A science fiction icon who coined and popularized the term "metaverse" is pausing his literary career to create one of his own.

As reported in a recent article by Wired,  "Snow Crash" author famed cyberpunk novelist and computer engineer Neal Stephenson is working with an enigmatic figure to create a more decentralized platform similar to Facebook or Fortnite.

"It's like Neal is coming down out of the mountains like Gandalf to restore the metaverse to an open, decentralized, and creative order," said Rony Abovitz, an augmented reality and robotics engineer who currently acts as one of the strategic advisors in Lamina1; a company co-founded by  Stephenson and Bitcoin Foundation director Peter Vessenes.

Based on a report by Wired, Vessenes said he was initially concerned that the science fiction titan was profiting from his self-created hype.

"That's potentially the first question. Is Neal selling his brand to some fucking metaverse company?" Said the career Bitcoin evangelist.

Vessenes claimed that once people speak to the Lamina1 pair, "they conclude this is a principled effort," and further ask the team how they plan to accomplish this; however, It seems the answers to these questions will be figured out with time.

"The economics are tied to adoption; the more people use it, the more valuable it is," Vessenes said, without adding much more detail.

However, there might be a problem with execution. In 2021, Stephenson created an incredibly ambitious sword fighting game called Clang. The game was developed with its unique motion hardware; however, for some reason, the project failed the next year.

At the moment, Stephenson and his team are taking on a more challenging and demanding project that is more ambitious than Clang.

According to Wired, the company employs only three engineers currently, although they plan to hire many more as they build out their technology.

Adding to the intensity of it all, Stephenson says he intends to continue writing novels after he's done with the cyberpunk saga: he told us, I'm not taking any breaks from writing novels after I'm done. "When the calendar turns to 2023, it will return to the usual."

"My publisher will send a hitman after me if I don't fulfill my obligations," he told Wired.