Reddit reviews The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book)
We found 41 Reddit comments about The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Spectra Books
Because I looked up each of these, here are links for reference:
^ these are Amazon links, no referrals!
The blueprint for this effort appears to cost $14.
Diamond Age
There is a book I think every person who enjoys reading should take a chance on. It's called "The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" by Neal Stephenson. It was written before we had smart phones and tablets, but predicted the use of similar things using nanotechnology. There is a "book" (tablet) that is a prototype and falls into the hands of a poor little girl. A little animated mouse on the page teaches her all kinds of fun things and leads her on an adventure very similar to what is described here.
It's for sale on Amazon
I spend more time trying to figure out what to read than reading. I have been addicted to amazon reviews for over a decade. I love reading book reviews and people's opinions. If I ever buy a book, and I lose interest after one or two chapter's - I ditch it. If I like it....I'll devour the book and read reviews as I go along.
After reading the first few chapter's if The Diamond Age, I wanted to throw it away...I was so bored, but since Neil Stephenson wrote it I pushed on. One of the best books I've ever read.
I tend to enjoy non-fiction more, and even science/text based books I tend to use for self-study. I guess you could say I'm on some kind of quest for knowledge...what kind of knowledge, I'm still looking. I guess I'm still searching for something.
>Hackworth got all the news that was appropriate to his station in life, plus a few optional services: the latest from his favorite cartoonists and columnists around the world...
>A gentleman of higher rank and more far-reaching responsibilities would probably get different information written in a different way, and the top stratum of New Chusan actually got the Times on paper, printed out by a big antique press that did a run of a hundred or so, every morning at about three a.m....
>Now nanotechnology had made nearly anything possible, and so the cultural role in deciding what should be done with it had become far more important than imagining what could be done with it.
>One of the insights of the Victorian Revival was that it was not necessarily a good thing for everyone to read a completely different newspaper in the morning; so the higher one rose in the society, the more similar one's Times became to one's peers.
-The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
Have you read Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer? I have a feeling you will like it.
For fiction:
Tons more here: http://www.arsgratialibertatis.com/book-list
Sounds like you might enjoy Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I think Snow Crash is meant to be in the same universe - it's hilarious but not as dense. You might also like his Cryptonomicon, though it's not technically Sci Fi.
Tad Willams' Otherland Series is Epic Sci Fi with a huge amount of detail. Might be right up your alley.
Dune, Neuromancer and The Enderverse if you haven't already read those.
I wouldn't go with Snow Crash, but The Diamond Age is one of the most beautiful novels you'll ever read with a solid nanotech foundation.
The only flaw is the ending. It isn't bad per say. It just ends like a kung-fu movie where they roll credits as soon as the hero delivers the death blow to the villain.
Diamond Age is another great read by Stephenson.
In no particular order:
That's the only book of his I have read.
You can look at basically anything by Gibson if you want the same general setting.
And of course Snow Crash and The Diamond Age are heavily inspired by KWC's culture but the locations are very different.
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Some reviews here call it 'difficult' to read but I couldn't put it down! If you're more technically-oriented than I, you will derive yet another layer of joy from this little masterpiece, as if it needed one.
Maybe one day, Diamond Age style.
Long before that, though, we'll be 3d-printing tiny glass tubes that we attach to circuit boards that do the synthesis for us a la Lab on a Chip. Precursors in, apply power to chip, desired chemical out.
Since searching wikipedia turned up the Timeline of Non-Sexual Social Nudity(TIL) I'm just going to guess you're you're looking for a more techie true to life rendition of the hacker archetype based on the amazon synopsis.
Based on that I'd recommend:
Cryptonomicon
just.go.read.it.right.now.
It may take a little effort to get into, damn thing is a tomb, but give it a chance. You will not be disappoint.
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Stealing the Network Series
How to Own a Box
How to Own a Continent
How to Own an Identity
How to Own a Shadow
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These are told in a chapter/viewpoint style, each chapter is usually written by a different knowledgeable, and sometimes security famous, security dude. Out of those I've only read How to Own an Identity so far, but it was pretty good and and my guess is that the rest hold up to that standard, so dive in. They are a series from what I understand so reading them in order is probably a good idea, but not completely necessary.
_____
And then for flair (these are more scifi/cyberpunk-ish; so if that's not your thing avoid):
Snowcrash
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The main character's name is Hiro Protagonist. No seriously. He's a ninja, he's a hacker, he lives in a U-Store-it container, and he delivers pizza for the Mob in a post-collapse USA, can you really not read this book now?
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The Diamond Age
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All about the practical social implications of nanotechnolgy told through the eyes of a young girl, her father, and an assortment of disposable associates.
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The Sprawl Trilogy
Neuromancer
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive
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I've only read Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive, which were both great, so I'm guessing Count Zero is probably good too.
Similar to Snowcrash in the lone gun hacker sense, except with more drugs a little bit more of a scattered tone.
And if all else fails there's always the DEF CON reading list.
ninja edits because I suck at markdown
Take a look at the list of past Hugo winners and look for easily accessible ones. A few jump out at me:
Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Barrayar - Lois McMaster Bujold, or maybe the omnibus Cordelia's Honor
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
For sheer 'play in the virtual world' stuff, you MUST read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. You'll blaze through that, so follow it up with Stephenson's The Diamond Age
Good YA dystopic future stuff:
The Windup Girl
Station Eleven
Finally, get into Neuromancer, by William Gibson. It's a fantastic--some would say genre-defining--cyberpunk novel.
Then go devour everything Stephenson and Gibson put out there. That should get you through at least the first half of the summer. Happy reading!
Snow Crash and Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson talk about it some, but it's not the libertarianism that most libertarians are familiar with. It's more a "freedom to choose your own society and its rules" than a "government does not interfere with choices" liberty. The Common Economic Protocol of SC/DA is technically a government, but the only thing it regulates are the formation of new phyles (societies, etc) and the use of nanorobots for warfare (Nell's foster father, at one point, has to go off to combat against some rebels that violate the terms of the Protocol, IIRC).
Diamond Age has a lot of what you're looking for, though in a very high-technology environment that enables the lifestyle, and with different implementations of libertarianism. Sea-steading is not done by building a colony and floating off into the sunset, but by building new landmasses off the coast of Shanghai and connecting them to the mainland with a large bridge. The phyles with the expertise to do this (Neo-Victorians (stuffy Brits), Japanese engineers, and
the GermansHindus, IIRC) are fabulously wealthy for their ability to create new housing zones, commercial areas, and industrial zones more-or-less on demand for the overpopulated cities of China. On the other hand, in the American Southwest you have small (in population) phyles that dominate the landscape: homesteaders whose only duty to the phyle is to mind their own land, and provide for the common defense. There are plenty of other systems described however: a Zulu phyle that protects its own by hunting down and bringing to justice anyone who harms one of theirs, a communist phyle that requires you to give up your possessions and live as if you're in a reeducation camp 24/7, a Hidu phyle that is mostly a bank for anyone who wants to borrow, with collection policies in the form of indentured service, etc, etc.It's an excellent character study for societies: you see the good and the bad of every one of them, where they work and they don't, and why. It's all enabled by technology that makes it possible (more or less) to provide everything to the masses at little or no cost, with money being exchanged only for premium design, service, or honest-to-god handmade goods (which are astonishingly expensive - entire phyles live a pastoral existence and create them for wealthier societies - the "Amish"/Luddites are billionaires). People do what they want to: become hackers, live in drum circles, homestead, work for Software Kahns, join theatrical troupes, work as scenario writers for a bordello, or in the semi-feudal administrative system of the Middle Kingdom. Most of this is implied, not explicit, which only makes it better reading, if you ask me: Stephenson may hit you over the head with the details of nanotechnology and ponderously describe encryption services (which personally I like anyway), but the wonder and cleverness of how the whole society works is rarely stated directly, meaning you can tease it out slowly and marvel at the way it all fits together.
TL;DR Yeah, Snow Crash. Also the Diamond Age. And I probably should write some sort of critical analysis of the Diamond Age to get something out of my system.
*edited for clarity and accuracy.
Yes, Diamond Age is such a great spiritual successor to Snow Crash. Where Snow Crash has that frantic pace and hyper compressed events, Diamond Age takes its time and describes every molecule of the beauty in the book's events. These two works are such great testaments to Stephenson's skill because it's obvious he worked really hard to make them describe similar themes, but also compliment each other.
Have you seen the new covers? I like them, they do a good job of presenting them as companion pieces.
Snow Crash
Diamond Age
back to the beginning
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Compare Veracity cover with The Diamond Age cover. Same designer/artist, or a copycat.
My favorite post-singularity fiction is the Golden Age trilogy by John C. Wright. Superintelligent AI, virtual reality, and mind uploading, and he still manages a deeply human tale of epic heroism. It's a little hard to get into for the first three or four chapters, but then it really takes off. I've read it three times.
Greg Egan's work is pretty interesting, eg. Permutation City, which is mainly about uploading etc.
For more of the near-future speculation side of Accelerando, Cory Doctorow writes a lot of good stuff. And there's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom which is post-singularity.
Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age is pretty much a classic, covering nanotech, AI-based education, and all sorts of craziness. One of my favorites.
Right, I have a bit of a terrible memory so here are some... not all of them have a woman as the main but generally more than just 'supporting' or 'girlfriend' roles :)
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear. This is part of a series and I'm pretty sure this is the first in that series with Darwin's Children the next one.
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.
Ender's Game.
Mainly my favourite authors are Greg Bear, Greg Egan, Neal Stephenson, Stephen Baxter, Philip K Dick - the usual crowd. Do you have any recommendations?
Diamond Age
>John Percival Hackworth is a nanotech engineer on the rise when he steals a copy of "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" for his daughter Fiona. The primer is actually a super computer built with nanotechnology that was designed to educate Lord Finkle-McGraw's daughter and to teach her how to think for herself in the stifling neo-Victorian society. But Hackworth loses the primer before he can give it to Fiona, and now the "book" has fallen into the hands of young Nell, an underprivileged girl whose life is about to change.
the Diamond Age
Friday
the Sparrow
the Blind Assasin
Parable of the Sower
I had to hit the dictionary often for The Diamond Age.
I haven't read that myself, but based on the description and notes elsewhere in the thread I might recommend these:
Science Technology Engineering and math education by whatever means. http://www.amazon.com/The-Diamond-Age-Illustrated-Spectra/dp/0553380966/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346894433&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=young+laides+illistrated+primer
Excellent. Good writers, all! Have you tried out Neal Stephenson? If no, I highly recommend A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer and The Baroque Cycle, although almost all of his books are excellent (except his first :P).
Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. It actually has two main characters, only one of which is female, but she's awesome!
You should read the Diamond Age.
>John Percival Hackworth is a nanotech engineer on the rise when he steals a copy of "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" for his daughter Fiona. The primer is actually a super computer built with nanotechnology that was designed to educate Lord Finkle-McGraw's daughter and to teach her how to think for herself in the stifling neo-Victorian society. But Hackworth loses the primer before he can give it to Fiona, and now the "book" has fallen into the hands of young Nell, an underprivileged girl whose life is about to change.
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book) Paperback – May 2, 2000
by Neal Stephenson
Neal Stephenson covers this pretty well in Diamond Age
http://www.amazon.com/The-Diamond-Age-Illustrated-Spectra/dp/0553380966
Have you read "The Diamond Age," by Neil Stephenson?
You may also enjoy The Madness Season by C. S. Friedman.
If you can give me more examples of stuff you like, I may be able to offer more suggestions.
When the Lights go out Tanith Lee was a book that made a very strong impression on me.
The tombs of Atuan by LeGuin was another book I kept on rereading as a teen.
The Woman who Loved Reindeer by M.A. Pierce I only read once as it got knicked from my library. Over 15 years later I still carry it with me, or at least the feeling I got from from it.
I'm also slightly thinking The Darkangel trilogy by Pierce as well. Another series that got read, re-read and re-re-read.
Come to think of it, I think a lot of the books that really got to me as a teen were the fantasy starring alienated but strong teens and women.
Nowadays I think one of my favourite books are The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, which, aside from being absolutely awesome scifi, I guess also touches on the topic of strong but misfitted women.
You may be interested in this novel - it starts a bit slow and cryptic so you have to be a little patient before it gets good.
Nice. I've been trying to think of a good automata book. Diamond Age just popped into my head. Hehe.
Neal Stephenson's [The Diamond Age](http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Age-Illustrated-Primer-Spectra/dp/0553380966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314797352&sr=8-1 "fuckin great book") has an interesting situation. It's not a post-collapse world, but it is a semi-anarchic "not-so-far-future" world where governments don't have very much power. In this world, people have separated into "philes" (same root as in "audiophiles like sound equipment"), some of which are based on religion, or ideology, others are based on habits, values and aesthetics (for example some groups choose to live like Victorian-era Britons with steam-punk technology).
One of my favorite books is The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.
I've read it twice now since 2008; the first time I was captivated by the world he created. The second time, I began to understand what he was trying to explore with culture and what it means to "belong" to something or to subscribe to a belief system.
An entertaining read set in a fantastic world that you will not forget :)
The Diamond Age By Neal Stephenson is a top contender.
China Miéville's Un Lun Dun. It's a kids' book, but it's fantastic. Miéville turns a lot of the standard fantasy tropes on their heads, with thoroughly enjoyable results.
Dathan Auerbach's Penpal. Horror/suspense, written by a redditor, and debuted on reddit. The Kindle version is less than $4. Seriously creepy but totally worth it.
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens. I have never laughed so much while reading. It's phenomenal.
Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. What happens to poor people once nanotechnology can be used to make anything? It's my favorite of the Stephensons I've read, but it still ends like a Neal Stephenson novel. :|
Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town. It's about the first-born son of a mountain and a washing machine. It's also about setting up wireless networks. Also: it's FREE.
Hope you enjoy some of these! :)