Stephenson is my new favorite author! I just finished Snow Crash and have started Cryptonomicon. He has such a passion for writing about new technology and aspects of it he'd like to see explored more. For instance, in Snow Crash, there is a metaverse in which everyone is plugged into and can walk around and visit different places like real life. Programmers can create objects and programs for themselves to have in the metaverse which means they're the supreme beings. It's a very enticing book, I highly recommend it!