It's great. Very fun. A neat exploration of a world gone bonkers, because it's ability to organize and govern hasn't caught up to the

chaos wrought by its technical achievements.

Stephenson fast-forwards from this book, where humanity is beginning to hyper-balkanize into factions, to The Diamond Age, where that balkanization has resulted into Network State "protocols", which people can voluntarily leave and join, if they are desperate or worthy enough.