Snow

Neal Stephenson's cult cyberpunk novel, which catapulted him into the world of science fiction, presents an America we don't (yet) know: a patchwork of city-states founded on franchise licences and connected only by a hyper-modern virtual network, a kind of internet to the third power. However, this world is threatened by a new drug called Snow Crash, which is also a computer virus. This is where Hiro Protagonist enters the scene—a genius hacker, martial arts master, and, by profession, a delivery boy for a mafia-run pizza delivery service. His mission is to save civilisation from the fate that befell the ancient Sumerians during the construction of the Tower of Babel… A vision of a postmodern society threatened by very contemporary risks, a devilishly fast-paced plot, and a touch of dark humour—these are undoubtedly the reasons why this book became a worldwide bestseller.