Adlai's Reviews > Snow Crash

It's a memetic bomb, about memetic bombs. How could you NOT like memetic bombs!?

The main scientific issue which I found irksome was the dynamics of the hooligan hitchhikers. The scenes described in the book are theoretically plausible, although I doubt any of today's humans could actually survive such stunts on the basis of their own skills, rather than dumb luck; however, the book does not purport to describe humans with genetically enhanced reflexes, only access to advanced machinery.

One thing that the book does correctly is the portrayal of all the mysterious radioactive power sources as being hot. While radiothermal isotopes could theoretically operate within margins where their waste heat would not be distinguishable from that of living animals, it would be ungracious to complain that science fiction does not have sufficiently advanced machinery. Legends tell that the author kept on studying the field, for his future books!