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Ask Neal Stephenson
Posted by
Roblimo
on Mon Oct 11, 2004 11:00 AM
from the welcome-to-the-gilded-age dept.
from the welcome-to-the-gilded-age dept.
Our latest Slashdot interview victim... err... guest... is Neal Stephenson, author of (among others) Snow Crash, CRYPTONOMICON, the much-discussed essay, In the Beginning was the Command Line, and more recently a series of books he calls The Baroque Cycle. (Last month Slashdot reviewed the series' third volume, The System of the World.) Now you can ask Neal whatever you want. As usual, we'll send him 10 -12 of the highest-moderated questions and post his answers verbatim when we get them back.
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A prediction, please (Score:5, Interesting)
10 years from now... (Score:5, Interesting)
Also as a science fiction author - when you write, do you try to paint a realistic picture of the future or simply one that will suit the needs of your story?
Parent
Genres of future works? (Score:5, Interesting)
In any event, the question: the first book of yours I read was Snow Crash, followed by Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon. This earned you a spot in my head as an excellent author of techno/SF/cyberpunk (for lack of a more definitive, preferably singular, term). While I've enjoyed the Baroque Cycle (though I admit to not having read the The System Of yhe World yet), I also look at a novel like Snow Crash with an almost wistful nostalgia. With all that said, do you have any plans to write anything else in that genre/style, or do you feel you've explored it as far as you're interested in doing?
Re:Genres of future works? (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
right to keep and bear code (Score:5, Interesting)
more detailed explanation... (Score:5, Interesting)
If as much license were applied to the second amendment as has been claimed under the first, we would all be packing hand-held nuclear weapons. Is a port scanner or code disassembler too much to ask?
Parent
The lack of respect... (Score:5, Interesting)
Science Fiction is normally relegated to the specialist publications rather than having reviews in the main stream press. Seen as "fringe" and a bit sad its seldom reviewed with anything more than condecesion by the "quality" press.
Does it bother you that people like Jeffery Archer or Jackie Collins seem to get more respect for their writing than you ?
What are your writing plans after Baroque cycle? (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of us fans loved it when you were in the world of pure sci-fi, though we appreciate the Baroque Cycle, we were wondering if you are going to get back into the world of cyberpunk, or future worlds, or what have you, like in The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon. What are your writing plans when the Baroque Cycle is complete?
Cryptonomicon (Score:5, Interesting)
Singularity (Score:5, Interesting)
MOD PARENT UP: Re:Singularity (Score:5, Insightful)
To expand a smidge further: as covered earlier on Slashdot [slashdot.org], the problem that the singularity presents to futurists is troubling. By definition the singularity is the point at which the rate of technological change is faster than can be imagined.
How does that sort of thing bother you as an author of futurist/speculative fiction? Wouldn't you rather there be a nice crash of civilization to keep the pace of technological advancement slow enough so that predictions in your books get outpaced by the march of technological "progress"?
Of course, given said crash of civilization, you'd best have most of your assets in gold [google.com]. And it might be unlikely that your publisher would continue writing you checks, but that's a different story.
Parent
Enoch (Score:5, Interesting)
Please give us some more details about Enoch Root. He's quite an amazong character, but you leave us really guessing about him. Is he the same person throughout the years? Is he the embodiment of the biblical Enoch?
Who would win? (Score:5, Funny)
Corporate/Political Criminals? (Score:5, Interesting)
Physics and Physicality (Score:5, Interesting)
Mr. Stephenson:
In some of your books, your action scenes are far detailed (and better informed) than are those of many authors, who gloss over the ways that actual physical objects, including people, interact at close range (including skateboarding, diving, fighting, and the awkwardness of in-car sex with Amy Shaftoe).
This leads me to ask, Are you a skateboarder? Surfer? Martial Artist, and if so of what variety? (Or Rock climber, spelunker, etc.) If Yes in a general sense, how often do you participate in such things now?
More generally, what physical activities that you find especially invigorating mentally?
Tim
Spacesflight (Score:5, Interesting)
Undersea Cables research, and inspiration (Score:5, Interesting)
ttyl
Farrell
What are you reading these days? (Score:5, Interesting)
If that's the case, please include a work of modern fiction or two in your list; something you think that a fan of your work might also enjoy.
Cryptonomicon Future Timeline (Score:5, Interesting)
storygramming (Score:5, Interesting)
Idempotent mentoring (Score:5, Interesting)
Money (Score:5, Interesting)
You've obviously spent a lot of time thinking about money lately. Is there anything going on in the modern world with monetary systems (barter networks, for example) that you find particularly interesting? What do you see on the horizon with respect to money?
PS -- thanks for the great books!
BeOS (Score:5, Interesting)
Jedidiah.
Snowcrash & Christianity (Score:5, Interesting)
Dark atmosphere to modern sci-fi (Score:5, Interesting)
Travel tips for modern primitives? (Score:5, Interesting)
I greatly enjoy your travel stories, both non-fiction (Mother Earth, Motherboard) and in particular your descriptions of the Philipines in Cryptonomicon.
Can you share some of the ideas you've developed for savvy trav'lin? For instance, how do you deal with carrying sufficent technology (whatever level you deem this to be) while minimizing the risk of theft, breakage, or loss by other means? Do you dress native or carry your entire warddobe? [And broader, do you travel with something close to nothing, picking up necessary items as the need arises? What do you not leave home without?]
Do you carry any sort of self-defense means in some places, and if so What and Where?
Tim
Ideal writing environment? (Score:5, Interesting)
My question(s) is(are) this: what is your ideal writing environment? Have you been to anywhere in particular in your travels, or have a writing setup/gig that has compelled you to really get words down, physically, ready for someone else to read?
Causes, methods. (Score:5, Interesting)
I have found your works to be both illuminating and invigorating. Having said that, why do you write? That is to say, Is there an overall guiding influence to your craft as a whole, and does that somehow inform what you set out to accomplish in each novel?
Kind Regards, Sergio A. Mora
Any one thing that... (Score:5, Interesting)
Mr. Stephenson,
I have been reading and finding your books interesting. However, I was wondering if there was a prediction that you felt was going to happen, but didn't...and this surprised you to no end. Was there such a prediction and what was it?
Thank you.
Writing over programming (Score:5, Interesting)
Confidential Proposal, Off shore data haven (Score:5, Funny)
I am sorry and I solicit your permission into your privacy. I am Barrister Leonardo Akume, lawyer to the late Dr. Koffi Abachus, a brilliant Nigerian mathematician.
My former client, late Dr. Koffi Abachus, died in a mysterious plane crash in the year 1994 on the way to a scientific conference to make an announcement of the utmost importance to mankind.
He was planning to present a paper regarding his extensive work on data storage. It is said the data storage device he had developed, would be roughly ten times more secure compared to the latest quantum excyption techniques. The device was about the size of a steamer trunk, and stored on a privately owned island close to the coast of Nigeria. Dr Koffi Abachus is also the King of the local tribe by heritage...
Oh well.. Should there BE a data haven? If so, where?
"/Dread"
As a historian (Score:5, Interesting)
So I wonder, how do you see us? Having gone from science fiction to historical novels, how do you view historians and how we write history?
Which Comes First (Score:5, Interesting)
How do you avoid writer's block? (Score:5, Interesting)
Ending consultants? (Score:5, Funny)
-russ
Present Tense (Score:5, Interesting)
Why did you start using the present tense after writing your first two books (The Big U, Zodiac) in past? What does it do for you that past tense does not? Was it hard to get your novels accepted by the publisher because of the unexpected tense?
Blue Origin (Score:5, Interesting)
The rise and fall of the nation-state (Score:5, Interesting)
your 5 major works explore the rise and fall of the modern nation-state. The Baroque Cycle shows its genesis and rise (esp. vis a vis the development of centralized banking and modern financial systems), Crypnotomicon sows the seeds of its fall (untraceable tax havens through strong crypto and electronic "money") and Snowcrash and Diamond Age show a "post nation-state" world.
Was it always your intent to explore this theme way back when you were writing Snowcrash, or did it grow "organically" as you started working on new books?
Now that this theme has a beginning, middle and end, do you intend to continue exploring it in future books, or is it now "done" and time to move on to new subjects?
The state of the metaverse (Score:5, Interesting)
Without question, text based chat on IRC, AOL, instant messaging and elsewhere has played a major role in bringing the masses online. Ironically, in an age of high-powered video cards and broadband, internet communication it seems text-based communication still works the best. While text-based communication unquestionably has advantages over graphical forms of communication (ie, I can search usenet postings from years ago) there still are some disadvantages. Flame wars erupt on message boards over the misinterpreted connotation of an otherwise benign comment. The lack of body language and tone of voice seem to be the primary causes. In many cases, "call me now" is the only option to prevent a disaster.
What do you feel is standing in the way of the "true" metaverse becoming reality? Or is it only a matter of time before an innovative developer brings it to us? Also, how would you feel about Digital Rights Management in a metaverse? Do you think that DRM would encourage artists to create their own works, leading to a more diverse and vibrant metaverse, or would the world be better off without it?
Education (Score:5, Interesting)
And i've recently finished Highschool.
I was wondering what you think are the major flaws in the current western educational system.
And in what ways do you think it could be improved?
journalism (Score:5, Interesting)
Snow Crash - Past and Present (Score:5, Interesting)
Electric Till Corporation vs. Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Debt to Pynchon? (Score:5, Interesting)
Non-Science Prediction Question (Score:5, Interesting)
May we hear what your opinion is over "intellectual property" -- copyright, patents, and so forth?
Metaphor Shear (Score:5, Interesting)
The question: Children today interface more directly with technology by bypassing some of the metaphor elements of a GUI (i.e. kids learn how to use a computer without ever touching a typewriter and know that the "desktop" is really just a folder in a file directory). Where do you see this phenomenon leading, as younger generations learn to work with technology and associated concepts with less "intermediation"? Is this something "new", or is this the classic "older people are less willing to adopt innovative technologies"?
Re:Enoch Root (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you ever going to clear up this mystery in another book or are you going to let us twist in the wind forever?
And just thanks for all the great writing over the years. Your books are what I pack on long trips and have kept me company in Poland, Russia, California, and an excruciating mid-December move from Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa. I'd like to make a special plug aimed at oter Slashdotters for the Wired article Hacker Tourist: Mother Earth Motherboard [wired.com] which kept me fascinated during a long trip up the Pacific Coast Highway in 1996. I'd buy your grocery list, man.
Parent
Re:Book endings (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd like to ask this question:
Okay, so you're satisfied with your endings...why? What about them appeals to you? What is it you're going for? What constitutes a good ending for you? What don't you like in an ending?
(And for the record, I like your books enough that I simply don't want them to end; I've never had the visceral reaction to your endings that some seem to have.)
Parent
The Ending -- *SPOILERS* (Score:5, Interesting)
I was jolted by the ending too, but then I realized he really did end it the way it should be ended. I'll explain my take on it below, but first let me point out that I'm going to be discussing major spoilers, so if you haven't read the book--- WHY ARE YOU READING THIS ANYWAY?
OK, with that out of the way, here's the ending: Nell, Miranda, and Carl are pulled out of the water by the mouse army. A church bell rings. The end.
Now here is what happens next: The Celestial Kingdom achieved its goal and equilibrium begins again between the phyles. Miranda marries Carl, they both become the parents for Nell she always wanted, Nell is now queen of a brand new phyle, and she can go on to whatever she wants to do as she deals with the other phyles in trade and negotiations. Hackworth is no longer needed and the book wasn't about him, a big hint for which is given in the subtitle of the book that talks about a "Young Lady."
All of the above is implied in the book. Nell was trying to find her "mother." She found her. Carl was trying to find Miranda. He found her. Nell was trying to solve the primer. She solved it. The mouse army needed to find their queen. They found her. The struggle between the phyles needed to move to a new level of equilibrium. It did. Finkle-McGraw wanted to figure out how best to use the primer. He figured it out. The end.
The only thing Neal Stephenson didn't do was spell all this out at the end. He merely implied it by noting what the characters were seeking, and then showed they each found what they sought. Bells play. The end.
Parent
Re:What were you thinking? (Score:5, Interesting)
FYI moderators on crack -- those are the names of characters from Neal's book Snowcrash.
I've thought of that too -- Neal, some of your books have very creative names, while some have common John Doe kinda names.
Where the hell do you get your ideas for names from?
Enoch Root, Hiro Protagonist, Y.T., ad infinitum.
Parent