Book #13 - Diamond Age

The follow on to Snow Crash, or at least that's what I read. However really it's a different world in Diamond Age, a future world where countries have essentially broken down and merged, with different ones. We seem to have ethnic areas, like New Shanghai, and the North American territories.

In this world, nanotechnology abounds, but the richest, most interesting people have adapted it backwards to Victorian ages. In a world where materializers can make anything from matter, which must be recycled because the matter itself is limited, having original crafted items is desired.

In this world, one man is contracted to build a nanotechnology book that will help his daughter grow up and guide her with interactivity. He steals a copy of the book, and loses it, having it wind up in the hands of a poor girl.

The book goes in multiple areas, we follow young Nell as she runs away from her mother, she is taken into  a Victorian society, and she grows in her schooling, using the Primer book as a way to gain an advantage over the others. We also follow the man who stole a copy of the book, as he falls from grace, is arrested, and eventually sent overseas to learn his sheltered world isn't as simple as he thought. The crime lord also isn't as bad as he seems, trying to prevent the death of many young Asian women. It seems the practice of killing infant females hasn't ended.

It's a wild book, one that describes an amazing world of the future, one that trusts and blends the past with the future. If you've enjoyed other Stephenson's books, you'll like this one. It's a great read, one that I really enjoyed.