This is a new look for cult author Stephenson's unstoppable sci-fi classic, The
future is small. The future is nano ...And who could be smaller or more insignif
icant than poor Little Nell - an orphan girl alone and adrift in a world of Conf
ucian Law, Neo-Victorian values and warring nano-technology? Well, not quite alo
ne. Because Nell has a friend, of sorts.
A guide, a teacher, an armed and una
rmed combat instructor, a book and a computer: the Young Lady's Illustrated Prim
er is all these and much much more. It is illicit, magical, dangerous. And it is
n't Nell's.