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Do you think that's a Neal Stephenson issue? Don't get me wrong, I love his writing, but I found this to be the case with Fall too. I can see it becoming tiring
by cl42 3y ago
Do you think that's a Neal Stephenson issue? Don't get me wrong, I love his writing, but I found this to be the case with Fall too. I can see it becoming tiring if one is writing 400+ page books.
- glial 3y agoI think it's a well-known Stephenson issue. Here's his response when asked: https://www.reddit.com/r/nealstephenson/comments/5jjwmq/neal_stephensons_response_to_a_question_on_how_he/ https://www.reddit.com/r/nealstephenson/comments/5jjwmq/neal...
- cl42 3y agoWow, this is fascinating, thank you! Made me wonder whether editors get in the way too.
- awwaiid 3y agoBased on book-mass alone, I suspect Stephenson chomps on editor souls for breakfast.
- afterburner 3y ago> I think Anathem does ok on that score Well, I know at least one person who's read a lot of Stephenson agrees with him on that, so maybe he's improving.
- pteraspidomorph 3y agoI read most of his books and I would agree too.
- dharmab 3y agoI would also agree Anathem has a well paced conclusion.
- bawolff 3y agoStephenson is famous for terrible endings. (Dont get me wrong, still love him)
- jjcm 3y agoDefinitely a Stephenson issue. It's a meme for sure, but there is some truth in it. Nowadays when I re-read any of his old works, I tend to stop after getting about 80% through. That said, I do think that these incredibly complex narratives are extremely hard to wrap up neatly. GRRM has this issue as well. That's the problem with letting characters act how they would actually act, and make decisions that make sense for them. Those decisions often don't end in a way that's concise and brings closure. I think he tried to sidestep this issue quite a bit in Seveneves in a fairly clever way. To me personally (and I know there are others who disagree), the third act felt the weakest. Despite that it did bring closure to the story. There was no finality to the characters themselves - it skipped over all of that, but there was closure to the story. One thing I'm curious on the other end of the spectrum - who does HN think writes good endings to complex scifi stories?
- geophile 3y agoMy memory of the scifi I read in my youth (50 years ago!) is hazy. But I do remember that Arthur C. Clarke's short story, The Nine Million Names of God, had a spectacular ending. Also, Ray Bradbury's The Sound of Thunder.
- rralian 3y agoI personally loved the ending to the three body problem series. It felt really satisfying to me.
- craigyk 3y agoGene Wolfe. Somehow resolves or explains every seemingly random occurrence throughout the story, even if the first person narrator is extremely unreliable and doesn’t make the connection
- rvbissell 3y agoWhat book would you recommend as a good introduction to his works?
- F2hP18Foam 3y ago
- geophile 3y agoI think it's a cyberpunk thing. There's all this action, and it is fascinating and absorbing. It's all leading up to some major reveal and then -- the reveal is disappointing. There is the concept of a MacGuffin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin. It's the thing that sets a story in motion, but is actually irrelevant, beside the point. Like the Maltese Falcon in The Maltese Falcon. The important point is something else entirely, usually about human nature. What The Diamond Age, and much cyberpunk do, is introduce the MacGuffin, but then they stick with it, forgetting that the MacGuffin is just a plot device. They mistake the plot device for the plot itself, like the whole point is to retrieve The Maltese Falcon. The MacGuffin is a point from which the story takes off, not the point of the story.
- the__alchemist 3y agoSevenEves has a canonical MacGuffin, in its first sentence.
- bombcar 3y agoThe best sci-fi stories are ones that you could relatively easily translate to fantasy, or even just "normal world" - because it is extremely difficult to write an engaging story that is "only the MacGuffin" - it can be done, but it is quite hard (and often appeals to a particular niche audience).
- JieJie 3y agoDo you think, perhaps, that the Harry Potter series and its' Horcruxes is an example of a MacGuffin that worked?
- hutzlibu 3y agoSince I read all of the books, but forgot what a Horcrux even is, I don't think so. Because I would not have had forgotten the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. A central element that gets referenced often. I don't know if Harry Potter has a MacGuffin at all, maybe the wands and magic in itself?
- gibspaulding 3y agoThis is funny, both Fall and Diamond Age are Stephenson novels I haven't managed to get through, but of the ones I've read (and enjoyed!), the endings have been as follows: Remade - massively stretched my suspension of disbelief. Cryptonomicon - pretty bad. Snow Crash - No memory, I might have blocked it out? Anthem - maybe ok? There are two though so that's cheating. Seven Eves - That one might have been ok, but it's possible I also blocked it out. The second half was a bit strange tbh. To be clear, I'd still recommend all of these books. Cryptonomicon is one of my favorite pieces of fiction of all time (up there with LOTR and Three Body Problem), and Anthem is in the mix. Stephenson just sucks at endings I guess.
- airtonix 3y ago[dead]
- kadoban 3y ago> Snow Crash - No memory, I might have blocked it out? The Snow Crash ending is IMO fine. Nothing amazing, but it wraps things up okay. It's just kind of typical action story beat-the-clock type thing, so it's not as memorable as really anything else in that book, though it is exciting. > Stephenson just sucks at endings I guess. Yeah, pretty much. He does beginnings and middles _so_ very well though that I never mind. p.s. read Zodiac sometime if you haven't, it's one of his few books I noticed you didn't mention and it's a fun read.
- gibspaulding 3y agoThanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out!
- zxexz 3y ago>> Seven Eves - That one might have been ok, but it's possible I also blocked it out. The second half was a bit strange tbh. I found Seveneves both endings (Parts I and II being one book, Part III being another) of Seveneves to be extremely satisfying. I found the Part II ending beautiful and melancholic, and the Part III was exciting - felt like a setup for a sequel I hope gets written! [although I would love a prequel to Part III]
- bmulcahy 3y agoI absolutely loved the ending of _Fall_. I literally sat in my truck with tears streaming down my face for five minutes. To each their own, I suppose.
- drodgers 3y agoDefinitely Stephenson. He has a tendency to write one-and-a-half books where the main drama resolves, then a lot of new context appears full of fresh challenges for our protagonists, and then the book ends.
- noknownsender 3y agoThat's always been my take. The first 75% of most of his books are among my favorite recent books. I've never enjoyed an ending.