

He’s real, and his partnership with two adventurous women makes his journey even more appealing.

I’m an action guy. It drives me. So when you have a very well-developed sci-fi dystopia that asks tough questions about consumerism, corporate power, and our growing addiction to tech, and it’s loaded with action, I’m in.

This is that book, and while the actual writing is not always to my specific taste, the overall presentation is masterful. And did I mention action-packed? Looking back, Stephenson’s depiction of our addiction to technology is basically prophetic. Put this one on your list.

Out of the Cold War and into the Metaverse, this was published in 1992 and captures the infancy of the Information Age we live in. More so than the other novels on the list, this story is fun, on top of being wildly creative and smart.

Whether it’s riffing on anarcho-capitalist enclaves run by franchisee governments, the pathology of language and ancient Babylonian grammar, or the ups and downs of being the world’s best swordsman online but a pizza delivery driver for the mafia in real life, the story exudes a manic energy and levity brought on by the… show more.

A virus that moves through language? It's insane, and yet, I can’t stop seeing it in action.

When I first started the book, I had to roll my eyes at the cliché of a protagonist in a videogame who was also one of the most renowned samurais in the world. It explored themes that, at the beginning, seemed so comical. And yet, I finished that book and walked away feeling pensive.

I knew inherently that a language can be destructive. It can sow discord and preach hate. But the perspective of seeing it as a virus brought a whole new… show more.

The OG Metaverse novel is still as smart, hilarious, rollicking, and inspirational as it was 30 years ago.

I’m amazed at how many technologists talking about the concept have not read it and realized how influential and prophetic it actually is, envisioning scenes of virtual life that have since become commonplace for millions of Internet denizens.

Often pigeonholed as a standard dystopian sci-fi tale, Snow Crash is too sly, satirical, and kinetic to fit that category. And reading it will clarify why so many people in tech have yearned to build something like the Metaverse for decades, even referencing it… show more.

Snow Crash was written as the Cold War came to an end and imagines how globalization and cyberspace might develop across the United States.

There is not much left of the U.S. besides the “Feds,” who can barely keep their act together. There are only four things the United States can do better than anyone else: music, movies, microcode, and high-speed pizza delivery. 

The country is littered with FOQNEs, Franchise-Organized Quasi-National Entities, and Burbclaves, which are thematic near-sovereign, gated communities. And, by the way, this is where Zuckerberg got the term “Metaverse.” Stephenson should sue.

Stephenson is credited for coining the suddenly ubiquitous term, the “metaverse” in his first big novel, Snow Crash which came out in 1992 about a near future where everybody is always online in virtual reality. Beyond its novel ideas about technology, and galaxy brain ideas about how memes can infect human brains in the same way that viruses infect computers, the part that got me is its ideas on how society is organized which echoes my own work on how game theory helps us understand political institutions. It helps us understand the fundamental building blocks of government and what might… show more.

Cyberpunk meets old noir. It's sci-fi but dipped in lonely isolation with a cast of characters who skateboard and shoot themselves into and out of impossible predicaments. The book was published in 1992 and described and predicted the aether-connected world we now all live in. Stephenson coined the phrase 'Metaverse' in this book.

I thought it was perfect that the main protagonist is named Hiro Protagonist in the story to make it clear I should not overthink things as I got to enjoy the action-filled adventure.

And I learned a lot about the deadly career of a pizza delivery boy.

The story jumps between a dark future real world and the VR world of the Metaverse, keeping you guessing as it plays with your sense of reality.

Watching as Hiro makes his way through a crumbling and unfair society, ruled over by the wealthy and corrupt I felt made for a powerfully relevant… show more.

The protagonist is a pizza-delivery man and hacker named Hiro Protagonist. I couldn’t stop laughing and couldn’t stop reading after that! The worldbuilding, the humour, and all the kitschy weirdness it features had an incredible impact on me. Besides, the Metaverse is amazingly described. I also appreciated for a male-authored story from the ‘90s to mention a device like the Dentata. I won’t spoil what it is….