The novel “The Diamond Age” by Neal Stephenson was published for the first time in 1995. It won the Hugo and Locus Awards.
John Percival Hackworth created A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer for Lord Alexander Chung-Sik Finkle-McGraw, a rich Neo-Victorian, who commissioned it to provide a better education for his granddaughter. However, Hackworth made an illegal copy for his daughter but it was stolen by Harv, a child from the poorest class who gave it to his sister Nell.
What Hackworth did was discovered with various consequences that also involved other people, who had different agendas, also connected to the different phyles they belong to. Nell has access to a level of education that poor people are generally excluded from, but her mother represents for her a sort of prison that prevents her from getting out of the slums.
“The Diamond Age” is set in a future where advances in nanotechnology have radically changed the lives of human beings, especially the ones who can benefit from it. Neal Stephenson includes explicit inspirations from people who conducted research in that field, showing the possible consequences of the widespread diffusion of nanotechnology. A leap forward in technology hasn’t brought social improvements and actually, social classes seem to have become more rigid.
The old nations have been supplanted by tribal groups called phyles. The Neo-Victorians are one of the phyles while the Tetas are the people who don’t belong to any phyles and tend to be at the bottom of society. Nell is a Theta and can’t expect anything good from life after her father dies and she’s left with a mother who doesn’t care about her wellbeing but her brother gets his hands on a nanocomputer that opens up a world much broader than the one she knows.
Nell’s story is in many ways a coming-of-age story that is used by Neal Stephenson to develop social themes, including those connected to education. The Primer shows Nell fantastic worlds which include fairy-tale versions of the real world that help her understand it better. For example, in the real world, Nell’s mother arouses contempt for her behaviors but her counterpart created by the Primer arouses pity because it shows how she’s locked in a mind prison of her own making.
Some subplots follow other characters who, among other things, show other elements of that future. A key moment involves Judge Fang examining according to his Confucian principles the events that led to Nell’s possession of the Primer. His decisions, including later ones, have significant consequences on the plot and that means on other characters, even when he doesn’t come into direct contact with them.
All of this is used by Neal Stephenson to create a story that is a Dickensian-Confucian mix and nanotechnology always present with uses and ramifications, and these are just the foundations. Stories of important characters intertwine with Nell’s but in my opinion, their management is one of the problems of the novel. These characters’ actions have a significant influence on various parts of the plot but sometimes they disappear for large parts of the novel. This makes it difficult to follow a great story that spans many years.
In his novels, Neal Stephenson builds complex worlds with intricate stories that he uses to develop various themes. He also tends to be wordy and chaotic and “The Diamond Age” is no exception with many themes and subplots that unfold until reaching a final part that has moments that are truly over the top. A lot happens but often the pace becomes slow because the author focuses on moments of introspection and reflection. This is even more true for the virtual educational adventures that Nell experiences in the Primer.
I understand why “The Diamond Age” won the Hugo and Locus Awards because it also includes the best of Neal Stephenson’s creativity, also applied to technological themes and especially very important social themes. If you think you can follow the many elements of this novel without getting lost or feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of it all, I recommend reading it. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
