The Diamond Age

By: Neal Stephenson

Narrated by: Jennifer Wiltsie

Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in 21st-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.

©1995 Neal Stephenson (P)2001 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 1996

• Locus Award Winner, Best Novel, 1996

"The Quentin Tarantino of postcyberpunk science fiction." (The Village Voice)
"[He] is the hottest science fiction writer in America." (Details)

Love this book...

Awesome technology and extremely well written, as one would expect. Narrator is excellent. This book gets pretty crazy...and you'll need to pay attention - but the story is insanely good. It is not as action packed as Snow Crash - but I would say this is still better.

There are 1000's of reviews and descriptions of all the important parts of this book, so I'll keep this short, but wanted to just mention - I just fell in love with little Nell - just so drawn into the story - concerned for her well being, happy when things go well for her... This is one of the books I have listened to numerous times (and will continue to).

Unexpectedly brilliant

A friend recommended this book months ago. Its description didn't particularly excite me, so I didn't download it for quite some time. Finally, in a mood for some fiction, I got it.

It's a very good book, and the narration is absolutely brilliant. The woman's voice is very good with kid's voices, accents, etc.

I haven't read the physical version, but I'd wager that it's better to listen to it than read it.

As a flippant aside: the co-worker who recommended it and I discussed it over lunch. We've decided that an Ender/Nell showdown would make for great reading!

Fantastic book - Wonderful Narration

Based on the reviews, it looks like people either love this book, or hate it. It is long, but I would not recommend trying the abridged version. Take the time to listen to the unabridged version. It's worth it. The author's imagined ideas about the possible structures and capabilities of nano-tech are incredible. His vision of the future makes me wish I was born later, but at the same time makes me happy I don't live in that place/time.

I'd also like to say Jennifer Wiltsie does one of the best narrator job as I have heard after listening to 30 books. She is a true professional.

Spectacular book. Enjoyable listen. A must have.

Glittering gem

This is an absolutely wonderful audiobook. Stephenson's novel is set in an imaginative but highly convincing future world in which humanity has begun to abandon the nation state in favour of 'claves' based around shared cultures, and in which nanotechnology has opened incredible new opportunities for technological development. Stephenson revels in exploring the differences between these 'claves' and the interactions between them, and most of the tale takes place in a stunningly vivid and fragmented Shanghai, in which an influx of new people and ideas has shattered China into a civil war.


The narrator, Jennifer Wiltsie, does a superb job. Her girlish voice fits the central story arc, which is about the education of a young girl from the ghetto who acquires by chance a sophisticated device designed to educate young girls of the Victorian clave. But where Wiltsie really excels is in bringing the vast array of characters to life; she is incredibly talented at switching between multiple accents, so that each character is easily distinguishable, and she pulls off all the obscure accents than Stephenson demands, such as 'Cantonese but raised in New York' and 'Indian with a trace of Jamaica'. Curiously enough, one of the central characters in the novel is in fact a highly skilled voice artist, so things get weirdly meta.


I found this audiobook extremely engrossing and it kept me entertained a long time. Like all Stephenson novels, it's complex and requires your full attention (don't listen to it while driving around central London). And although it's long and often digressive, it lacks the self-indulgent rambling of his later work.

Good but should have been great

This book won the Hugo Award, and was well deserving. It has excellent and fully developed characters that live in an interesting and complete world, but the ending causes the book to fall short of a true science fiction great. I use the word "ending" meaning the book stops but the book doesn't really end. There is no strong climax and no conclusion. Loose ends abound. It has the feel of too many science fiction novels that are teeing up for a sequel, although Stephenson has yet to provide one. Read it for the rich characters and story lines, but don't expect a satisfying finish.

Jennifer Wiltsie does a good job narrating the story, and I like the way the music is used during the transitions. Unfortunately the sound quality could be better, as Wiltsie sometimes sounds as though she is too far from the microphone which creates an almost mono effect. All and all she treats the female and male characters equally well, and it is generally easy to forget that she herself is there.

Great book but bad recording

I'm not sure exactly what makes this recording difficult to listen to.. the sound quality is definitely lower than usual.. or maybe the variation in pitch of the speaker. The story is excellent but the narrator/sound-quality made if difficult to enjoy.

Couldn't stop listening!

This is the first time I've ever felt compelled to write a review (for a book or anything else for that matter). When I wasn't "reading", I was thinking about the storyline. Fantastic! Though like others, I was disappointed by the ending. It stopped and I thought, "what? it's over?" Be that as it may... I still highly recommend it.

Narrator speech impediment?

The word is "primer". It rhymes with "timer" not "simmer". Or is the US spelling "primmer"?

very interesting, fun read

Great read. Good narration. How do these science fiction writers come up with the stuff!

good book, but kind of a cliff hanger

I liked how everything was resolved I. the end, but I still have so many questions to ask.