Better audio quality

It was a great book, but poor sampling or compression artifacts made it difficult to listen too with ambient white noise. Tinny, narrow range audio. Re-downloaded to ensure highest quality rate, but all qualities were poor.

I gave this book 5 stars even though the plot was somewhat predictable. The audio production is well done (as I have come to expect from Audio Renaissance).

I am an admitted technophile and I was very amused by the alternate technologies in this book. They have mastered nanotechnology but they travel by dirigible! I loved it!

This was a fun listen that I recommended to friends and family.

Sometimes it takes a while to get into the grove of a story but by the second paragraph of “Diamond Age”, I was hooked. Neal Stephenson is an extraordinary writer, but more than that; a poet, philosopher and futurist. This labyrinthine tale could be described as a “fairy-tale”, painted with luscious prose, sensitive characterization and deep insight; it is a story of rare beauty. The narration is exceptional, the experience delicious.

I have read Quicksilver and Snow Crash and enjoyed both for their new and edgy take on science fiction. The Diamond Age is fascinating from the science fiction view, but is much better than the previous books from a technical standpoint. The characters are well developed and the story is compelling. This book shows that Stephenson can use allegory and satire to show us the strengths and weakness of our current time by giving us a glimpse into his version of the future. There are many current day social and economic issues reflected in this work. It's a very stimulating read.

This was my first download from audible. I had read the novel many years ago, but was very impressed with the narration, which brought the book to life and actually added something to the experience. Her voice of the confuician judge from NY was especially fun to listen to. There was also something pleasingly self-referential about using my Ipod to listen to a book about a girl who is listening to a magic book that tells her stories.

I had started this some time ago, and hadn't gotten into it; so I put it down, just picking it up over the holiday weekend -- and I couldn't put it down. Really good story, unusal, lots of puzzles, and the narration was excellent.

This book was a good listen, however, just like "Snow Crash," Mr. Stephenson ends his otherwise in-depth, detailed novel as if he ran out of paper (or disk space). All the hours of the story and it ends in about 15 seconds. Still, it's a good book. Just be prepared to be dropped off at the end.

I'm a huge fan of scifi audio, and this is easily one of my top five. The mix of depth, maturity and imagination are top-class, and Jennifer Wiltsie does a fantastic job bringing the story to life and giving personality to the characters. Apparently Stephenson just doesn't have the hang of writing endings, but it is still worth every word. I liked it better than Snow Crash, which is a tall order...

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!

I looked forward to this book since I loved Snow Crash. Boy was I disappointed. Not sure if the author was on LSD, or if LSD is required to listen to this book, but it's weird, disjointed and confusing. There are so many strange sub-plots that weave in and out of reality and bizarre fantasy. Don't assume that if you liked Snow Crash you'll like this - I didn't.