Sci-Fi Book Review: The Diamond Age

Michael Maag reviews the best and worst science fiction novels so you know what you should - or shouldn’t - read next.

“The Diamond Age”

by Neal Stephenson

What is the book about?

Written in 1995, “The Diamond Age” is an exploration of ideas that dominate our headlines today; artificial intelligence, ethnicity, racism, tribalism, classism, education, Drexlerian nanotechnology and crypto. Taking place in a post-nation state and post-scarcity society, the book is partially a coming-of-age story, following Nell, a thete, who at age four comes into possession of the Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. This sort of futuristic iPad has built-in AI and nanotech, intended to educate and raise the daughter of a Victorian Equity Lord. Any more of a synopsis would be too expansive. This book is wide ranging, prescient and entertaining.

Fair warning, the author introduces us to the dystopian side of this “post-scarcity” utopia in the first five chapters. They are emotionally difficult to read, but necessary for world building. The book is also modeled after a Victorian novel, with sections of action interspersed with contemplative poking at ideas. This sets a rhythm different from modern novels, and I suggest reading it all quickly.

On a scale from one to five, how much did you like this book?

The book has creative, thoughtful world building and an exploration of what it would mean to live in a post-scarcity society controlled by the top one percent. It is a wild ride, going places that you cannot possibly predict from the premise. At times, the book gets quite philosophical and meanders in its pondering. Trust that it has not lost its way and the process is worth the journey. 

Is this book worth reading or can the content be covered in a book review?

Yes, you should read the whole book, even the first five chapters. And yes, you have had lots of thoughts related to the subjects contained within. However, I guarantee that Neal Stephenson has thought about them in more surprising ways.

What is the best or worst quote, chapter or item in the book?

There are so many great quotes. Here are some of my favorites.

“P.I.  … the abbreviation for pseudo-intelligence. You know, when I was a lad they called it A.I. Artificial intelligence… Well, there's something to be said for cheekiness, I suppose.”

“This implies, does it not, that in order to raise a generation of children who can reach their full potential, we must find a way to make their lives interesting.”

“What are letters?” … “Kinda like mediaglyphics, except they're all black, and they're tiny, they don't move, they're old and boring and really hard to read. But you can use 'em to make short words for long words."

“It was a bit too aggressive to be a reverie and too abstract to be a hallucination.”

“The difference between stupid and intelligent people — and this is true whether or not they are well-educated — is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations — in fact, they expect them and are apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward.”

“As far as the laws of probability, my lady, these cannot be broken, any more than any other mathematical principle. But laws of physics and mathematics are like a coordinate system that runs in only one dimension. Perhaps there is another dimension perpendicular to it, invisible to those laws of physics, describing the same things with different rules, and those rules are written in our hearts, in a deep place where we cannot go and read them except in our dreams.”