I mean - I get why geeks like his books. Even though he tramples all over the actual fundamentals (BIOS in "Snow Crash" meant Built-in Operating System for instance - something he recognizes in the acknowledgments, so that's okay)of the geekery, it's still a book all about a hacker and how this hacker literally saves the world. Of course that's going to appeal to coders. And the main hacker is a katana wielding sword slinger. Of course that's going to appeal to geeks in a basic "I want to be like that" kind of hero-worship way.
I just wish it actually had an ending that made any kind of sense. Or that the main female character was actually as much of a person as any of the male characters (even the ancillary random people in the book had more going on than she did). I know the book is goofy, tongue in cheek, silly, half comedy. But when a chick stops in the middle of an "I'm about to get killed" experience to tell the main guy that, really, all he really needs to grab the girl of his dreams is to understand HIMSELF better... I feel like I'm not the intended audience for this book and sort of feel outside of it. Like I'm reading something that's plastered with "boys only" stickers.
It was entertaining. It just could have been a lot better. And I can't tell if Neal Stephenson dislikes women (in a pat-you-on-the-head, patronizing way) or if he just doesn't really *get* them. You know that line from "As Good as it gets"? "How do you write women so well?" - "I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability." That pretty much sums up Neal Stephenson. If he also said "and make sure I mention her ass every 10 pages" it would be dead on.
