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)

2/3 great story 1/3 what.

2/3 of the story was interesting 1/3 of the story seemed liked a bad trip on pharmacueticals. Exchanging bodily fluids contaning nanoparticle message bots via orgies and then the inclusion of fluorescent condoms in the ceremony was a what moment for me. The Fairy tales seemed a bit endless and unbearable.

best of thousands I've heard!

the best narration, the best story, the best audiobook I've ever listened to. this is one I listen to at least once a year.

Relevant Classic

One of my favorite books (loosely a sequel to Snow Crash, another favorite). Excellent performance, but the playback had some small glitches — nothing major that interfered with hearing the story. As for story, the pacing is a little odd and perhaps difficult to follow if you're encountering it for the first time as audio (I've read the novel before) but it's an amazing story, still.

not his best work

Neil is a weird writer. This was good writing but sorta a shit story. he spends 90% of the novel building up a poor girl into this sophisticated aristocat and then mixes in some weird sexual things about this character. Plus the story climaxes and reveals tons of stuff you didn't know in last 1 hour of the book. Overall it leaves you wondering why we should care about this girl or what the point of the novel was.

Great book read brilliantly.

This is one of Stephenson’s best novels. Engrossing world building, fascinating characters and intricate plotting. It is read perfectly. This was a real joy.

Immersive!

I’ve recently turned on to Neal Stephenson. This is the third of his novels I’ve listened too. I found this story, all at once, saddening, maddening, shocking, disturbing, intelligent, provocative... but ultimately sweet. Jennifer Wiltsie’s narration is excellent!

Astounding

I wish I had saved my five stars till now. This iconic science fiction masterpiece will stay in my consciousness forever.

Wow!

This book was recommended to me as an indirect book about entrepreneurship and the development of employees. It was amazing! The story itself was a great tale, with many life lessons to be considered and digested!

Great Story

Loved all of it. The audio quality is patchy in some parts. Still very good!

Excellent - but not compatible with 1st gen Echo

I read this book in print 25 years ago and thought it was Hugo material. Loved the first part; didn't like the second. However, during this run through, whether it was the high quality of the reader or just greater understanding on my part, I enjoyed it thoroughly all the way through. It is a trifle dated -- the author, for example, describes VR and AR but back then, they didn't have names. Kudos then, for imagining them. It reminds me in places of Gibson in his cyberpunk period. The audio may have originally been recorded to and digitized from tape. Thus the voice is bandwidth-compressed. You get used to this rapidly, but it does not sound quite as natural and "present" as modern direct-to-digital recordings. One down-check, the file does not seem to be compatible with 1st gen Echo devices. My 2nd gen dots played it fine, but the 1-gen Echo would play 10 seconds and announce "I'm having trouble playing the file." I tried it several times. It always knew where I was in the story, but wouldn't play more than 10 seconds or so.