Snow Crash
Arthur C. Clarke Award: Best Novel nominee (1994).
In the near future, Americans excel at only two things: writing software and delivering pizza in less than 30 minutes.
Franchises line the Los Angeles freeway as far as the eye can see:
Reverend Wayne's Pearly Gates, Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong, Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza, Incorporated. The only relief from the sea of logos
is within the well-guarded borders of the autonomous city-states that
law-abiding citizens are afraid to leave.
Is it any wonder that most
sane folks have chosen to live in a computer-generated universe? Here in virtual reality is a domain of pleasures limited only by imagination,
where everyone is safe and free. But now a strange new computer virus
called Snow Crash has invaded even this sanctuary, striking down hackers everywhere, leaving young Hiro Protagonist as humankind's last best
hope.
In reality, Hiro delivers pizza for the CosaNostra. But in
Metaverse, he's a freelance hacker and a warrior prince - the
Deliverator, the greatest sword fighter in the world. Now he's racing
along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission, looking for
the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about Infocalypse.
Neal Stephenson
Neal Town Stephenson (born 1959) is an American writer.
Neal Stephenson is primarily known for his science fiction works in the post-cyberpunk genre with a penchant for explorations of society, mathematics, currency and the history of science.