Snow Crash is a 1992 cyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. The novel is set in post-collapse Los Angeles in an imagined version of the 21st century, in which a young man becomes embroiled in a criminal scheme involving technology. As well as being credited as a foundational text in the cyberpunk genre, Snow Crash was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Stephenson was a relatively unknown author before publishing Snow Crash, which is considered his breakthrough novel. He has published 15 science fiction novels since then and has won awards like the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

This study guide refers to the eBook version of the 2003 Bantam Spectra edition.

Content Warning: Snow Crash and this guide contain references to statutory rape and the threat of sexual violence.

Plot Summary

Snow Crash is set in a future version of Los Angeles that has endured a colossal economic collapse. With Los Angeles now separated from the United States, most government functions are now performed by private corporations. These corporations have their own militaries and police forces. Even organized crime has become corporatized, including the Mafia.

A young man named Hiro Protagonist is a pizza delivery driver who works for the Mafia and is a preternaturally gifted computer hacker. He struggles to hold down a job due to his inability to work with others, and he carries samurai swords to make people take him seriously. While trying to deliver a pizza, he crashes his car. A 15-year-old courier named YT (an abbreviation of Yours Truly) appears and offers to complete the delivery on his behalf, hoping to win favor from Hiro and his employers. Hiro and YT begin working together. They collect information and sell it to the now-privatized CIA, the CIC.

Hiro sells his hacking skills in the Metaverse, a virtual reality successor to the Internet. While inside the Metaverse, Hiro meets a man named Raven. During their discussion, Raven offers Hiro a narcotic that he refers to as Snow Crash. Hiro’s friend Da5id examines the file. Inside is a bitmap image that makes Da5id’s computer crash. As an extension of the virtual reality experience, Da5id has brain damage in real life. Hiro talks with Juanita Marquez, his ex-girlfriend. She works with a person named Lagos, who provides Hiro with information about Snow Crash. The Snow Crash file is linked to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel and the ancient Sumerian language. Juanita wants Hiro to be careful.

Hiro’s boss, Uncle Enzo, begins to show more interest in YT as he likes her attitude. He begins to offer her freelance jobs, which she works while collecting intelligence with Hiro. The more research and intelligence they gather, the more links they draw between the Snow Crash virus, a media mogul named L. Bob Rife, and a religious group named Reverend Wayne’s Pearly Gates. They begin to understand that Snow Crash can cause brain damage by using the ancient Sumerian language, which can reprogram a brain almost like a computer when certain stimuli are presented. The Sumerians knew this and performed these stimuli at religious ceremonies until a legendary figure named Enki discovered a counter. This counter hindered the power of the Sumerian language and helped create most of the world’s other languages. L. Bob Rife is a rich man who collects Sumerian artifacts. He developed Snow Crash hoping he could control people through it on his media networks. He distributes the addictive Snow Crash through the Pearly Gates organization by infecting people’s blood and through a digital version. Hackers like Hiro are especially at risk of this digital version due to their experiences in the Metaverse.

Hiro travels to Oregon. A large group of refugees from Eurasia sailed to the West Coast of America on a vehicle known as the Raft. L. Bob Rife owns an aircraft carrier that once belonged to the United States government, which he has repurposed as a yacht. This yacht is at the center of the Raft, allowing Rife to indoctrinate all the refugees with his virus. YT is captured by Rife and taken aboard the Raft. Because of her connection with Enzo, Rife wants to use YT as a hostage. Hiro sides with the Mafia. He fights against Rife’s soldiers and boards the Raft. While onboard, he recovers the counter virus that was originally developed by Enki, which Rife has been hiding. Hiro recruits Juanita to help him spread the counter virus to the refugees.

Seeing that he has lost control, Rife tries to flee the Raft with YT and plans to distribute Snow Crash through other means. He tells Raven to spread the digital Snow Crash during a concert that is being hosted inside the Metaverse. Hiro intervenes and stops the virus from spreading, and YT escapes. Raven waits for the Mafia at Los Angeles International Airport. He tries to kill Enzo, but the fight ends in a stalemate. Rife also tries to flee via the airport, but he is killed while on his private jet. YT escapes and returns to her mother. Hiro and Juanita realize that they love one another, and they rekindle their relationship.