Neal Stephenson
@nealstephenson
Followers
92K
Following
158
Media
70
Statuses
496
Author of Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, Baroque Cycle, et al. Coming October 2024: Polostan.
Seattle, WA
Joined January 2010
Polostan, my new novel, is coming out October 15. It’s the first book in a new series I’m calling Bomb Light. More info to come as we get closer, but for now: @wmmorrowbooks
48
149
926
Since there seems to be growing confusion on this: I have nothing to do with anything that FB is up to involving the Metaverse, other than the obvious fact that they're using a term I coined in Snow Crash. There has been zero communication between me and FB & no biz relationship.
1
1K
8K
This is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Snow Crash. If you figure in the time I spent writing it, it's been half my life. It's been a wild ride, especially during the last year 😉.
2
295
3K
The assumption that the Metaverse is primarily an AR/VR thing isn't crazy. In my book it's all VR. And I worked for an AR company--one of several that are putting billions of dollars into building headsets. But. .
2
309
1K
Rebel Alliance needs a strategy other than absorbing massive losses.
32
172
842
My new novel, FALL, OR DODGE IN HELL, goes on sale in June 2019 in the USA. Info on tour & signed copies to follow. In the meantime, here’s the link to pre-order and learn more.
44
178
624
"Amalgamated Coal, the world's largest producer of fossil fuels, is no longer Amalgamated Coal. It is now Marfreshca!, which operates organic lemonade stands on the surface of Mars.".
17
129
619
Here's me testing the open source #icelandverse headset a few years ago. A simulation of the gap between the Eurasian and N. American tectonic plates. So realistic it gave me hypothermia. The most convincing XR experience I've had. Didn't have to surrender any of my personal data
10
89
602
The hardcover edition for FALL; OR, DODGE IN HELL goes on sale June 4th. Look how handsome it is! #nealstephenson
38
72
551
A peek at the new deluxe hardcover edition of SNOW CRASH, dropping on Nov. 22 to mark the 30th anniversary. Preorder wherever you buy books! @randomhouse @DelReyBooks
0
84
557
On November 16th, TERMINATION SHOCK goes on sale. It’s a technothriller about climate change, set in a near-future world where the greenhouse effect has resulted in a troposphere of superstorms. Hop on this wild ride. Available for pre-order now.
41
88
500
We fluently navigate and interact with extremely rich 3D environments using keyboards that were designed for mechanical typewriters. It's steampunk made real. A Metaverse that left behind those users and the devs who build those experiences would be getting off on the wrong foot.
1
56
470
Most who follow me are probably registered to vote. So I won't nag you to register. But I will urge you to support @VoteRiders as a way of helping people who aren't--as well as people who've been purged from the rolls by voter suppression ops.
8
133
391
But modern engines help devs manage the challenges of building for multiple targets. My expectation is that a lot of Metaverse content will be built for screens (where the market is) while keeping options open for the future growth of affordable headsets.
0
46
455
I am taking 2022 off from writing so that I can catch a few balls that have been tossed my way. Some of it is big important stuff for me, but every day I'm reminded of how tiny it is compared to the war, the pandemic, Jan. 6th, and atmospheric CO2.
1
10
408
Thanks to games, billions of people are now comfortable navigating 3D environments on flat 2D screens. The UIs that they've mastered (e.g. WASD + mouse) are not what most science fiction writers would have predicted. But that's how path dependency in tech works.
1
43
424
But if it's a situation where there's actually something for readers to do, I'll always try to provide links!. Happy Snow Crash month, and stay tuned. .
0
8
381
. I didn't see video games coming when I wrote Snow Crash. I thought that the killer app for computer graphics would be something more akin to TV. But then along came DOOM and generations of games in its wake. That's what made 3D graphics cheap enough to reach a mass audience.
1
33
369
Today’s the day: Polostan is on sale wherever hardcovers, ebooks, and digital audiobooks are sold. Learn more, and review the tour schedule:
24
51
367
For the avoidance of confusion, I have zero involvement with snowcrash dot com.
0
41
341
Another in a sporadic series of announcements related to the 30th anniversary of the publication of SNOW CRASH: in November, Penguin Random House will publish a new edition of the book
1
56
337
My publisher @wmmorrowbooks is giving away Advance Reader’s Editions of my new novel, Polostan, on Goodreads. If you’d like to enter for a chance to win, here’s the link: Polostan goes on sale October 15th. Details: you need a Goodreads account to enter,
23
41
353
By the time we roll into 2023 I hope to have become something like Jean-Luc Picard strolling around his vineyard, entertaining the occasional visitor but mostly just minding his own business. Which in my case is writing. Not grapes. Grapes seem cool, though.
1
10
332
I do not have an account on Post, Mastodon, or any other of the new post-Twitter platforms. If that ever changes I'll post a notification here. Until then, any such accounts claiming to be me are bogus.
0
23
309
All good Python installations are alike, but each fucked Python installation is fucked in its own way.
17
209
304
The paperback edition of my novel Termination Shock is on sale now wherever you get your books. The New York Times Book Review calls it “at once wildly imaginative and grounded.” #terminationshock
20
51
295
Today’s the day – Termination Shock is on sale wherever you get your books here in the US. Grab your copy – and join Neal’s tour, in-person or virtually. Details:
19
47
306
If you're thinking about using "deeply" in a sentence, don't.
1
20
287
In June I mentioned that there would be a few announcements coming up pertaining to the 30th anniversary of the publication of Snow Crash. This is probably the last of those. For almost a year, I've been working with @Sothebys on an auction of Snow Crash-related items.
1
51
281
Here's a screen grab from the new edition of Snow Crash, coming out in about a month. This is part of the new bonus material in the book: fragments of an unfinished screenplay that I wrote to amuse myself @randomhouse @DelReyBooks
0
43
254
Now in paperback - FALL; OR, DODGE IN HELL. Available wherever books are sold - order from to support the indie nearest to you.
20
29
248
In the meantime, however, there will be some announcements. So, a general reminder of how I use Twitter: mostly one-way. I don't want to get enmeshed in its feedback loops. I don't see DMs. And if I do read responses, it'll be with a finger on the Block button.
1
4
251
Some news: here’s another Goodreads giveaway of my new book, Polostan. (you need a Goodreads account to enter, US only). On sale 10/15, the novel follows the early life of Dawn Rae Bjornberg, and is the start of a new cycle called Bomb Light, about the
13
29
249
Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson goes on sale November 16th. Have you pre-ordered your copy yet? It’s available wherever books, ebooks, and audiobooks are sold.
9
21
229
Fortunately, modern game engines don't force devs to choose until pretty late in the process. That's not to minimize the difficulties of designing for AR/VR as opposed to screens. I know that really well from my time working on content at Magic Leap.
1
8
227
Is there an engineering spec for the socket into which the prong on the bottom of the royal orb fits? Metric or Imperial? Obviously there's one in the lid of the coffin and another hidden in the purple pillow. To judge from body language it's a bit balky.
2
23
209
Prescient quote from the text of FALL; OR, DODGE IN HELL: “The living stayed home, haunting the world of the dead like ghosts.” Out now in paperback wherever books are sold.
18
25
201
My new novel, Termination Shock, goes on sale November 30th. Available for pre-order wherever you buy your books; or, reserve a signed edition from @booksamillion
16
29
189
Happy Independence Day. Imagine if the Founding Fathers were in Bitworld? FALL; OR, DODGE IN HELL is out now in paperback.
19
23
190
My new novel, Polostan, goes on sale October 15. Signed copies are available for preorder from @BNbuzz and @booksamillion. B&N: BAM:
14
20
203
Presented without comment for readers of Termination Shock Trigger warning for ultra hyperbolic martial arts gloating.
0
27
174
Audio listeners and ebook readers - follow this link to enjoy the maps that appear in the print edition of FALL; OR, DODGE IN HELL.
16
34
164
I’m touring to launch the publication of my new novel, Polostan, which goes on sale October 15. I’ll be in several cities across the US. Dates & ticket info here:
9
17
158
FALL; OR, DODGE IN HELL goes on sale in the US on June 4th. Pre-order a signed copy from @powells.
17
33
142
Nice news - Fall; or, Dodge in Hell is a bestseller at @BNBuzz! That means the book’s on sale for 30% off this week at Barnes & Noble.
18
6
123
Enter for your chance to win an early hardcover copy of my new novel, Polostan, out 10/15. It’s the first installment in a new cycle I call Bomb Light.
11
10
133
FIMP=Fake Internet Moral Panic. Coined it last year. Never used it for fear of triggering a FIMP. Blurted it out at @Interval today.
8
77
129
Remember, transparency is just public relations under a less transparent name.
6
88
111
In America, all dinner conversations eventually work their way around to the topic of bears.
20
53
109
Just three short weeks until TERMINATION SHOCK by Neal Stephenson goes on sale on 11/16. Pre-order: Attend an event, live and/or virtual:
6
18
108
Finally raining. I was getting worried that the moss on my car was going to die.
5
60
110
US Goodreads members may enter for a chance to win an Advance Reader’s Edition of Polostan, the new novel by Neal Stephenson, on sale October 15. This new Bomb Light series presages the dawn of the Atomic Age. Enter:
6
10
108
Don't get me started on the coffin lowering mechanism. State of the art hydraulics, or minions turning a 500 year old windlass in the basement? I give it even odds.
0
13
101
Termination Shock goes on sale November 16th. But you might be able to read it early. There’s a giveaway for Advance Reader’s Editions on @goodreads - check it out
7
12
105
Patriothole. Wow. It's like the Onion got tired of being merely awesome and decided to go full afterburner.
7
29
93
Come out and meet Neal and get your book signed during his tour for FALL; OR, DODGE IN HELL (on sale June 4). Details here and below.
15
22
102
That #HugoAwards voters noticed and rewarded what @nkjemisin did there seems like a sign of good health.
4
22
87
Catch @nealstephenson on tour for his new technothriller TERMINATION SHOCK, out 11/16. Here’s the complete list of in person & virtual events. Cities: Seattle, San Fran, Denver, Madison, Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Phoenixville, NYC
5
13
99
Here's the first minute from the audiobook edition of TERMINATION SHOCK by @nealstephenson, read by Edoardo Ballerini. Available for pre-order now, on sale Nov. 16th.
7
21
92
I had a dream in which @zaphodgjd and I were trying to smuggle heavy boxes of comic books out of a building, lugging and shoving them down a long corridor to a loading dock where a truck was waiting. Standing guard halfway along the corridor was Sir Patrick Stewart. .
3
16
89
My publisher @wmmorrowbooks is giving away 50 Advance Reader’s Editions of my new novel, Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, on sale June 4th. The giveaway is through Goodreads (so you’ll have to register or sign in) and it’s USA-only (sorry everyone else).
10
17
88
Only one day until TERMINATION SHOCK is in bookstores. Tour info: and grab a signed copy here and here.
6
11
94
Started a Substack. Have soft-pedaled it as I was learning my way around. Then along came today's Mira Murati furor, which happens to dovetail perfectly with the first post I put up just a few days ago after OpenAI's previous gaffe
0
15
96
The Fall; or, Dodge in Hell ebook is just $1.99 today only (Aug 18th). Download it wherever you buy your ebooks – it includes a sneak peek excerpt from @nealstephenson ‘s new novel, TERMINATION SHOCK, on sale Nov. 16th.
13
21
83
TERMINATION SHOCK BOOK TOUR! 9 cities plus 3 virtual events. All info and details in the link, the festivities kick off on Sunday 11/14 in Seattle. Termination Shock goes on sale November 16th.
8
17
81
Thorough nerd-complete account of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse and hero engg. prof. Farquharson
0
52
83
ANATHEM ebook now just $1.99 through 5/1. Includes an excerpt from the new novel w/ @nicolegalland
8
39
84
@scalzi Okay, usually I stay out of these. But here goes. "Paraphrasing," or whatever you choose to call it, is simply too much effort. It is literally easier, as well as more fulfilling, to actually make up original shit.
3
1
79
Termination Shock tour update - Neal is in Indianapolis tonight, 11/23.! His tour resumes after Thanksgiving in-person in Philly and NYC, plus 2 more virtual events on the 2nd and 3rd of December. Get in on the fun!
11
13
85
Given the company's resources, Google's inattention to UI seems more and more like a passive-aggressive way of saying "we're not Apple.".
15
103
77
I’m touring to promote my new novel, Polostan. Details & ticket info are on my website:
4
8
85
FYI, my publisher is giving away 100 ebooks of POLOSTAN on Goodreads (US only). Enter here:
3
11
79
Trying to look like I know what I'm doing as I bomb around Monterey in the @_ZEROSOUTH humvee http://t.co/Qxuw9GeuPu.
5
29
77
Polostan goes on sale in exactly one week! Check Neal’s 2-week tour schedule to see if he’s visiting a bookstore near you. Tickets & more details:
12
7
78
Pre-order a signed copy of Neal Stephenson’s new novel, Termination Shock, from @booksamillion . On Sale Nov. 30. Epic in scope while heartbreakingly human in perspective, Termination Shock is an exhilarating, witty, mind-expanding speculative adventure.
15
12
66
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., co-authored w/ @nicolegalland. Coming this June! Pre-order a signed copy from @bnbuzz
7
34
70
I have a timeline plotting out who did what in the Snow Crash universe going back as far as WW2. Lagos accounts for a good chunk of it. For the most part his story is fragmentary, but I do have these old scenes lying around. So I'm throwing them in to the new edition.
1
5
67
I would actually take a naysayer over a meh-sayer any day.
3
31
67
In NZ blow-drying my undies and wearing LoTR swag because airline lost my luggage. Small price to pay for hanging out at @wetaworkshop.
6
26
68