Fear was my gateway to becoming interested in stories. My nanny growing up, a Scottish expat named Jackie with a fox pelt of red hair and a manic...
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nigel, January 1, 2011 (view all comments by nigel)
Starts off like an updated version of The Glass Bead Game, but takes a couple of sharp turns towards sci-fi. If you've enjoyed Stephenson, but found the Baroque Cycle to be too heavy on background detail, this is a more accessible read.
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elicantdie, January 6, 2010 (view all comments by elicantdie)
Yes. This book may just be the book of my lifetime. I have loved and disliked some of the other Neal Stephenson books that I have read, but this was amazing. I have been searching for a book this good since I read it last winter. The language and history creation was fascinating and inspiring.
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Chuck Henager, January 4, 2010 (view all comments by Chuck Henager)
One of the most thought provoking books of the decade. I enjoyed all of Stephenson's works (The Baroque Series, Cryptonomicon, etc.) but this one was the most satisfying of his to date. A true visionary writer with solid science and, perhaps, a true insight into our future. His use of religious institutions and belief systems as backdrops for his imaginative forays into past and future scenarios is always an opportunity to explore your own beliefs, and how they both shape and are shaped by history.
"Review"
by Booklist (Starred Review),
"Stephenson has quickly established himself as an A-list writer of epic-length fantasy....The novel is beautifully written...and, even though it runs to nearly 1,000 pages, it feels somehow too short....A magnificent achievement."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"Light on adventure, but a logophilic treat for those who like their alternate worlds big, parodic and ironic."
"Review"
by Chicago Sun-Times,
"Anathem is chock-full of great ideas, and the details matter....Because of the internal strength of Stephenson's storytelling, Anathem achieves transcendence of traditional commercial boundaries..."
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
Since childhood, Raz has lived behind the walls of a 3,400-year-old monastery, a sanctuary for scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians. There, he and his cohorts are sealed off from the illiterate, irrational, and unpredictable saecular world, until the day that a higher power decides it is only these cloistered scholars who have the abilities to avert an impending catastrophe. One by one, Raz and his friends, mentors, and teachers are sent forth without warning into the unknown.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
From New York Times bestselling author Daniel Suarez—a terrifying, breathtaking, and all-too-plausible vision of the worlds near future…
Linda McKinney studies the social behavior of insects—which leaves her entirely unprepared for the day her research is conscripted to help run an unmanned and automated drone army.
Odin is the secretive Special Ops soldier with a unique insight into a faceless enemy who has begun to attack the American homeland with drones programmed to seek, identify, and execute targets without human intervention.
Together, McKinney and Odin must slow this advance long enough for the world to recognize its destructive power. But as enigmatic forces press the advantage, and death rains down from above, it may already be too late to save mankind from destruction.
"Synopsis"
by Harper Collins,
A #1 New York Times Bestseller, Anathem is perhaps the most brilliant literary invention to date from the incomparable Neal Stephenson, who rocked the world with Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and The Baroque Cycle. Now he imagines an alternate universe where scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians live in seclusion behind ancient monastery walls until they are called back into the world to deal with a crisis of astronomical proportions.
Anathem won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the reviews for have been dazzling: “Brilliant” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel), “Daring” (Boston Globe), “Immensely entertaining” (New York Times Book Review), “A tour de force” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), while Time magazine proclaims, “The great novel of ideas…has morphed into science fiction, and Neal Stephenson is its foremost practitioner.”
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