Neal Town Stephenson
pen name: Stephen Bury (collective pseudonym when writing with his uncle, J. Frederick George).
born Fort Meade, Maryland: 31 October 1959
Neal Stephenson is an American author of science fiction (speculative fiction, hard SF, historical fiction, historical fantasy, cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk, steampunk and baroque), and also a writer of non-fiction technology magazine articles.
Stephenson's first work was a non-SF novel, The Big U (1984), and is a comical and satirical take on life in an American Megaversity funded by radioactive waste disposal.
His second novel, Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller (1988), is a techno-thriller concerning an environmentalist who discovers the accidental release of a bacteria that eats petroleum as he rides about in a Zodiac boat.
Stephenson's became better known with Snow Crash (1992), a novel blending cyberpunk themes like memetics and computer viruses with Sumerian mythology and American culture, while exploring extreme laissez-faire capitalism, private enterprise enclaves and collectivism.
He co-wrote the political thriller concerning brain implantation, Interface (1994), and a sequel Cobweb (1996), (both as Stephen Bury) but his next solo work was The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995). This concerns a weapon implanted inside the skull of a character, replicators for any item, smart paper, and air and blood-sanitising nanobots. It is also set in a near future world with a neo-Victorian social structure. The Primer seemed futuristic in 1995 but is little different to present day so-called “A.I.” assistance tools.
He may be best known for Cryptonomicon (1999), a wide-ranging novel which blends Alan Turing's research into codebreaking and cryptography, with a modern day attempt to set up a data haven in the far east. He followed this with a series of prequels of historical fantasy novels known as The Baroque Cycle, which include pirate adventures and alchemy. I read these as the 3 books: Quicksilver (2003), The Confusion, (2004) and The System of the World (2004), but they have been republished as an 8-book series.
Many of his novels include long asides within the narratives, but this was taken further in his next book was Anathem (2008), a very long and detailed novel of speculative fiction. It is set in an alternative Earth, following a group of rationalist Scientist-monks, and concerns metaphysics and Ancient Greek philosophy.
Stephenson's characteristically very lengthy Readme (2011) was contemporary techno-thriller concerning MMORPG developers caught in the middle of Chinese cyber-criminals, Islamic terrorists, and Russian mafia. The title comes from the common computer file name.
Seveneves (2015) is an epic tale that spans five millennia. It consists of two parts: the first is a hard SF story in which the Moon disintegrates, causing destruction to a space station; the second part concerns the seven Eves, the titular characters who are seven women of reproductive age, along with an eighth woman who is not, who survive and must make consequential decisions regarding the future evolution of Homo sapiens.
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell (2019) is a near-future novel concerning mind uploading into the cloud, with characters from Reamde, Cryptonomicon, and other books.
Termination Shock (2021 is a near future, techno-thriller or climate fiction novel concerning geo-engineering.
A list of his works is to be found here: Summary Bibliography: Neal Stephenson
Wikipedia page: Neal Stephenson - Wikipedia
pen name: Stephen Bury (collective pseudonym when writing with his uncle, J. Frederick George).
born Fort Meade, Maryland: 31 October 1959
Neal Stephenson is an American author of science fiction (speculative fiction, hard SF, historical fiction, historical fantasy, cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk, steampunk and baroque), and also a writer of non-fiction technology magazine articles.
Stephenson's first work was a non-SF novel, The Big U (1984), and is a comical and satirical take on life in an American Megaversity funded by radioactive waste disposal.
His second novel, Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller (1988), is a techno-thriller concerning an environmentalist who discovers the accidental release of a bacteria that eats petroleum as he rides about in a Zodiac boat.
Stephenson's became better known with Snow Crash (1992), a novel blending cyberpunk themes like memetics and computer viruses with Sumerian mythology and American culture, while exploring extreme laissez-faire capitalism, private enterprise enclaves and collectivism.
He co-wrote the political thriller concerning brain implantation, Interface (1994), and a sequel Cobweb (1996), (both as Stephen Bury) but his next solo work was The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995). This concerns a weapon implanted inside the skull of a character, replicators for any item, smart paper, and air and blood-sanitising nanobots. It is also set in a near future world with a neo-Victorian social structure. The Primer seemed futuristic in 1995 but is little different to present day so-called “A.I.” assistance tools.
He may be best known for Cryptonomicon (1999), a wide-ranging novel which blends Alan Turing's research into codebreaking and cryptography, with a modern day attempt to set up a data haven in the far east. He followed this with a series of prequels of historical fantasy novels known as The Baroque Cycle, which include pirate adventures and alchemy. I read these as the 3 books: Quicksilver (2003), The Confusion, (2004) and The System of the World (2004), but they have been republished as an 8-book series.
Many of his novels include long asides within the narratives, but this was taken further in his next book was Anathem (2008), a very long and detailed novel of speculative fiction. It is set in an alternative Earth, following a group of rationalist Scientist-monks, and concerns metaphysics and Ancient Greek philosophy.
Stephenson's characteristically very lengthy Readme (2011) was contemporary techno-thriller concerning MMORPG developers caught in the middle of Chinese cyber-criminals, Islamic terrorists, and Russian mafia. The title comes from the common computer file name.
Seveneves (2015) is an epic tale that spans five millennia. It consists of two parts: the first is a hard SF story in which the Moon disintegrates, causing destruction to a space station; the second part concerns the seven Eves, the titular characters who are seven women of reproductive age, along with an eighth woman who is not, who survive and must make consequential decisions regarding the future evolution of Homo sapiens.
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell (2019) is a near-future novel concerning mind uploading into the cloud, with characters from Reamde, Cryptonomicon, and other books.
Termination Shock (2021 is a near future, techno-thriller or climate fiction novel concerning geo-engineering.
A list of his works is to be found here: Summary Bibliography: Neal Stephenson
Wikipedia page: Neal Stephenson - Wikipedia
