Other editions of book The Diamond Age

Vividly imagined, stunningly prophetic, and epic in scope, The Diamond Age is a major novel from one of the most visionary writers of our timeDecades into our future, a stone’s throw from the ancient city of Shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named John Percival Hackworth has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neo-Victorians. He's made an illicit copy of a state-of-the-art interactive device called A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer Commissioned by an eccentric duke for his grandchild, stolen for Hackworth's own daughter, the Primer’s purpose is to educate and raise a girl capable of thinking for herself. It performs its function superbly. Unfortunately for Hackworth, his smuggled copy has fallen into the wrong hands.Young Nell and her brother Harv are thetes—members of the poor, tribeless class. Neglected by their mother, Harv looks after Nell. When he and his gang waylay a certain neo-Victorian—John Percival Hackworth—in the seamy streets of their neighborhood, Harv brings Nell something special: the Primer.Following the discovery of his crime, Hackworth begins an odyssey of his own. Expelled from the neo-Victorian paradise, squeezed by agents of Protocol Enforcement on one side and a Mandarin underworld crime lord on the other, he searches for an elusive figure known as the Alchemist. His quest and Nell’s will ultimately lead them to another seeker whose fate is bound up with the Primer—a woman who holds the key to a vast, subversive information network that is destined to decode and reprogram the future of humanity.

Vividly imagined, stunningly prophetic, and epic in scope, The Diamond Age is a major novel from one of the most visionary writers of our timeDecades into our future, a stone’s throw from the ancient city of Shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named John Percival Hackworth has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neo-Victorians. He's made an illicit copy of a state-of-the-art interactive device called A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer Commissioned by an eccentric duke for his grandchild, stolen for Hackworth's own daughter, the Primer’s purpose is to educate and raise a girl capable of thinking for herself. It performs its function superbly. Unfortunately for Hackworth, his smuggled copy has fallen into the wrong hands.Young Nell and her brother Harv are thetes—members of the poor, tribeless class. Neglected by their mother, Harv looks after Nell. When he and his gang waylay a certain neo-Victorian—John Percival Hackworth—in the seamy streets of their neighborhood, Harv brings Nell something special: the Primer.Following the discovery of his crime, Hackworth begins an odyssey of his own. Expelled from the neo-Victorian paradise, squeezed by agents of Protocol Enforcement on one side and a Mandarin underworld crime lord on the other, he searches for an elusive figure known as the Alchemist. His quest and Nell’s will ultimately lead them to another seeker whose fate is bound up with the Primer—a woman who holds the key to a vast, subversive information network that is destined to decode and reprogram the future of humanity.

Decades into our future, a stone's throw from the ancient city of Shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named John Percival Hackworth has just broken therigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neoVictorians. He's made an illicit copy of a state-of-the-art interactive device called A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer Commissioned by an eccentric duke for his grandchild, stolen for Hackworth's own daughter, the Primer's purpose is to educate and raise a girl capable of thinking for herself. It performs its function superbly. Unfortunately for Hackworth, his smuggled copy has fallen into the wrong hands.Young Nell and her brother Harv are thetes--members of the poor, tribeless class. Neglected by their mother, Harv looks after Nell. When he and his gang waylay a certain neo-Victorian--John Percival Hackworth-- in the seamy streets of their neighborhood, Harv brings Nell something special: the Primer.Following the discovery of his crime, Hackworth begins an odyssey of his own. Expelled from the neo-Victorian paradise, squeezed by agents of ProtocolEnforcement on one side and a Mandarin underworld crime lord on the other, he searches for an elusive figure known as the Alchemist. His quest and Nell'swill ultimately lead them to another seeker whose fate is bound up with the Primer-- a woman who holds the key to a vast, subversive informationnetwork that is destined to decode and reprogram the future of humanity.Vividly imagined, stunningly prophetic, and epic in scope, The Diamond Age is a major novel from one of the most visionary writers of our time

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in twenty-first-century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life — and the entire future of humanity — is about to be decoded and reprogrammed.… “NEAL STEPHENSON IS THE QUENTIN TARANTINO OF POSTCYBERPUNK SCIENCE FICTION.…HAVING FIGURED OUT HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE HELL OUT OF A MASS AUDIENCE, STEPHENSON HAS LIKEWISE UPPED THE FORM’S ANTE WITH RAMBUNCTIOUS GLEE.” — Village Voice “SNOW CRASH DREW ITS MANIC ENERGY FROM THE CYBERPUNKISH CONCEIT THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN VIRTUAL REALITY; IN THE DIAMOND AGE THE WONDERS OF CYBERSPACE PALE BEFORE THE EVEN MORE DAZZLING POWERS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY.” — New York Times Book Review “THE DIAMOND AGE ESTABLISHES NEAL STEPHENSON AS A POWERFUL VOICE FOR THE CYBER AGE…AT ONCE WHIMSICAL, SATIRICAL, AND CAUTIONARY.” — USA Today “STEPHENSON’S WORLD-BUILDING SKILLS ARE EXTRAORDINARY.…THE DIAMOND AGE SHOULD CEMENT STEPHENSON’S REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST AND WITTIEST YOUNG AUTHORS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in twenty-first-century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life — and the entire future of humanity — is about to be decoded and reprogrammed.… “NEAL STEPHENSON IS THE QUENTIN TARANTINO OF POSTCYBERPUNK SCIENCE FICTION.…HAVING FIGURED OUT HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE HELL OUT OF A MASS AUDIENCE, STEPHENSON HAS LIKEWISE UPPED THE FORM’S ANTE WITH RAMBUNCTIOUS GLEE.” — Village Voice “SNOW CRASH DREW ITS MANIC ENERGY FROM THE CYBERPUNKISH CONCEIT THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN VIRTUAL REALITY; IN THE DIAMOND AGE THE WONDERS OF CYBERSPACE PALE BEFORE THE EVEN MORE DAZZLING POWERS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY.” — New York Times Book Review “THE DIAMOND AGE ESTABLISHES NEAL STEPHENSON AS A POWERFUL VOICE FOR THE CYBER AGE…AT ONCE WHIMSICAL, SATIRICAL, AND CAUTIONARY.” — USA Today “STEPHENSON’S WORLD-BUILDING SKILLS ARE EXTRAORDINARY.…THE DIAMOND AGE SHOULD CEMENT STEPHENSON’S REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST AND WITTIEST YOUNG AUTHORS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in twenty-first-century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life — and the entire future of humanity — is about to be decoded and reprogrammed.… “NEAL STEPHENSON IS THE QUENTIN TARANTINO OF POSTCYBERPUNK SCIENCE FICTION.…HAVING FIGURED OUT HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE HELL OUT OF A MASS AUDIENCE, STEPHENSON HAS LIKEWISE UPPED THE FORM’S ANTE WITH RAMBUNCTIOUS GLEE.” — Village Voice “SNOW CRASH DREW ITS MANIC ENERGY FROM THE CYBERPUNKISH CONCEIT THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN VIRTUAL REALITY; IN THE DIAMOND AGE THE WONDERS OF CYBERSPACE PALE BEFORE THE EVEN MORE DAZZLING POWERS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY.” — New York Times Book Review “THE DIAMOND AGE ESTABLISHES NEAL STEPHENSON AS A POWERFUL VOICE FOR THE CYBER AGE…AT ONCE WHIMSICAL, SATIRICAL, AND CAUTIONARY.” — USA Today “STEPHENSON’S WORLD-BUILDING SKILLS ARE EXTRAORDINARY.…THE DIAMOND AGE SHOULD CEMENT STEPHENSON’S REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST AND WITTIEST YOUNG AUTHORS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in twenty-first-century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life ― and the entire future of humanity ― is about to be decoded and reprogrammed.… “NEAL STEPHENSON IS THE QUENTIN TARANTINO OF POSTCYBERPUNK SCIENCE FICTION.…HAVING FIGURED OUT HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE HELL OUT OF A MASS AUDIENCE, STEPHENSON HAS LIKEWISE UPPED THE FORM’S ANTE WITH RAMBUNCTIOUS GLEE.” ― Village Voice “SNOW CRASH DREW ITS MANIC ENERGY FROM THE CYBERPUNKISH CONCEIT THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN VIRTUAL REALITY; IN THE DIAMOND AGE THE WONDERS OF CYBERSPACE PALE BEFORE THE EVEN MORE DAZZLING POWERS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY.” ― New York Times Book Review “THE DIAMOND AGE ESTABLISHES NEAL STEPHENSON AS A POWERFUL VOICE FOR THE CYBER AGE…AT ONCE WHIMSICAL, SATIRICAL, AND CAUTIONARY.” ― USA Today “STEPHENSON’S WORLD-BUILDING SKILLS ARE EXTRAORDINARY.…THE DIAMOND AGE SHOULD CEMENT STEPHENSON’S REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST AND WITTIEST YOUNG AUTHORS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION.” ― San Diego Union-Tribune