I'd already read this book twice. The last time was nearly a decade ago, so I decided to bring it along on vacation to give it a third go.

 

Have you ever visited a place you knew as a child, only to find that it's not nearly so big, beautiful, or interesting years later? That was what my return to The Diamond Age felt like. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great book and a good read. However, it's no longer groundbreaking to me, with all of the cyberpunk and nanotech based Sci-Fi I've seen since my last read. Sadly, this bumps The Diamond Age off my 'top three' book list, and puts it in my 'top 20' instead.

 

If you haven't read Diamond Age, the story goes something like this: we're a generation into the future, and the world has changed. Today's nations have been replaced by city-states enclaves called 'claves,' often with branches spread all over the world. Nanotech permeates society, and has enabled a new golden age where everyone can get at least the basic staples of life, regardless of their station. However, what should be a utopian society is far from it.

 

The book's protagonist is a 'Victorian' clave member, John Hackworth. The Victorians follow a rigid social structure modeled after the 'best parts' of Victorian England. John is a talented programmer who is contracted to write an interactive ('ractive') book, "the Victorian lady's primer" as a present for a lord's daughter. The lord feels that creativity and subversiveness is missing from Victorian society, and he wants to help shape the daughter's personality as she grows up. The book is intended to be unique, but those who see it can't help but want a copy for their own purposes.

 

The story weaves through the impact of the primer on a few lives and cultures, and winds from the far east to Seattle and Vancouver. Along the way we're introduces to an amazing world filled with miracles and horrors of technology. The technology and civilizations painted by the book are fascinating, and the characters are also well done.

 

Overall this is a great book, and I highly recommend you check it out if you're at all interested in science fiction, and especially if you like cyberpunk and nano-tech related fiction. It may not be in my top three anymore, but I'd still give The Diamond Age 10 out of 10 marks for quality.