The Diamond Age

Diamond Age " The border world " is a 1995 written by Neal Stephenson science fiction novel, which appeared in the German edition, beginning in 1996 when Goldmann Verlag in a translation by Joachim Körber. The original American edition was published in 1995 under the title " The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady 's Illustrated Primer" by Bantam Books, New York. The book received the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award in the category of SF Novel.

Action

In the future described in Diamond Age, most nation-states by the revolution of nanotechnology, which makes it possible by so-called matter compilers almost any goods, independent of production sites to produce anywhere in the world, and a global information network, the States does not allow control over financial transactions more and thus makes the collection of taxes impossible, largely lost its importance.

Economic importance only have ownership of the plans ( information for the compilation of the goods), as well as the infrastructure, consisting of Sources, factories for atomic blocks and simultaneously monitoring bodies for the matter compiler, and feeder lines to the compiler with material to supply. In place of the nation-states called tribes have come, its geographical companies, which are defined by common economic interests and social standards of their members. The tribes have no central state territory more, but talk about the whole world scattered small territories called enclaves. The coexistence of tribes and enclaves is guaranteed by the Economic Protocol, a protocol for all the joined enclaves binding legal basis, based on an economic evaluation of all actions, and even rated a murder only from an economic point of view. The dominant economic enclaves are New Atlantis and Nippon, there are also a variety of other enclaves of different size and economic importance. New Atlantis is an Anglo -Saxon, orienting itself by Victorian values, aristocratic society in which the economic elite, so-called dividend Lords, the role of the old aristocracy have taken. Nippon is a comparable power factor and stands with New Atlantis in competition. Both powers maintain outposts in the coastal Republic, a capitalist -oriented, alleged successor state of today's Chinese Free Trade and Special Economic Zones, where they operate the economic development of the Middle Kingdom, the last nation-state, influenced by traditional Chinese society structures. In addition to the enclaves of the coast Republic is home to the lease parcels in which a stateless, social underclass different lineage alive, although existentially secured by free provided goods for the basic necessities of life, but without access to education and perspective on social advancement through inclusion in a the dominant tribes. This is also the origin of Nell, the protagonist of the action.

The nano-engineer John Percival Hackworth developed the Illustrated Primer for the young lady, the only copy of an interactive guide to the transmission of knowledge and the character and personality formation of members of the upper class of New Atlantis, commissioned by Lord Alexander Chung- Sik Finkle - McGraw, a dividend Lord of the rank of a duke, for his granddaughter Elizabeth. Hackworth has designed the fibula, although according to the ideas of Finkle - McGraw, but does not have ownership of the plans. Nevertheless, he can illegally by Dr. X, a scientist working in the underground, make a copy of the Primer for his daughter, but is lost to him in the attack of a street gang, whose leader Harvard, short Harv is. Although Harv, like most members of his class, is primitive and largely uneducated, he recognizes instinctively that the book has a special value. He gives the reader captured his little sister Nell and sharpens her one to keep the existence of the book secret.

Primer allows Nell access to knowledge and education, which would never have been her as members of the underclass otherwise possible. On the basis of on personal circumstances and environment of the owner tailored fables and stories learns Nell first read from her fibula, writing and arithmetic. Later, the manners of the upper class, access to information technology and nanotechnology, the key technologies and the basis of the structures of power, and most importantly, subversive, and critical thinking, which enables it to the economic and social structures of the world in which she lives, to understand. The Raktrice Miranda, a kind of on an hourly basis working actress for interactive virtual experiences, the Primer gives her voice, and takes over the years a kind of mother to Nell, even if they do not deviate from the action specified by the primer or directly with Nell can communicate.

While Nell grows up through her fibula to an educated, young woman, Hackworth will become blackmailed by his crime, forced by Dr. X in a conspiracy for the development of the seed, a body independent of the sources and feeders nanotechnology to produce goods, with the the economic independence of the Middle Kingdom is to be achieved by the dominant societies New Atlantis and Nippon. But Hackworth is banished by Dr. X in the living under the sea sect of the drummers who form an alternative, human information network, its infrastructure and computing capacity on the unconscious exchange of information through artificial nano- parasite living in the bodies of members is based, by which merge the drummers into a collective consciousness.

At the same place in the coastal republic a controlled from the Middle Kingdom revolt of fists, one to be recruited from among the people underground army, instead, which is to destroy the threat posed by the coast Republic feeder infrastructure and achieve the reunification of the two Chinese states, during Hackworth technology developed for the economic independence of the new united China.

While the insurgency expands, which gradually cuts off the coast of the Republic of the vital feeders and finally culminates in a emanating from the Middle Kingdom invasion, provides Hackworth, who moves between the world of drummers and the surface to exchange data without his knowledge the technology of seed ready.

Hackworth and other survivors of the invasion can save through the help of Nell and located below the sea tunnels of the drummers from the coast to the present on an artificial island enclave " New Atlantis".

Background

Neal Stephenson describes in his vision of the future social impact of advanced information age, whose economic factors, knowledge, ownership of this and take control of the information infrastructure, which it transmits through the narrative artifice of nanotechnology on material goods. The Illustrated Primer for the young lady who falls of originating from the lower class into the hands of Nell, is necessary for the social advancement of access to information that is denied to most people in the future described by Neal Stephenson. The technology of the seed against it represents a property rights in information and control of infrastructure independent of the masses access to resources and goods, and can be interpreted as an allusion to the open source movement. The movement of fists to overcome the domination of the western states in China is historically similar to the Boxer Rebellion.

Position in literary history

The person of the Lord Finkle - McGraw is inspired to the idea of ​​magazines Primer for the young lady, among others, by the 1798 short story The Raven written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which is printed in full-length novel.

Effect story

The book is a model for a planned three -part television series of the American television SciFi Channel, which is said to be produced by George Clooney.