The Postcyberpunk Fairytale

            “Once upon a time there was a little Princess named Nell who was imprisoned in a tall dark castle…” was never how I envisioned any cyberpunk novel to begin. Although Neal Stephenson’s novel The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer did not begin exactly with those words, the beginning of the primer – the book within the book – did. This existential tale follows a young heroine on a magnificent quest all the while echoing a fairytale within a very complex coming-of-age story set in the city of Shanghai decades into the future. While The Jetsons weren’t far off with their space travel and their version of matter compilers, put George Jetson out of mind as you step into the neo-Victorian future where nanotechnology is literally part of everything and everyone, no matter what phyle or class, is part of the grand scheme of things.

            Stephenson’s idea of the future is far from the one posed by Star Trek. The justice system is Confucian and there is no space travel. As far as technology ruling lives, it is mostly the lower class that obsesses with the newest technology like skull guns, muscle electrotherapy to build bulk, and airskates, but everyone has a M.C. in the house. “Now nanotechnology had made nearly anything possible, and so the cultural role in deciding what should be done with it had become far more important than imagining what could be done with it” (31).  Interestingly enough, Stephenson’s future has extremely advanced technology, but they seem to have dismissed the 20^th century opting to revive the Victorian era for “stable social models” (20).

In the beginning, as each chapter shifts its focus from a low-level thete with a skull gun to a high class Victorian family to a fairytale told from a primer, you might find yourself grappling for connections between the seemingly incongruent tales. In fact, some connections are not made until the last twenty pages or so. Stephenson craftily creates a handful of disparate characters whose lives eventually and surprisingly become dependent on one another.

John Percival Hackworth, a nanotech engineer sets the whole thing in motion when he is asked to make an interactive book called A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer designed to educate Lord Finkle-McGraw’s daughter. However, seeing the immense value that this primer potentially holds, Hackworth illicitly duplicates one for his own daughter Fiona. Enter Harv, a mischievous thete (member of the poor, tribeless class), who ransacks Hackworth and steals the primer for his younger sister Nell. Harv having no idea what power the primer holds presents it to Nell as a mere gift. But as soon as Nell opens the book, the story begins, her life is changed, and she holds the key to change the world.

             The primer was originally intended for an elite member of society with the goal of freeing her from the monotony that has become the education system. The primer would not only entertain and interact with the reader, but it would also teach the reader to think for herself. And this is exactly what Nell does. The primer is not solely programmed to read a list of codes, but it is made to react to whatever situation the reader encounters in order to teach much more than the basics – reading, writing, and arithmetic. After years of depending on the primer to teach and guide Nell, she comes to the point in her life where she is able to not only change the course of her life, but she is able to change humanity. Stehpenson’s use of a young female heroine makes for a genuine story that keeps the reader cheering her on, while wondering what else could lie ahead.

            All the while, John Percival Hackworth does not leave the scene. His story continues in the midst of Nell’s. Under the direction of a man named Dr. X, Hackworth goes to join a self-sustained group known as the Drummers to construct the Seed – technology that would change the world. The Drummers work as one unit with nanotechnology flowing freely from person to person. It is in the commune of the Drummers where everyone’s purpose is revealed, characters come head to head, but going any further would give away too much.

Through a “universe [that is] a disorderly mess, [with] the only interesting bits being the organized anomalies,” Stephenson creates a world in which the reader can “ignore the blackness of outer space and pay attention to the stars, especially if they seem to order themselves into constellations” making The Diamond Age an intriguing and enjoyable adventure (56).  Stephenson creatively toys with the English language developing his own words to make the neo-Victorian era more than just fiction on a page. His poetic sense, and at times, cunning humor makes for an intelligent commentary on what our future could hold. His idea of education and language is still similar to our 21^st century institutions, but rather than so much relying on reading words to succeed in life, life is dictated by binary codes and protocol. Nell even asks, “What are letters?” and Harv explains, “Kinda like mediaglyphics except they’re all black, and they’re tiny, they don’t move, they’re old and boring and really hard to read” (40). In that regard, I guess it really isn’t too far away from where we are in our “always-plugged-in” world.