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Neal Stephenson's "Anathem". Seriously one of the best novels I've ever read. He's an excellent writer, and after about the first fifty pages I couldn't put it

by gchucky 16y ago

Neal Stephenson's "Anathem". Seriously one of the best novels I've ever read. He's an excellent writer, and after about the first fifty pages I couldn't put it down.

blacksmythe 16y ago
Also his "Cryptonomicon", a phenomenal novel.
- sgricci 16y ago
  Snow crash was great as well. Also the "Daemon" series by Daniel Suarez is great along the same lines as snow crash.
  - rdl 16y ago
    And, Diamond Age, which I actually prefer to all Stephenson's other novels. Suarez rocks too.
  - ladoo3 16y ago
    Daemon and Freedom are wonderful books. A recent article in the NYT reminded me a lot of the series. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/europe/08assange.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/europe/08assange.htm... "That left unclear whether a more serious threat would be carried out. In recent days, Mr. Assange has asserted that “over 100,000 people” had downloaded the entire archive of 251,287 cables in encrypted form. Only around 1,000 of the cables have so far been released; in many, names of sources who might be compromised or endangered were redacted. “If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically,” Mr. Assange wrote in a question-and-answer session on the Web site of the British newspaper The Guardian. Mr. Stephens, the lawyer, reiterated that warning on Tuesday saying a “a virtual network” of “thousands of journalists” around the world would ensure that the rest of the documents would be published."
thisrod 16y ago
Anathem gets my vote. It's a mystery, with things left for the reader to figure out. These things include where and when it's set, and what genre it's written in. A brilliantly apt form for a novel about science, which makes it hard to describe without spoiling it. The author has his usual fun. Historical inspriation: monasteries in the dark ages. Martial artists: far too cool for their own good. Tensor calculations performed as interpretive dance: it had to be done. The plight of hackers and scientists in a violent, greedy world strikes as true as ever. Stephenson's neologisms are a bonus. The principle "'X would be nice' does not imply X" needs a name, though I don't expect "Diax's rake" to stick. Also useful is "Lorite", for a scholar who specialises in refuting claims of novelty.
- arethuza 16y ago
  Anathem was one of the rare novels that when I read enough to get into it I was utterly delighted that there was so much of the book still to read. I've even bought some of the music tracks by David Stutz: http://synthesist.net/music/anathem/ http://synthesist.net/music/anathem/ Profits from this go to the Long Now Foundation - which is very appropriate given then themes in the book.
suraj 16y ago
This book got me started on "The Baroque Cycle". Now I am doomed to think of Newton as a wizard alchemist.
EricDZ 16y ago
I was enthralled with Anathem and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I tried to read Cryptonomicum after Anathem but could not get into it.

by gchucky 16y ago

Neal Stephenson's "Anathem". Seriously one of the best novels I've ever read. He's an excellent writer, and after about the first fifty pages I couldn't put it down.

blacksmythe 16y ago

Also his "Cryptonomicon", a phenomenal novel.

sgricci 16y ago
Snow crash was great as well. Also the "Daemon" series by Daniel Suarez is great along the same lines as snow crash.
- rdl 16y ago
  And, Diamond Age, which I actually prefer to all Stephenson's other novels. Suarez rocks too.
- ladoo3 16y ago
  Daemon and Freedom are wonderful books. A recent article in the NYT reminded me a lot of the series. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/europe/08assange.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/europe/08assange.htm... "That left unclear whether a more serious threat would be carried out. In recent days, Mr. Assange has asserted that “over 100,000 people” had downloaded the entire archive of 251,287 cables in encrypted form. Only around 1,000 of the cables have so far been released; in many, names of sources who might be compromised or endangered were redacted. “If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically,” Mr. Assange wrote in a question-and-answer session on the Web site of the British newspaper The Guardian. Mr. Stephens, the lawyer, reiterated that warning on Tuesday saying a “a virtual network” of “thousands of journalists” around the world would ensure that the rest of the documents would be published."

thisrod 16y ago

Anathem gets my vote. It's a mystery, with things left for the reader to figure out. These things include where and when it's set, and what genre it's written in. A brilliantly apt form for a novel about science, which makes it hard to describe without spoiling it. The author has his usual fun. Historical inspriation: monasteries in the dark ages. Martial artists: far too cool for their own good. Tensor calculations performed as interpretive dance: it had to be done. The plight of hackers and scientists in a violent, greedy world strikes as true as ever. Stephenson's neologisms are a bonus. The principle "'X would be nice' does not imply X" needs a name, though I don't expect "Diax's rake" to stick. Also useful is "Lorite", for a scholar who specialises in refuting claims of novelty.

arethuza 16y ago
Anathem was one of the rare novels that when I read enough to get into it I was utterly delighted that there was so much of the book still to read. I've even bought some of the music tracks by David Stutz: http://synthesist.net/music/anathem/ http://synthesist.net/music/anathem/ Profits from this go to the Long Now Foundation - which is very appropriate given then themes in the book.

suraj 16y ago

This book got me started on "The Baroque Cycle". Now I am doomed to think of Newton as a wizard alchemist.

EricDZ 16y ago

I was enthralled with Anathem and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I tried to read Cryptonomicum after Anathem but could not get into it.