Science Fiction · ThoughtfulIn a near-future world of nanotechnology, a girl named Nell receives an interactive book that teaches her
The Diamond Age
A girl, an interactive primer and a world rebuilt by nanotech
Bantam Spectra published the novel in February 1995, and the hardcover has 455 pages. It is a coming-of-age story set in a near-future world shaped by molecular nanotechnology, following Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation. Society is organized into phyles rather than nation-states. Nell is the protagonist, and John Percival Hackworth is the nanotech engineer who designed the Primer. The title extends the archaeological labels Stone Age and Bronze Age.
More about this book
Who
Nell, John Percival Hackworth, Fiona Hackworth, Harv, Lord Finkle-McGraw, Miranda Redpath and Judge Fang.
World
A near-future world of nanotechnology, organized into phyles.
What makes it different
The protagonist's name alludes to Little Nell in Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop. Judge Fang extends Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee.
Feel
Rich and fast-talking.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- The Diamond AgeWikipedia