Neal Stephenson

[Dominic]

Zodiac
Snow Crash
Diamond Age
Cryptonomicon
The Baroque Cycle novels

Probably one of my favorite authors of the last 10 or 15 years. Snow Crash and Diamond Age are perhaps the best "cyber-punk" novels of the 90s (yes, better than anything by Gibson), and Cryptonomicon is a flat-out masterpiece that spins its tale between modern day techno pirates and WWII action.

The Baroque Cycle is a dense, multi-leveled series of intricate novels with a cast of thousands and can, at times, be difficult to get through. But it in the end, very much worth doing so.

Wondering if anyone else on here enjoys him...

[IronFly]

I've read and enjoyed Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon.

[Macdaddy Warsaw]

I read the first book of the Baroque Cycle and really enjoyed it, but it's been a while. I own the other two books, but worry it's been too long since I read the first one to remember the intracacies of each character and the overarching story.

I should pick up Cryptonomicon, though.

[Six_of_One]

Neal Stephenson is my favorite author, without question.

I just felt compelled to respond, since this thread was looking kind of lonely...

[FortunaMaximus]

Snow Crash, without question is probably the definite feel-good cyberpunk. But for noir, nothing holds a candle to Gibson. You can't say one is better than the other, as they present vastly different views of the movement.

Cryptonomicon was pretty good. Surprisingly little letdown considering the size of the volume.

Zodiac was fun, albeit I always had the feeling something was skewed most of the way through. Still enjoyed it.

The Baroque Cycle? I'm a couple volumes in. The last bit of King of the Vagabonds, heh. I think I'll pace myself through the rest. He's brilliant.

[wildzer0]

Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon are probably my 2 favorite books out there. I read everything he wrote up to The Baroque Cycle and my brain melted. I lugged that 900 pound book on new york subways for like a month and never managed to finish it. I've evern restarted it a couple of times, but I feel like if I don't sit down and read it in one marathon sitting, I'll never remember the important details/characters to truly understand it.

[Phat Mack]

I'll express a dissenting opinion here. I made it through cryptonomicon, and it was entertaining, but at regular intervals I found myself throwing the book across the room. The problem was that some of it was set in an historical context of WWII, but he was playing fast and loose the facts and with history. Someone once decribed Jean Auel's books as "Club Med in the Pleistocene." I thought of Cryptonomicon as "Gen X Fights WWII."

I've made repeated attempts to read the Baroque Cycles, but have never made it through the first book for the same reasons. But the thing is, if he took the same story and the same plot, renamed the characters, and set the whole thing down in a distant galaxy, I'd probably enjoy the whole thing.

[Knuckles]

I strongly suggest you give Snowcrash a try. His pacing in that novel is much better, I found his humor spot on, and there is enough strangness to keep any sci-fi fan turning the pages. In my opinion it is his best work.

[lmcjaho]

[ QUOTE ]
Cryptonomicon is a flat-out masterpiece that spins its tale between modern day techno pirates and WWII action.

The Baroque Cycle is a dense, multi-leveled series of intricate novels with a cast of thousands and can, at times, be difficult to get through. But it in the end, very much worth doing so.


[/ QUOTE ]

I am just starting (like 15 pages in) on The Baroque Cycle now. I finished Cryptonomicon last week and to be quite honest I was not sure I was going to read any more of his stuff because I am not 100% sold on whether I liked Crypto or not. On the one hand it was a pretty interesting read with some decent plot-lines and a likable cast of characters but on the other hand his verbal diarrhea and extremely poor editing (tons of grammar errors and a very wishy-washy/inconsistent use of verb tense throughout the book) made it tough to slog through at times... The ending was also pretty weak IMO, a bit of a letdown.

However, I read a few hundred pages a night at work and I have run through more than once the works of most of the author's I am 100% sold on so I took The Baroque Cycle out of the library in hopes it keeps me entertained for a while anwyay...

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Cryptonomicon is a flat-out masterpiece that spins its tale between modern day techno pirates and WWII action.

The Baroque Cycle is a dense, multi-leveled series of intricate novels with a cast of thousands and can, at times, be difficult to get through. But it in the end, very much worth doing so.


[/ QUOTE ]

I am just starting (like 15 pages in) on The Baroque Cycle now. I finished Cryptonomicon last week and to be quite honest I was not sure I was going to read any more of his stuff because I am not 100% sold on whether I liked Crypto or not. On the one hand it was a pretty interesting read with some decent plot-lines and a likable cast of characters but on the other hand his verbal diarrhea and extremely poor editing (tons of grammar errors and a very wishy-washy/inconsistent use of verb tense throughout the book) made it tough to slog through at times... The ending was also pretty weak IMO, a bit of a letdown.

However, I read a few hundred pages a night at work and I have run through more than once the works of most of the author's I am 100% sold on so I took The Baroque Cycle out of the library in hopes it keeps me entertained for a while anwyay...

[/ QUOTE ]

If I were you I'd read Snow Crash or The Diamond Age before tackling The Baroque Cycle...they're much more accessible. Plus, they're brilliant cyber-punk.