Overall, I really loved this book. It was such a change from Smart Mobs and definitely something more in the genre that I love to read. That being said, I felt really jipped by the ending. It was so quick and there was almost no character resolution at all. No, I take that back, there was none. So as a piece of fiction, I really feel that that was something Stephenson should have addressed. Yes, it is open-ended, but what the hell happened to Raven? Does Y.T. reconcile with her mom? Does her mom quit the Feds? Do Hiro and Juanita get together? How does that go? What happened to Da5id? What happens to all the people on the Raft? What about the Pearly Gates place? Stephenson leaves us with so many questions and as an author he really should have known better.
Regardless, I really enjoyed his writing style. A little bit that I found especially hilarious was: "A couple of youths are playing video games inside, and they barely look up at the astonishing sight of the chopper" (441). To me, that was a humongous piece of social commentary, that the kids were so wrapped up in their games that something as crazy as a helicopter landing in their backyard doesn't phase them.
Unfortunately I don't have much to say in terms of technology and stuff. In fact, I'd say that some things will always be the same ("history is doomed to repeat itself"). It's interesting that at the base of it all this scifi novel is about a virus that is transmitted through the most basic of forms.
As a really extreme side note, I love the About the Author in the back. Did anybody else read that? It's great.
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