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ted_funsten's review against another edition
3.0
Fun book. I thought the start was strong and there were some fun images, like a robot sentry cruising the hills of wealthy suburbs in Washington state. The ending was lame, as I recall.
lotak's review against another edition
1.0
Diamond Age began with fascinating ideas and a great plot. 4 stars and I was hoping for 5. Half way through it completely tanked and I lost all interest in the story.
angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
2.0
Per the usual, when I read The Baroque Cycle, I evidently read Stephenson’s three best books. All three earned 5-stars. This one just squeaked in at 2-stars, but I honestly could’ve gone with one. For the most part it was a not very interesting fantasy slog. I battled to keep pushing forward on a daily basis, waiting for the story to turn into something incredible, but ultimately that transition never occurred.
caszius's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cjblandford's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a confounding book. The second half felt very different from the first half and it went places I did not expect. It almost felt like we got the major plot points without any of the clever, insightful prose because the author was coming up against a deadline or something. Like most Neal Stephenson books there were some really interesting ideas and concepts here, but not much of a story, or hook. I hated what happened to Nell's character towards the end of the book and the ending itself was very abrupt.
ataraxiary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cheerfulstate's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This was loaned to me by a friend – who has been doing her own deep dive into Neal Stephenson – as a starting point of a sort to get into the rest of his work.
This fit for me somewhere in an experiential Venn diagram of reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Ishmael, and A Psalm for the Wild-Built. I found it a little dense/slow to begin with but once it was clear that we were headed in a specific direction, and doing so with evident skill, I was eager to stick around and find out.
This fit for me somewhere in an experiential Venn diagram of reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Ishmael, and A Psalm for the Wild-Built. I found it a little dense/slow to begin with but once it was clear that we were headed in a specific direction, and doing so with evident skill, I was eager to stick around and find out.
katieinca's review against another edition
5.0
It's Neal Stephenson, but with girls! As actual characters!
I actually didn't love it quite as much as I expected to, call it a 4.5. Probably some combination of extremely high expectations, complete unfamiliarity with Chinese culture and geography, and the squick factor of the Drummers.
I actually didn't love it quite as much as I expected to, call it a 4.5. Probably some combination of extremely high expectations, complete unfamiliarity with Chinese culture and geography, and the squick factor of the Drummers.
edriessen's review against another edition
5.0
The first part of this story I’m thinking ‘how does this world work?!’, and soon enough, the story gets going.
I especially liked this book because both for me, the reader, and for one of the main characters, a book is used to tell a story. And for both, the story in the book gets clearer towards the end. These sections are like a cyberpunk version of ‘Sophie’s World’ in a sense.
Besides that, I love Stephenson’s world building. He touches on topics like nanotechnology, our current screen culture, deep fakes, and personalisation, all in a casual way. Not explaining it in too much detail, he leaves room for the reader to interpret it in their own ways. And I like that.
And again, he has created some great characters. Both mains and sides. One of my favorites was Judge Fang.
I especially liked this book because both for me, the reader, and for one of the main characters, a book is used to tell a story. And for both, the story in the book gets clearer towards the end. These sections are like a cyberpunk version of ‘Sophie’s World’ in a sense.
Besides that, I love Stephenson’s world building. He touches on topics like nanotechnology, our current screen culture, deep fakes, and personalisation, all in a casual way. Not explaining it in too much detail, he leaves room for the reader to interpret it in their own ways. And I like that.
And again, he has created some great characters. Both mains and sides. One of my favorites was Judge Fang.