Oh my lord, this is still one of my top ten favorite works of literature. Like. Ever.Not only has this seminal masterwork of fiction withstood a second read with flying colors, but it continues to define and defy both Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction categories. Heck, I think we can say it belongs on any Philosophy shelf, too, and I defy anyone to not laugh their heads off at the haircuts or Rakes or so many beautiful easter-eggs of ideas studded through the opening couple hundred pages.W...

I have been reading this book for 17 days, when you have lived with a single book this long there is inevitably separation pain, now that I have finished it I feel like I just woke up from a long weird dream. I had a lot of trepidation about reading this book, the reviews and comments from fellow sf readers (hello PrintSF dudes!) are generally positive but I gathered from them that this is a long hard one (ooh-er!) which is bit intimidating given my very average intelligence. Still, I am intrigu...

DNF 33%To like this book you will have had to have been a philosophy major who likes a book about monks debating non sequiturs in a fictitious version of earth where there's no plot and because of your heart condition you never achieve a heart rate of over 43 in your cryogenic chamber. To be fair some of the comparisons to the ridiculous issues of modern society did make smile at how the author spun it but the ratio of reading to a smile or a that's an interesting point moment were too few and f...

One of the greatest science fiction (or speculative fiction) novels of the 21st century, and I mean it. Neal Stephenson's Anathem is both an epic thought project, and surprisingly readable for a thousand-page novel with a whole glossary in the back. The glossary puts people off, I know, but it's only tough at the beginning. After a few hundred pages you get used to all the Orth terminology and it flows just fine. The descriptions of theorics and takes on human consciousness and the many worlds i...

EDIT: I was asked to spoiler-tag this review, and have done so, but I'm not really sure why the person who asked felt I should do so. I definitely don't give away the ending or even the middle in this review.I discovered Neal Stephenson with "Cryptonomicon", which was published almost a decade ago now. It blew me away with its epic length, its fascinating, multi-layered plot, its occasional moments of unexpected, gut-busting hilarity, and its clear, incisive writing, which was often put to use i...

On the one hand this is a cross between a history of philosophy, a Jules Verne story, the films Independence Day and Close Encounters of the Third Kind with elements of Hesse's The Glass Bead Game, aspects of physics and mathematics that works as a lively, readable (well once or twice, it palls after that) and entertaining novel. The pacing of the novel is exponential which means that its average pace is slow and the first third e x t r e m e l y s l o w.On the other hand if science-fiction can

I may end up giving this 5 stars, depending on how it stays with me. I loved it, but it should be noted Stephenson is one of my favorite authors. THis book is a lot less verbose than his last trilogy and even Cryptomonicon. But it's also a slower, harder read - there's hard science in here, and not just science but quantum physics, the hardest of all! The story takes place on a planet in a different cosmos. The society here has a long, involved history with many different words to learn that are...

Reviewing a 1,000-page book that’s part alternate history, part close encounters of the third kind, part futuristic sci-fi utopian fantasy, and part philosophical treatise is like trying to milk a camel while sitting in quicksand. Incidentally, if you’ve never tried that, I don’t recommend it—you end up getting both milk and sand in some pretty weird places. Also, it’s worth noting that, as a general rule, male camels don’t particularly enjoy being milked and have a tendency to make their disple...

Anathem is an astonishing, enormous, intimidating, and intensely enjoyable book. However, it is also the most "science fiction-y" of any book he's written so far, and that may turn some people off. Also, I'm given to understand that some people would prefer not to have to think about polar coordinates, geometric proofs, bubble universes, string theory, or relativity in their pleasure reading. That is, of course, their prerogative. Also, it's long. And at times there are scenes that go on for pag...

Anathem is a very odd book, and one whose appeal I do not understand.I don't think it would be unfair to call it an piece of expository nonfiction disguised as a novel. Virtues like plot momentum, characterization, drama, verisimilitude, and the like are subordinated to exposition. The book intends to do one thing, and one thing only -- it intends to expose the reader to a set of concepts and arguments Stephenson finds interesting. Stephenson is pretty explicit about this in his acknowledgements...

Q:Do your neighbors burn one another alive?” was how Fraa Orolo began his conversation with Artisan Flec ...“Do your shamans walk around on stilts? ...“Do you fancy you will see your dead dogs and cats in some sort of afterlife?” (c)Q: Orolo had asked me along to serve as amanuensis. It was an impressive word, so I’d said yes. (c)Q:My talent for envisioning things, and spinning yarns in my head, failed me that evening, as if it had gone on vacation. I could make no sense of my interview with Spe...

"You can get a lot done in ten millennia if you put your mind to it..."- Neal Stephenson, Anathem I float now between 4 and 5 stars. Drift. Bounce. Return. I need to sleep, dream, and return to this later. Perhaps, my response will solidify in my sleep. Perhaps, later I'll find words, emotions, and rational responses to this big, ambitious, knot of a novel. Later.**Later**There are two reviews I want to write. The first follows the path which measures this novel by the volume of its output, the

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)Is Neal Stephenson the most brilliant living author currently in the United States of America? Oh, wait, I can answer that for you right away: Yes. Yes he is. And that's because Stephenson can do something almost no other American writer currently putting out work can; he can take a healthy dose of t...