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Zodiac
U.S. version cover shot.
Author	Neal Stephenson
Cover artist	Bruce Jensen
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction
Publisher	Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication 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 inspired¹ by environmental chemist Marco Kaltofen². 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

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v • d • e Works by Neal Stephenson The Baroque Cycle Quicksilver (2003) • The Confusion (2004) • The System of the World (2004) Other novels The Big U (1984) • Zodiac (1988) • Snow Crash (1992) • Interface (1994) • The Diamond Age (1995) • The Cobweb (1996) • Cryptonomicon (1999) • Anathem (2008) Short stories "Spew" (1994) • "The Great Simoleon Caper" (1995) • "Jipi and the paranoid chip" (1997) Essays Smiley's people (1993) • In the Kingdom of Mao Bell (1994) • Mother Earth Mother Board (1996) • Global Neighborhood Watch (1998) • In the Beginning... was the Command Line (1999)

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