Neal Stephenson Returns with "Anathem"

Lev Grossman writes to tell us that Neal Stephenson, author of greats like Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, has another novel due for release in September. The catalogue copy gives us a small glimpse at what may be in store: "Since childhood, Raz has lived behind the walls of a 3,400-year-old monastery, a sanctuary for scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians--sealed off from the illiterate, irrational, unpredictable 'saecular' world that is plagued by recurring cycles of booms and busts, world wars and climate change. Until the day that a higher power, driven by fear, decides that only these cloistered scholars have the abilities to avert an impending catastrophe. And, one by one, Raz and his cohorts are summoned forth without warning into the Unknown."

This makes me happy

[rbanzai (596355)]

I really enjoy his books. The strengths far outweigh the shortcomings for me. I usually feel smarter after reading his stuff, at least for a little while. He has a knack for weaving little interesting facts into his stories and that really appeals to me.

Re:This makes me happy

[gardyloo (512791)]

Plus, it's usually up to the reader to provide the last chapter or so. Weave away, reader. It's a brilliant way to write books, because each one ends up being lovingly tailored to the individual reader's mindset.

Re:This makes me happy

[by Anonymous Coward]

Ha exactly. I was going to ask if this one actually had an ending.
After Diamond Age and Cryptinomican, I half expect any book I read by Stephenson to end in mid-sente

Re:This makes me happy

[mcvos (645701)]

Of all his books that I read, Cryptonomicon is the only one that has something of an ending. Not a brilliant climax, perhaps, but definitely some sort of conclusion.

Endings are definitely not Stephenson's strongest point, but the fact that this book at least has one, and every single one of the 1100 pages before that ending being exciting, thrilling, interesting and witty, has made Cryptonomicon my favourite book ever. It knocked Lord of the Rings off its throne, and is a must-read for every nerd who is even the slightest bit interested in computers, math, information warfare, submarines, treasure hunts, WW2, or reading.

The only real downer in the book was the two consecutive descriptions of Manilla, one during WW2, the other in modern times. I'm sure the differences between the two descriptions should have been enlightening, but to me it was just boring twice in a row. The rest of the book is absolutely brilliant, however, and that brilliance far outshines these minor downsides.

Re:This makes me happy

[gardyloo (512791)]

I'm from the old school where a book ought to have a resolution to the climax (and it should come AFTER the climax).

Right. I think literary critics call that "cuddling".

Re:This makes me happy

[Sheriff Fatman (602092)]

I couldn't agree more. I think Stephenson, at his best, has a singular gift for conveying background information, often fairly technical stuff, without interrupting his narrative. Consider the passage in Cryptonomicon where he explains modular arithmetic using the broken spoke on Alan Turing's bicycle, or the gradual explanation of universal Turing machines that's woven into the second half of The Diamond Age.

Sometimes I think he takes it a little far... the first half of The Confusion sometimes felt like it was trying to explain the entire political framework of sixteenth-century France, and not always succeeding (at least, not in my case) - but by and large it's an aspect of his writing I enjoy very much.

(I also think it demonstrates an interesting contrast with another great sci-fi/'cyberpunk' author, William Gibson. Where Stephenson will take several pages explaining some neat gadget or system, Gibson just throws his technological ideas at you and lets you work out for yourself what he's talking about. Count Zero opens with the line "They sent a slamhound on Turner's trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the color of his hair."... and closes 333 pages later without ever telling you what a slamhound is or how you would go about slotting one.)

I wonder if Enoch Root will be in this one...

Re:Slashvertisement?

[FleaPlus (6935)]

I don't get it. What makes this news? Some dude wrote a book. So what? It happens every day.

What am I missing? That's a genuine question.

He's Neal Stephenson [wikipedia.org]. If you want an idea of why Slashdotters enjoy him, check out his (free to read) non-fiction piece In the Beginning was the Command Line [spack.org].

Re:Slashvertisement?

[peacefinder (469349)]

And don't forget to read his highly entertaining Slashdot interview answers [slashdot.org], especially number four.

Re:Slashvertisement?

[Nefarious Wheel (628136)]

What am I missing? That's a genuine question.

Ok, genuine answer here.

I strongly recommend Cryptonimicon as a good start. It's a big novel with two storylines from different historical points converging to a single dramatic and climatic end, with a subtle blend of emotions, tensions and strong, believable obligations. Woven throughout is an intensely technical drama concerning the power of cryptography and the people who had a life and death effect on the world around them because of their knowledge. Possibly the best insight into the ancestors of computing in the WWII era. Hugely scientific, well-drawn characters, mathematical, and a truly gripping read. Dangerously engaging in the way that only a truly great novel can affect your sleep cycles. This book, good sir or madam, is for the geek, and a new novel from him is profoundly Stuff That Matters.

I will be hanging out for the new book, and he's got at least one guaranteed customer.

Add one more line for the Fox TV show:

[Stanistani (808333)]

"Hilarity ensues as the naive monks wander into an Orange County mall and are adopted by a gaggle of teenage girls."

Yes.

[ScentCone (795499)]

I think it's possible that Neal himself has been sealed in a Monastary for 3,400 years, actually. I don't know how else he could have written the Baroque Cycle, along with the works mentioned, and still have had time to come up for air and produce something new, too. Looking forward to it. Are you watching, George Martin? See? Wriiiite... publish!

Re:Yes.

[ultramk (470198)]

Well, when I was at the $250m Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle, (imo, the only good thing to come out of Microsoft, as the place is derided by the locals as "Paul Allen's Basement") one of the most impressive displays (and the place is huge) was the complete hand-written manuscript for the Baroque Cycle, as well as all of the Montblanc fountain pens and refills it took to complete it.

Yes, hand-written. I saw that huge stack of paper, and all the little pen nubs and such, and my wrists starting aching in sympathy.

It might seem stupid to write in such a time-consuming way, but it seems to work for him. This rung a bell for me: I have a degree in sculpture, and one of the first and most lasting lessons I learned is that your choice of tools shape the final work just as much as your intention does, if not more. The process matters; it effects the end result in subtle, hard-to-identify ways. I did an experiment when I was a student, I carved two marble busts (1/3 life size, I was poor), both of the same model. With one I used only hand tools: chisels, rasps, sandpaper, picks, etc. With the second one, I used only power tools: air hammer, sander, dremel, etc. (yes, that one took about a 5th of the time) I was pretty equally skilled with both kinds of tools, and although I was intending to create the same piece each time, they came out very very different. You can't tell from looking which tools I used to make which bust, but one is far "harder".... more aggressive in the expression, people say it seems arrogant. The other looks wistful, serene, relaxed, playful. Obviously just an anecdote, but it made a big impression on me.

Both from the same model, both from the same initial study I made in plasticene. The process matters.

Re:Yes.

[peacefinder (469349)]

I caught a speech he did on the Quicksilver promo tour. To summarize and oversimplify what he said, apparently his hands can type faster than his brain can generate good prose. By switching to handwriting, he slowed his output rate to more closely match his composition rate. IIRC he said that the result was a much more polished first draft.

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

Keep in mind this is a guy who, in one novel, actually named the hero and protagonist "Hiro Protagonist".

I've stopped reading...

[Otter (3800)]

I loved his earlier books, read a third of the way into Quicksilver, found it unreadable and gave up, glanced at the next one and thought it looked even worse, and stopped paying attention at all.

Has he gone back to writing enjoyable books or are they still self-indulgent treatises that he's too important to allow editing of? (Judging from ScuttleMonkey's "...author of greats like Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon...", the latter seems more likely.)

Re:I've stopped reading...

[agentkhaki (92172)]

For what it's worth, Quicksilver was easily the driest of the three--it really felt like a history textbook, and I honestly don't blame anyone who gave up on the series (and possibly the author) after trying to make their way through it. I know it took me two tries, and even then it was a struggle. He started picking up steam with the second book though, and the third was quite excellent.

Re:I've stopped reading...

[gardyloo (512791)]

Agreed. I really *did* enjoy Quicksilver, with no reservations. But the following two were less dry and more engaging, even though the individual scenes became a bit more violent and disturbing. Scattered throughout all three volumes were various little nuggets of Stephenson humor -- not just the people struggling with concepts we would consider old-hat (in the modern sense of the term, not that prevalent as slang as recently as the 1940s!) -- but modern euphemisms. If I remember correctly, these became more common in the later two volumes.

Re:I've stopped reading...

[gardyloo (512791)]

Snow Crash vaulted into the "OK" category with the single line "after that it's just a chase scene". Everything else was rich, velvety, cholesterol-laden icing on the cake.

Interesting

[Paranatural (661514)]

I've actually noticed how the people who are or at least consider themselves the 'intellectual elite', (And yes, this includes slashdotters, for the most part) tend to insulate themselves away from the more mundane world, even while sometimes bemoaning their own insulation.

I'd never thought of putting it into an actual story with a more structured actual separation.

Should be a good read. He can be rather better at predicting how people react to changes in technology rather than how most people think we'd react. (I.E. Relationship role changes and the way we interact fundamentally changed rather than just slightly bent.)

deja vu

[s20451 (410424)]

That book was great the first time I read it, when it was called A Canticle for Leibowitz [wikipedia.org].

Excellent; he's one of my favourite authors

[Rosy At Random (820255)]

Yes, he's a self-indulgent geek. And damnit, I love that. So am I.

Reading his books, you can't help but feel that he's constantly nudging and winking at you, sharing the joke and deligt of writing as it were. I can see why some people would hate that, or not have the patience to wade through it, but I can't get enough of it.

In that, he reminds me of Roger Zelazny. Lately, though, I find Charles Stross to feel rather similar.

Yay!

[fucket (1256188)]

I was reading "The Baroque Cycle" for so long that when I finished it, there was a noticeable vacuum in my life. I struggled to remember a time when I *wasn't* reading "The Baroque Cycle" and searched in vain for something as dense, interesting and clever to fill my newly idle hours. I hope I speak for many others besides myself when I express hope that the new books compare favorably in both mass and density (and thus volume) to the old.

Obligatory comment about Neal's romance scenes

[rubycodez (864176)]

Gah, what awful stuff. It was like drinking urine

Hush, don't give Neal any ideas for even more revolting sex/romance scenes.

That's the one thing about his novels, the sex/romance scenes will make a normal person want to toss their cookies, or maybe contemplate joining an order with chastity vows. A list of gems and highlights might include sex orgy with pivot gangbang girl reduced to ashes and eaten to get result of computation, or description of guy deprived of sex or masturbation so long everything from his knees to his nipples becomes (in protagonist's mind) a giant sex organ and then he finally relieves himself when his virgin girlfriend impales herself onto his pole with a single extremely painful leap and he immediately ejaculates "a Canadian imperial gallon" (sic) into her, or the King of France getting his hemorrhoids cut off sans anaesthetic while a woman feigns moaning in orgasm so those outside won't know the king is having surgery, or where a guy with syphilis and a half-burned off penis gets his load blown with the kind help of a sympathetic women who wraps bung around her finger and jabs him in the prostate via the anus (at least we can be spared Neal's idea of foreplay).

I could go on about Stephenson sex/romance but I think the point has been made. Stephenson sex is pain. My apologies to those of you of a more sensitive nature who read this and don't have your therapist on speed-dial.

Re:Atlas Shrugged

[spun (1352)]

Christ on a kitten huffing bender, man, what are you on about? I can't even figure out whether you are right-loony, left-loony, libertarian-loony, or just an Ayn Rand fetishist based on this post. How you managed to read ANY of that into this preview of Stephenson's new book, I'll never know.

Look, this is the Internets, you have to be more specific in your insults and more obvious in your humor. ;)

Re:Shades of the Foundation Trilogy (plus)

[Digi-John (692918)]

I can only hope it doesn't include something like that planet-o-hippies, the Gaians.
The worst would be if he tried to tie the Baroque Cycle, the Cryptonomicon, and Snow Crash all together in this book, like Asimov did at the end of Foundation.
Pity that S.F. authors seem to go a little nuts when they get old.