Zodiac (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Zodiac
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = U.S. version cover shot.
author = Neal Stephenson
cover_artist = Bruce Jensen
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction
publisher = Atlantic Monthly Press
release_date = May 1988
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 283 pp (first edition, paperback)
isbn = ISBN 0-87113-181-1 (first edition, paperback)
preceded_by = The Big U
followed_by = Snow Crash

"Zodiac: An Eco-Thriller" (1988) is Neal Stephenson's second novel, which tells the story of an environmentalist, Sangamon Taylor, uncovering a conspiracy involving industrialist polluters and Satanists in Boston Harbor. The "Zodiac" of the title refers to the brand of inflatable motor boats the hero uses to get around the city efficiently. His opponents attempt to frame him as an ecoterrorist.

The protagonist is inspired [ [http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/08/ecology_sleuth_is_local_global/ "Ecology sleuth is local, global"] , Boston Globe, July 8th 2007, ] by environmental chemist Marco Kaltofen [ [http://bostonchemicaldata.com/bio.html Marco Kaltofen Biography] ] . Taylor is a recreational user of nitrous oxide, justifying his choice of drug by the eponymous Sangamon's Principle: "the smaller the molecule, the better the drug".

Release details

*1988, USA, Atlantic Monthly Press (ISBN 0-87113-181-1), Pub date ? May 1988, paperback (First edition)
*1988, UK, Bloomsbury (ISBN 0-7475-0262-5), Pub date ? October 1988, paperback
*1995, USA, Spectra Books (ISBN 0-553-57386-1), Pub date ? June 1995, paperback
*1997, USA, Signet Books (ISBN 0-451-45588-6), Pub date 29 May 1997, paperback
*1997, UK, Penguin Books (ISBN 0-14-027038-8), Pub date 7 August 1997, paperback
*2001, UK, Arrow Books (ISBN 0-09-941552-6), Pub date 24 May 2001, paperback
*2002, USA, Denoël (ISBN 2-207-25264-7), Pub date 4 September 2002, paperback

References