Where are all the Neal Stephenson fans at? - Easily one of the best living authors.

[sophnar0747]

Read 'The Fall; or Dodge in Hell'' earlier this month, and damn, it's pretty good. I think when boiled down he's my favorite living author. Seveneves, Snow Crash, Crpytonomicon, Anathem, and The Baroque Cycle, I mean geez, the guy can do it all. So, what are some of your favorite Stephenson books and why?

 

[SmileyTimeDayCare]

Neal is a personal favorite even discounting the let down Reamde was and how meh I felt Seveneves to be.

I'll read Fall or Dodge at some point but really I'm not nearly as excited as I used to be to read new Stephenson. Just as long as he doesn't get fucking woke.

 

[sophnar0747]

Neal is a personal favorite even discounting the let down Reamde was and how meh I felt Seveneves to be.

I'll read Fall or Dodge at some point but really I'm not nearly as excited as I used to be to read new Stephenson. Just as long as he doesn't get fucking woke.

He mocks 'woke' culture quite a bit in 'The Fall.' Without delving into spoilers, the book takes place over a series of decades, and at one point internet culture and algorithms have come to rule the world to such a degree that people maintain strict social bubbles run by 'editors', and so certain content is totally cut out of anything they see. So the book explores the extremism of being trapped with only one side views and such. For example, one of the main characters complains about mansplaining, and she even has a red card on her person that is written by a Princeton professor, and it's to help her react/deal with uncomfortable social interactions. Here's what it says:

1. Speech is aggression
2. Every Utterance has a winner and a loser
3. Curiosity is feigned
4. Lying is performative
5. Stupidity is power

 

[SmileyTimeDayCare]

He mocks 'woke' culture quite a bit in 'The Fall.' Without delving into spoilers, the book takes place over a series of decades, and at one point internet culture and algorithms have come to rule the world to such a degree that people maintain strict social bubbles run by 'editors', and so certain content is totally cut out of anything they see. So the book explores the extremism of being trapped with only one side views and such. For example, one of the main characters complains about mansplaining, and she even has a red card on her person that is written by a Princeton professor, and it's to help her react/deal with uncomfortable social interactions. Here's what it says:

1. Speech is aggression
2. Every Utterance has a winner and a loser
3. Curiosity is feigned
4. Lying is performative
5. Stupidity is power

This does not increase my desire to read this book.

 

[sophnar0747]

This does not increase my desire to read this book.

It's a small portion of the overall book, but I can understand your hesitancy.

 

[SmileyTimeDayCare]

It's a small portion of the overall book, but I can understand your hesitancy.

Oh I'll read it out of obligation. I've got all Neal's stuff even The Big U which is--bad.

 

[The Manglement]

I mainly remember Stephenson for his scam kickstarter that spent $500,000 on nothing. Also on thinking he was really cool when I was 16.

 

[Terminus Est]

Got my hardcover on pre-order. Can't wait

My favourites are

Anathem
Crytonomicon
Snow Crash

I like them all to be honest. except for Rise And Fall Of D.O.D.O. And I have the Baroque cycle but I have never read them. Too many other books to read. And when I say books, I mean actual books. Fuck that eBook shit

 

[Recoil]

I feel like not enough people understood that Snow Crash was satirical.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

I feel like not enough people understood that Snow Crash was satirical.

Satirical of what?

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

What is Anathem like guys? I (recently) recently bought it, and I'm thinking of reading it soon.

 

[sophnar0747]

These are the books of his I own, though I haven't read Reamde yet. I've heard The Big U (which I don't own) is terrible, it was even mentioned above, is it really that bad?

 

[sophnar0747]

What is Anathem like guys? I (recently) recently bought it, and I'm thinking of reading it soon.

It's probably his most complex book in terms of what he goes into. It's very math and philosophy driven, and I know the ending has confused quite a few people. There's even an appendix in the back to help convey information. I personally really enjoyed it, and it's one of my favorites, so if you already know you're into his style of writing, and assuming you're not an idiot, I think you'll like it.

 

[Terminus Est]

Read 'The Fall; or Dodge in Hell'' earlier this month, and damn, it's pretty good. I think when boiled down he's my favorite living author. Seveneves, Snow Crash, Crpytonomicon, Anathem, and The Baroque Cycle, I mean geez, the guy can do it all. So, what are some of your favorite Stephenson books and why?

How did you manage to get a copy so early?

 

[sophnar0747]

How did you manage to get a copy so early?

I'm starting a monthly book review feature at NicheGamer and the publisher sent it to me.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

Snow Crash was pretty fun for an obviously dystopian novel. Lot of the other dystopian stuff I vaguely remember reading was all about making a point and at least Snow Crash remembered to slip in some fun alongside the lessons.

I'm starting a monthly book review feature at NicheGamer and the publisher sent it to me.

Tell Brandon I said hi

 

[frozenrunner]

I liked Snow Crash a lot. (Neuromancer is bettah, tho.) Started reading Cryptonomicon and got bored pretty fast, not going to lie.

I need to give his other work a shot.

 

[Recoil]

Satirical of what?

Cyberpunk aesthetics. It's making fun of Gibson.

 

[frozenrunner]

Cyberpunk aesthetics. It's making fun of Gibson.

It is. It also feels more dated than Gibson's work, somehow. When I read Snow Crash, VRML chat rooms instantly came to mind.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

Cyberpunk aesthetics. It's making fun of Gibson.

I dunno, a lot of it seemed pretty earnest to me. I guess it all depends on how many layers of symbolism you want to attribute to the work.

I rather liked Snow Crash but yeah, Gibson's works are better. I actually sort of liked Reamde and the fact that they fleshed out a lot of the characters and they had a portrayal of wilderness survivalists that was actually positive. I started reading Anathem but then I stopped because it was really fucking boring.

Oh, and Cryptonomicon - felt long. Some of the content dragged on. Ending seemed kind of tacked on.