{"product_id":"snow-crash-9780553380958","title":"Snow Crash","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe \"brilliantly realized\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e) breakthrough novel from visionary author Neal Stephenson, a modern classic that predicted the metaverse and inspired generations of Silicon Valley innovators\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHiro lives in a Los Angeles where franchises line the freeway as far as the eye can see. The only relief from the sea of logos is within the autonomous city-states, where law-abiding citizens don't dare leave their mansions. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHiro delivers pizza to the mansions for a living, defending his pies from marauders when necessary with a matched set of samurai swords. \u003ci\u003eHis\u003c\/i\u003e home is a shared 20 X 30 U-Stor-It. He spends most of his time goggled in to the Metaverse, where his avatar is legendary. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut in the club known as The Black Sun, his fellow hackers are being felled by a weird new drug called Snow Crash that reduces them to nothing more than a jittering cloud of bad digital karma (and IRL, a vegetative state). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInvestigating the Infocalypse leads Hiro all the way back to the beginning of language itself, with roots in an ancient Sumerian priesthood. He'll be joined by Y.T., a fearless teenaged skateboard courier. Together, they must race to stop a shadowy virtual villain hell-bent on world domination.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNeal Stephenson\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestsellers including \u003ci\u003eThe Diamond Age, Zodiac, Cryptonomicon, Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World, REAMDE, Anathem, Seveneves, Fall: or Dodge in Hell, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Termination Shock, \u003c\/i\u003e as well as nonfiction works such as \u003ci\u003eIn The Beginning . . . Was the Command Line\u003c\/i\u003e. He has worked for Blue Origin and Magic Leap, and more recently co-founded Lamina1, a startup creating an open metaverse platform.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Del Rey Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50571181916434,"sku":"9780553380958","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2b3c7e22-d573-4746-bf25-42720005082b.jpg?v=1731963535","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/snow-crash-9780553380958","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}