Amazon.com description: Product Description: In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in twenty-first-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.… “NEAL STEPHENSON IS THE QUENTIN TARANTINO OF POSTCYBERPUNK SCIENCE FICTION.…HAVING FIGURED OUT HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE HELL OUT OF A MASS AUDIENCE, STEPHENSON HAS LIKEWISE UPPED THE FORM’S ANTE WITH RAMBUNCTIOUS GLEE.” ― Village Voice “SNOW CRASH DREW ITS MANIC ENERGY FROM THE CYBERPUNKISH CONCEIT THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN VIRTUAL REALITY; IN THE DIAMOND AGE THE WONDERS OF CYBERSPACE PALE BEFORE THE EVEN MORE DAZZLING POWERS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY.” ― New York Times Book Review “THE DIAMOND AGE ESTABLISHES NEAL STEPHENSON AS A POWERFUL VOICE FOR THE CYBER AGE…AT ONCE WHIMSICAL, SATIRICAL, AND CAUTIONARY.” ― USA Today “STEPHENSON’S WORLD-BUILDING SKILLS ARE EXTRAORDINARY.…THE DIAMOND AGE SHOULD CEMENT STEPHENSON’S REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST AND WITTIEST YOUNG AUTHORS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION.” ― San Diego Union-Tribune