Though Neal Stephenson has authored just a handful of books, his science-fiction thrillers that blend high-tech intrigue with sly humor have made him one of the most successful new authors in the genre. Called "the hacker Hemingway" and compared even to...

Super Diamond is a walking catalog of equine ailments. His physical problems are so chronic that he is able to race only three or four times in a year. Trainer Eddie Gregson knows that any race could turn out to be the gelding's last....

For five years, computer software makers Yaakov Leshem and Harel Kuzi dragged Israel's diamond manufacturers gently into the computer age. Intercontinental kinships, major industry upheavals and plummeting world diamond sales bequeathed them a growing monopoly, which extends from Bangkok to Johannesburg. Now, they...