4.5 stars!

In the early 90s, I was a huge fan of the FASA game Shadowrun. I never managed to actually find a group to play it with, but I consumed sourcebooks and novels greedily. I loved the setting very much. Now that I have read Snow Crash, I am vividly reminded of it, and my love for cyberpunk. I think I will need to read Neuromancer next.

I was slightly taken aback in the beginning, because it's a very different style. Fast-paced, with its own lingo, dropping you right into this world where franchises rule the world, where the Mafia controls pizza deliveries, and where couriers work between the lines on their skateboards. Woven inbetween is the metaverse, the virtual reality that must have been the inspiration for Tad Williams' Otherlands VR.

I loved the characters, above all Y.T. They were all very interesting. It would be a full five stars if I hadn't been overwhelmed by the basic premise behind Snow Crash. I found the nam-shub stuff hard to follow. Fascinating, no doubt, but maybe a little bit over my head.

Definitely recommending this book whole-heartedly, it's one of the most entertaining books I have read this year. Now I have to see if I can get my hands on the old Shadowrun novels, especially 2XS. Loved that one. Aaaah, glorious cyberpunk.