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)

A weird sci-fi fairy tale

As he did in Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson once again constructs a bizarre dystopian world composed of an eclectic combination of future technologies and ancient traditions and uses it as the backdrop to tell a unique story. At its core this is a coming of age tale about a young girl named Nell who comes to possess a very special book known as the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. This book is an engineering marvel that is fully interactive and capable of customizing itself to match its reader in order to prepare them for the challenges they will face on their journey to adulthood. In Nell's case the book ultimately winds up raising her in place of her parents and it enables her to survive amid the chaos that eventually comes her way from the unpredictable society around her.

Despite the wondrous technologies present in this future, like matter compilers capable of creating almost anything and cities with their own nanite based immune systems in the air, it is the Primer that takes center stage in the story.  Stephenson uses it to explore the role that technology could play in raising children in the future and the potential impact that would have on society.  You should know going in that this book ends abruptly and one is left to draw their own conclusions as to the ultimate impact on society caused by the Primer. if you want a nice ending where all the loose ends are tied up then this book is not for you. However, if you like the weird technological societies that come from the mind of Neal Stephenson then I would suggest you pick this one up and draw your own conclusions about the meaning of the ending.

Jennifer Wiltsie does a decent job as the narrator and her voice is an excellent fit for the young female protagonist Nell.

Fascinating story!

Very unusual and original. I would highly recommend...interesting combination of where we’re headed and solutions to how we can survive the technology age!

Subversion in Patriarchal Societies

Of the Stephenson novels, this has always been my favorite. It's unfortunate, though, that even in these fictional, futuristic, idealized societies there are some things like the unwanted male gaze that remained. "Hide and cover yourself," "Keep moving," "Walk with intent and resolve, even if it's false." Listening to the book struck me differently this time. It makes more sense to me now that the ending falls so flat, compared to his other novels.

you'll never go wrong with this author

this is a great sci-fi saga! this author really has a talent for creating worlds. the lady that reads the story is incredibly talented, sometimes having to tackle 10 different accents and characters in the same chapter. the ending really left me wanting to hear more.

Major Kudos to the Author

This novel should set a new nexus in SYFY literature. It is truly stunning. It has taken me into new flights of fantasy and hard science. Like a trip through a new looking glass. Truly wonderful. I look forward to listening to this novel in the future.

Not sure I understand what happened

Need to read it again before I know if the story was coherent. Author has a nice style. Love his other books.

usually a fan, this time not so much

I love many other Stephenson books, but this one felt hard to follow and less rewarding than others for the amount of effort required to make sense of the plot. The performance wasn't terrible but the voices sounded very similar and were hard to distinguish. I'm not sure why various Asian characters had strong Brooklyn inflections at certain points but not at others. Also, the audio had approx. short bursts of static at various points.

An extreme book

This would be my favorite book ever except the for strong sexual content. Necessary to the story but to me unsettling.

Another excellent novel from Stephenson

Neal Stephenson's boundless imagination shines again. Crafting a future based on nanotechnology and human foibles Neal builds an engrossing story. Excellent voice performance from Jennifer Wiltsie just adds to the story.

Narration way to fast for me

I had to return this book because the narrator speaks so fast it was tiring trying to follow her. I tried the slower setting but that made it sound funny in an unpleasant way.

Im not sure if the story is good or not, it might be, I only got through about the first hour when I gave up and there wasn’t enough development to tell yet.