Neal Stephenson's best, so far, in my opinion. While "Snow Crash" is undeniably important from a "let's talk about the metaverse and cyberstuff" perspective, I believe "Cryptonomicon" is simply a better novel. The parallels between WWII cryptography and the disguising of data related to war efforts and modern (ie, late 20th century) cryptography are fascinating. And the personal, family history elements are woven in with smooth ease.This is a great tale, told very well, and with a good chunk o' learning thrown in.Read this.