- Paperback: 308 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group; Reissue edition (3 Feb 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553573861
- ISBN-13: 978-0553573862
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.7 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 762,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Zodiac
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Product Description
Book Description
Frightening, funny, fast and furious, Zodiac is thrilling speculative fiction torn straight from today's headlines.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Sangamon Taylor's a New Age Sam Spade who sports a wet suit instead of a trench coat and prefers Jolt from the can to Scotch on the rocks. He knows about chemical sludge the way he knows about evil -- all too intimately. And the toxic trail he follows leads to some high and foul places. Before long Taylor's house is bombed, his every move followed, he's adopted by reservation Indians, moves onto the FBI's most wanted list, makes up with his girlfriend, and plays a starring role in the near-assassination of a presidential candidate. Closing the case with the aid of his burnout roomate, his tofu-eating comrades, three major networks, and a range of unconventional weaponry, Sangamon Taylor pulls off the most startling caper in Boston Harbor since the Tea Party. As he navigates this ecological thriller with hardboiled wit and the biggest outboard motor he can get his hands on, Taylor reveals himself as one of the last of the white-hatted good guys in a very toxic world.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Zodiac is described on the cover blurb as an 'eco-thriller', and for a change the blurb is close to being accurate. The book's main character is an ecological-crime detective, busily hunting down evidence of corporations illegally dumping hazardous waste and using publicity stunts and clogging up discharge pipes with cement as his main weapons against these companies. The book takes on a decided thriller aspect with the introduction of gene-tailored bacteria, designed to 'eat' contaminates, but there is a variety that generates them instead. How these bacteria are tracked down and controlled provides the main thrust for this book.
The plot is the main driver here, characterization outside of the protagonist is definitely skimpy, and in places the ecological warnings (though presented with apparent good scientific backing) become a little too strident, in places reminding me of Philip Wylie's The End of the Dream. Unlike some of his later books, his message is delivered almost directly, with little in the way of satire, irony, or his by-now patented brand of humor. The plot moves rapidly and logically, with enough potential hazard in the situation to easily quality as a 'thriller'. This makes for a quick read, but without his special zing that would make this book stand out.
Definitely an early effort, not in the class of his Snow Crash or The Diamond Age, still quite readable, but probably a must only for Stephenson hard-core fans.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An early example of Neal Stephenson's work, this does not have quite the depth of imagination of later offerings (such as Snow Crash or The Diamond Age) but the action is fast, the use of language excellent and the science spot on. In most works of Science Fiction the science is Physics, yet in Zodiac it's Chemistry and Biology that get a chance to shine. The introduction of a character with some scientific training into a situation where those with more knee-jerk views often dominate is a pleasing feature of this novel. The plotting sometimes goes slightly astray (the Satanist Rock band's involvement is sketchy and ill explained) and our main protagonist certainly seems to be more a super-hero of the 50's who can do no wrong than a late 80's drop-out. However these minor points should not detract from this books appeal as a a good action read. I would like to know if it has inspired anyone to partake in some direct action?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read Snow Crash, Diamond Age, and Interface (written under Stephen Bury pseudonym), I bought this. It's a ripping good yarn, keeping me up till 2am, no bother. However, beware! It is subtitled 'the eco-thriller, and it is just that. Those expecting near-future or far-future adventures, as seen in other works, might be disappointed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not bad :)
This is a little different to the usual books I read but found myself gripped and I read this is one day (yes it was raining outside). Read more
Published 10 months ago by C. L. Fraser
One of my most read books...
I really love this book, and now own two copies because so many of my friends have been borrowing it. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2009 by Littledasypus
Disappointing work from a master of Cyberpunk
Firstly, I'd just like to point-out that I'm usually a huge fan of Neal Stephenson - 'The Diamond Age' was his first work that I read, and I found the imaginative breadth... Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2004 by D. O'Brien
Hard-boiled environmental thriller
Set in Boston this thriller centres on the exploits of the oddly monikered Sangamon Taylor aka The Toxic Spiderman. Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2003 by Matthew Wharton
The Debut of the Granola James Bond!
Neal Stephenson has created a new cult figure in Sangamon Taylor - "the Granola James Bond" - a macho environmentalist who's fortunes are reflected in the size of the... Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2001
Entertaining eco-thriller but not a patch on his best
I like Neal Stephenson, so I was really keen to read Zodiac. And it started off strongly, kicking into the action with his trademark style. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2001
A great eco thriller
This early work from Neal Stephenson shows many of the features that made Snow Crash and Cryptonomnicon great books to read. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2001
The first book, and until Cryptonomicon, the best.
Ever since I read this book, I have eagerly awaited the next from this author. Three ( four if you count the one under another name ) books later this book is still one of the... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2001
It would be easy to mistake Zodiac for a crime novel
It would be easy to mistake Zodiac for a crime novel, were it not for the flashy futuristic cover, and that it resides in SCI FI section of bookshops. Read more
Published on 11 Nov 1999
Cracking good yarn-masterful storyteller-multithreaded plot
You must read "Zodiac" by Stephenson - there is an oblique reference to it in the preface of one of the other 2 where he goes "my first book, which was a cult hit... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 1999
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