The Diamond Age - FutureLab

No cover — Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age (1998)

499 pages

Published June 30, 1998

(1 review)

The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence. The Diamond Age was first published in 1995 by Bantam Books, as a Bantam Spectra hardcover edition. In 1996, it won both the Hugo and Locus Awards, and was shortlisted for the Nebula and other awards.

6 editions

aolfreetrial reviewed The diamond age, or, Young lady's illustrated primer by Neal Stephenson

Simultaneously better and worse than Snow Crash

4 stars

I have to say, this was a fun read. And like the author's book Snow Crash from 3 years prior, it features a young girl protagonist, nation-state world-building, a sometimes awkward treatment of Asia, and sections of excessive violence.

In some ways, the book aged a lot better than Snow Crash. The world has made VR a thing which means a lot of the computer-related predictions from Snow Crash feel laughable, but we're nowhere near the level of nanotechnology in A Diamond Age. Snow Crash is a book of the 90s. The Diamond Age feels good even today.

Where this book let me down, however, was in how the plot was woven together. There are a lot of interesting characters that never get the attention they should. I don't demand that all plot threads get tied up in a nice neat bow (I think Anathem even went a bit too …

I have to say, this was a fun read. And like the author's book Snow Crash from 3 years prior, it features a young girl protagonist, nation-state world-building, a sometimes awkward treatment of Asia, and sections of excessive violence.

In some ways, the book aged a lot better than Snow Crash. The world has made VR a thing which means a lot of the computer-related predictions from Snow Crash feel laughable, but we're nowhere near the level of nanotechnology in A Diamond Age. Snow Crash is a book of the 90s. The Diamond Age feels good even today.

Where this book let me down, however, was in how the plot was woven together. There are a lot of interesting characters that never get the attention they should. I don't demand that all plot threads get tied up in a nice neat bow (I think Anathem even went a bit too far in wrapping up the story) but what about Hackworth? Did the author just give up on trying to decide his fate? Did anything come of Miranda joining the Drummers? Who is the mysterious boss of Dr. X? Is CryptNet important or not? Did I accidentally only read half the book?

The author makes so much of these characters only for them to be inconsequential, as if he meant to write a book twice the size but had to abruptly end it mid-way (or wanted to leave room for a sequel). And even the parts that are fleshed out don't seem to fit together very well, and I'm sure you could come up with a long list of plot holes if you tried.

Nonetheless, the main character's story and the imaginative nanotech-based world make this a fun if imperfect book. Don't let me scare you away - you may like this one better than Snow Crash.