| 1. |
| The
Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
- by Neal Stephenson
Those of us who have read Stephenson's
novels know he is a genius at weaving multiple subplots
into amazing literary tapestries. The Diamond Age
is a perfect example of this. The story is set in
the late 21st century when nanotechnology is as much
a part of society as the Internet is today. The Primer
is an interactive tutoring book meant for the offspring
of a powerful aristocrat. Revolution on a massive
scale occurs when it falls into the wrong hands. |
| 2. |
| Neuromancer
by William Gibson
This is the quintessential cyberpunk
novel. Gibson is credited with coining phrases like
cyberspace. The hero, Case, is a "console cowboy",
a next generation computer hacker who jacks into the
computer matrix, the three dimensional fully interactive
Internet of the future, to break into top secret systems.
Sound familiar? Keep in mind that he wrote the novel
in 1984, fifteen years before Neo met Morpheus. Gibson's
descriptions of the urban sprawl, virtual landscapes,
and action sequences as experienced by bodyguards
with bionically enhanced nervous systems paint vivid
pictures in the mind's eye. |
| 3. |
| The
Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
I realize this is a cheap way to
squeeze three Neal Stephenson books into one Top 10
spot, but they deserve to be here. These books are
so much fun, especially for those of us who have read
other Stephenson works and recognize that this 3000
page trilogy is basically a massive prequel to Cryptonomicon.
Jack Shaftoe, a.k.a. "Quicksilver", a.k.a. "Half-Cocked
Jack", a.k.a. "L'Emmerdeur", a.k.a. "King of the Vagabonds",
is one of the great literary figures I've ever had
the pleasure of meeting. He is able to play all sides
against each other and yet remains the good-guy no
matter which side you tend to favor. Daniel Waterhouse
is a fellow of the Royal Society and interacts with
some of the greatest scientific minds of the 17th/18th
Centuries including Newton, Leibniz, Hooke, Wren and
others. The Baroque Cycle takes place over three-quarters
of a century and chronicles the birth of modern science,
politics and economics and brings history to life
in a way that I never found in a textbook. |
| 4. |
| Snow
Crash by Neal Stephenson
William Gibson invented the cyberpunk
genre with the Sprawl Trilogy, and Neal Stephenson
picked up and ran with it when he wrote Snow
Crash. Hiro Protagonist, the protagonist, is
a hacker, a samurai sword fighter, and a pizza deliver
guy for the Mafia. The story takes place in North
America in the not-too-distant future. The Federal
Government no longer exists and has been replaced
by huge corporations and franchised enclaves like
"Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong". It's actually a distant
prequel to The Diamond Age.
The Metaverse is a 3-Dimensional evolution of today's
Internet where Hiro goes to do freelance snooping
for the Central Intelligence Corporation, or to beat
up other people's avatars samurai-style. In the Metaverse
a drug called Snow Crash is rapidly gaining popularity
and threatens to wreak widespread havoc when the online
version starts flatlining people in real life. Like
all his other work, Stephenson researches some very
interesting scientific and historical topics to mix
in with the wildly careening plot like Sumerian mythology
and the viral nature of language. |
| 5. |
| Ender's
Game by Orson Scott Card
The world government, created after
the "First Invasion" 80 years past, is training young
children to be soldiers for the defense of Earth against
the "Buggers". Most of the training at Battle School,
an orbiting space station, involves futuristic war
games in zero gravity. Ender Wiggin, a brilliant six
year old, seems to be the likely candidate for the
next Fleet commander. The Fleet Command has kept Mazer
Rackham, the legendary commander who defeated the
Buggers the first time, in near light-speed travel
for the last 80 years so he can personally train the
young prodigy. Ender may, in fact, be the savior of
the human race. |
| 6. |
| Lonesome Dove by Larry
McMurtry
|
| 7. |
| The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
|
| 8. |
| Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
|
| 9. |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest by Ken Kesey
|
| 10. |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy by Douglas Adams
|