5 ms·

I'm just getting into Neal's work. I saw Snow Crash on a list of best sci-fi (maybe via HN) and started there. I then read Diamond Age and just finished Crypton

by basseq 11y ago

I'm just getting into Neal's work. I saw Snow Crash on a list of best sci-fi (maybe via HN) and started there. I then read Diamond Age and just finished Cryptonomicon (which I really liked—probably my favorite of the three). I started reading Anathem, which I know is seen as his "seminal work" but it's been a slow start for me: all the made-up vocabulary combined with strange names makes it a very disjointed reading experience. I read the first chapter of Seveneves back in May, so that one is on the list, as is The Baroque Cycle.

jon_dahl 11y ago
I had the same experience with Anathem. It is a little hard to get in at first. But about 200 pages in, it really starts rolling. Great mix of world, plot, characters, and ideas. (Ultimately, it is a mashup of Plato and quantum mechanics.)
- basseq 11y ago
  That was my sense as well, so trying to gut through it. I had a similar problem with Infinite Jest (i.e., getting into it), but know the payoff is well worth it.
  - jkestner 11y ago
    Yeah, long-timescale math monasteries just seemed like an attempt to bore me to death. There's no initial event, no mystery to grab you — but when that does kick in, you're firmly grounded in this world. Then it's a great story, until that ending, which takes it even another step further out.
rs232 11y ago
If by chance you missed it, there is a glossary at the end of the book. (I've seen some comments from people who didn't notice until they finished it.) Also, if you enjoyed the Shaftoes and Waterhouses of Cryptonomicon, consider putting the Baroque Cycle before Seveneves.
- kldavis4 11y ago
  I didn't notice the glossary and I am actually glad I didn't. By the end of Anathem all of the strange names for things become second nature and you understand from the context what their meaning is. It is almost like what happens when you learn a new language and are able to think in that language.
  - basseq 11y ago
    I'm reading an ePUB, so hard to flip back and forth. Probably easier just to try to drink from the proverbial firehose until you can internalize it.
CodeMage 11y ago
A bit of warning about Seveneves: treat it as a duology. A lot of readers complain about the pacing problems caused by that 5000-year jump the article mentions. Basically, the pace slows down to a crawl again at that point and starts slowly building up. If you treat Seveneves as one book, that might annoy you. If you treat it as two books, published at the same time so you don't have to wait for the next one after you've finished the first, then it suddenly makes sense. And if you're used to Neal's writing style, then you already possess the patience you need with almost every one of his books, because they usually start slow and build up a tremendous momentum over time, until they reach a frantic pace and then they just... stop ;) Don't get me wrong, I love his books, but I'm all too aware that you simply have to get used to his style and "forgive" him for certain aspects of it. I know I can and do, but I also know people who can't.
- basseq 11y ago
  > they usually start slow and build up a tremendous momentum over time, until they reach a frantic pace and then they just... stop That was my problem with Diamond Age. I was left wondering, "Where's the last 100 pages!? Is this an unfinished manuscript?" Cryptonomicon was better balanced at the end, IMO. Snow Crash was OK (given that it is kind of a weird book overall), but similar trend.
clavalle 11y ago
Anathem is seen as his seminal work? Huh. It is, by far, my least favorite of his books. The Baroque Cycle is fantastic and I just finished Seveneves which is really good as well.
- EdwardCoffin 11y ago
  It's a very divisive book, people seem to love it or hate it. I'm a long time Stephenson fan, have read everything he wrote multiple times (excepting Seveneves for the moment), and Anathem is my most favourite of his works.
  - clavalle 11y ago
    Maybe it was the monk aspect but it felt very much like Eco's In the Name of the Rose -- another book that everyone seems to love but that just didn't reach me for some reason.
meatysnapper 11y ago
Interface is oft forgotten, but it is a very good book, and very timely with era of billion dollar presidential campaigns and industrial strength data mining.
e12e 11y ago
> just finished Cryptonomicon (which I really liked—probably my favorite of the three). I pretty much gave up Stephenson after I got half way through "Cryptonomicon". (Really enjoyed "Snowcrash" and loved "Diamond Age"). But then I read (half of) it after I'd just finished Singh's "The Code Book". It just felt like Stephenson's science and drama subtracted from the real-world science and drama the book was inspired by. My theory was that after "Diamond Age" he couldn't get an editor that dared cut his manuscripts in half any more. But I'm willing to give some of his newer books a chance -- I see they're quite well received by people that seem to like other good books :-) If you enjoyed "Snow Crash", you might also enjoy (or hate...) Bruce Sterling's "Islands in the Net".

by basseq 11y ago

jon_dahl 11y ago

I had the same experience with Anathem. It is a little hard to get in at first. But about 200 pages in, it really starts rolling. Great mix of world, plot, characters, and ideas. (Ultimately, it is a mashup of Plato and quantum mechanics.)

basseq 11y ago
That was my sense as well, so trying to gut through it. I had a similar problem with Infinite Jest (i.e., getting into it), but know the payoff is well worth it.
- jkestner 11y ago
  Yeah, long-timescale math monasteries just seemed like an attempt to bore me to death. There's no initial event, no mystery to grab you — but when that does kick in, you're firmly grounded in this world. Then it's a great story, until that ending, which takes it even another step further out.

rs232 11y ago

If by chance you missed it, there is a glossary at the end of the book. (I've seen some comments from people who didn't notice until they finished it.) Also, if you enjoyed the Shaftoes and Waterhouses of Cryptonomicon, consider putting the Baroque Cycle before Seveneves.

kldavis4 11y ago
I didn't notice the glossary and I am actually glad I didn't. By the end of Anathem all of the strange names for things become second nature and you understand from the context what their meaning is. It is almost like what happens when you learn a new language and are able to think in that language.
- basseq 11y ago
  I'm reading an ePUB, so hard to flip back and forth. Probably easier just to try to drink from the proverbial firehose until you can internalize it.

CodeMage 11y ago

A bit of warning about Seveneves: treat it as a duology. A lot of readers complain about the pacing problems caused by that 5000-year jump the article mentions. Basically, the pace slows down to a crawl again at that point and starts slowly building up. If you treat Seveneves as one book, that might annoy you. If you treat it as two books, published at the same time so you don't have to wait for the next one after you've finished the first, then it suddenly makes sense. And if you're used to Neal's writing style, then you already possess the patience you need with almost every one of his books, because they usually start slow and build up a tremendous momentum over time, until they reach a frantic pace and then they just... stop ;) Don't get me wrong, I love his books, but I'm all too aware that you simply have to get used to his style and "forgive" him for certain aspects of it. I know I can and do, but I also know people who can't.

basseq 11y ago
> they usually start slow and build up a tremendous momentum over time, until they reach a frantic pace and then they just... stop That was my problem with Diamond Age. I was left wondering, "Where's the last 100 pages!? Is this an unfinished manuscript?" Cryptonomicon was better balanced at the end, IMO. Snow Crash was OK (given that it is kind of a weird book overall), but similar trend.

clavalle 11y ago

Anathem is seen as his seminal work? Huh. It is, by far, my least favorite of his books. The Baroque Cycle is fantastic and I just finished Seveneves which is really good as well.

EdwardCoffin 11y ago
It's a very divisive book, people seem to love it or hate it. I'm a long time Stephenson fan, have read everything he wrote multiple times (excepting Seveneves for the moment), and Anathem is my most favourite of his works.
- clavalle 11y ago
  Maybe it was the monk aspect but it felt very much like Eco's In the Name of the Rose -- another book that everyone seems to love but that just didn't reach me for some reason.

meatysnapper 11y ago

Interface is oft forgotten, but it is a very good book, and very timely with era of billion dollar presidential campaigns and industrial strength data mining.

e12e 11y ago

> just finished Cryptonomicon (which I really liked—probably my favorite of the three). I pretty much gave up Stephenson after I got half way through "Cryptonomicon". (Really enjoyed "Snowcrash" and loved "Diamond Age"). But then I read (half of) it after I'd just finished Singh's "The Code Book". It just felt like Stephenson's science and drama subtracted from the real-world science and drama the book was inspired by. My theory was that after "Diamond Age" he couldn't get an editor that dared cut his manuscripts in half any more. But I'm willing to give some of his newer books a chance -- I see they're quite well received by people that seem to like other good books :-) If you enjoyed "Snow Crash", you might also enjoy (or hate...) Bruce Sterling's "Islands in the Net".