Anyone read this book yet? It's the latest book by Stephenson, it's a trilogy. The next book (Confusion) will be published in April next year, and the third one (The System of the World) september next year. I was wondering if anyone read this book yet and what they thought of it. The reviews on Amazon don't tell me much except that some people like it and others don't .
I've read it. (slightly biased mini-review coming up as I am a huge Stephenson fan) Its a departure from his previous styles, but considering the difference in his other books (for instance Snow Crash and Diamond Age) thats not too big a shocker. I think this is what put some people off. Having said that the humour is still there, and the main characters are incredibly well protrayed. There is a lot of historical referencing in there, enough so that afterwards I could understand a conversation with my girlfriend (just finished a degree in history) about the time period. I suspect this is another potential off-putter, though it didn't bother me. There is basically 2 stories running in parallel (similar to most of Cryptonomicon), and I prefered the Shaftoe one, though the Waterhouse story has some excellent parts as well. Its not an easy book to read, but its definitely worth persevering with. He did very much achieve his aim of doing a Science history Fiction book...even down to the high speed chase (I'll let you find that out. You'lll also be given a tour of olde London (he must have done a lot of research into the various cities at the time). The added bonus is that its a trilogy that you arn't going to have to wait 3 years between books to read, and no Frank Herbert syndrome, where the author dies before writing the last book. Hope that helps a bit. BC edited for spelling errors
Thanks, looks as my next book will be Quicksilver then! (or Hey Nostrodamus!, cause Coupland is also one of my favorites) I've just ordered Diamond Crash, I've already finished Cryptonomicon and just now Snow Crash (in english now, I've read the Dutch translation a year ago and it just sucked, but that was the translator's fault), and love em both! Thanks again
If you can find them hes also done Zodiac (modern day pro-ecology story, really good, maybe second best after Snow Crash) and The Big U (this is really hard to get hold of, but was his first book and a must for anyone who has been to a university). There is another book called Interface (political sci-fi) which he co-wrote, though after reading it I'm not sure what input the other guy had. it was originally published under a pseudonym, but its been re-released now with Stephensons name on the cover (guess it wasn't selling too well). Apparently the partnership did another book called The Spider, but I haven't been able to track that down as yet. Also worth tracking down is an essay he did called "In the Beginning there was the Command Line" which is his view on Operating Systems, how they are and how they should be...its extremely well written. Its been published now, though there are copies online (no link provided as they are technically illegal now its published). BC
