Neal Stephenson Publishes First Book in New Atomic Age Spy Series 'Bomb Light' (msn.com) 41
Neal Stephenson is a sci-fi writer "of exuberant prose who revels in embracing big ideas," according to the New York Times. "With Polostan he enters the realm of the spy novel..."
Or, as the Washington Post puts it, Stephenson "drops readers into a bloody, inspiring, conflict-ridden and pivotal period of the early 20th century." With its flair for characterization, precision of language, witty apercus and fecundity of events, the novel delivers what we've come to cherish from the author of such fantastical classics as "The Diamond Age," "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon."
But the book is also utterly unlike the majority of Stephenson's work. For one thing, it's short — a far cry from the maximalist "systems novels" that cram in entire worlds with complex interacting power structures, both explicit and hidden. "Polostan" is also devoid of fantastical elements and farcical "hysterical realism," which comes as a bit of a shock given that this is the writer who invented Mafia pizza-delivery guys and cybernetic children's primers. The structure of the book is, likewise, unusually straightforward: a mainly linear narrative dispersed along two timelines...
These observations aren't quibbles so much as alerts to the reader that this is new territory for Stephenson — and good for him! Though, because Polostan is the first novel in a planned historical series titled Bomb Light, which aims to capture the excitement and intrigue of the nuclear arms race, we cannot rule out any Stephenson freakiness down the line... Assuming the subsequent books are as good as this one, Stephenson might end up with a series that rivals Michael Moorcock's Pyat Quartet and Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet as a vivid and canny dissection of a century unlike any other.
"Much of the next volume is already written," Stephenson says on Substack, calling it "a project that has been in the works for over ten years". (He also notes that among his novels, "even the stuff that's branded as science fiction tends to contain a lot of history.")
Meanwhile in August, Stephenson's blockchain-tech startup Lamina1 announced a collaboration with special effects company Weta Workshop (from "The Lord of the Rings" film franchise) on a "participatory worldbuilding" experience. Variety reports: The experience is expected to offer "a new blueprint for IP expansion through immersive experiences that incorporate fan action and input."
Per Lamina1's description for the project, "Stephenson and the Weta team will begin engaging a global community of creators and fans on the Lamina1 platform this fall, inviting them to unravel the lore behind a mysterious set of 'Artefacts' that will build upon the themes and lore from Stephenson's critically-acclaimed catalog of work.
Next, the superfan will take on the new role of creator, utilizing their discoveries to contribute directly to the expansion of the universe."
"Artefact" will serve as the flagship project in the Lamina1-Weta partnership and first major multimedia property launching on Lamina1's blockchain infrastructure and tooling.
Neal Stephenson answered questions from Slashdot's readers in 2004. Now to promote his new novel Polostan, Stephenson will be making several personal appearances this week:
Or, as the Washington Post puts it, Stephenson "drops readers into a bloody, inspiring, conflict-ridden and pivotal period of the early 20th century." With its flair for characterization, precision of language, witty apercus and fecundity of events, the novel delivers what we've come to cherish from the author of such fantastical classics as "The Diamond Age," "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon."
But the book is also utterly unlike the majority of Stephenson's work. For one thing, it's short — a far cry from the maximalist "systems novels" that cram in entire worlds with complex interacting power structures, both explicit and hidden. "Polostan" is also devoid of fantastical elements and farcical "hysterical realism," which comes as a bit of a shock given that this is the writer who invented Mafia pizza-delivery guys and cybernetic children's primers. The structure of the book is, likewise, unusually straightforward: a mainly linear narrative dispersed along two timelines...
These observations aren't quibbles so much as alerts to the reader that this is new territory for Stephenson — and good for him! Though, because Polostan is the first novel in a planned historical series titled Bomb Light, which aims to capture the excitement and intrigue of the nuclear arms race, we cannot rule out any Stephenson freakiness down the line... Assuming the subsequent books are as good as this one, Stephenson might end up with a series that rivals Michael Moorcock's Pyat Quartet and Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet as a vivid and canny dissection of a century unlike any other.
"Much of the next volume is already written," Stephenson says on Substack, calling it "a project that has been in the works for over ten years". (He also notes that among his novels, "even the stuff that's branded as science fiction tends to contain a lot of history.")
Meanwhile in August, Stephenson's blockchain-tech startup Lamina1 announced a collaboration with special effects company Weta Workshop (from "The Lord of the Rings" film franchise) on a "participatory worldbuilding" experience. Variety reports: The experience is expected to offer "a new blueprint for IP expansion through immersive experiences that incorporate fan action and input."
Per Lamina1's description for the project, "Stephenson and the Weta team will begin engaging a global community of creators and fans on the Lamina1 platform this fall, inviting them to unravel the lore behind a mysterious set of 'Artefacts' that will build upon the themes and lore from Stephenson's critically-acclaimed catalog of work.
Next, the superfan will take on the new role of creator, utilizing their discoveries to contribute directly to the expansion of the universe."
"Artefact" will serve as the flagship project in the Lamina1-Weta partnership and first major multimedia property launching on Lamina1's blockchain infrastructure and tooling.
Neal Stephenson answered questions from Slashdot's readers in 2004. Now to promote his new novel Polostan, Stephenson will be making several personal appearances this week:
- At the Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison (Sunday at noon)
- Chicago's Book Stall (Monday at 7 p.m.)
- A Cary, North Carolina Barnes & Noble (Tuesday at 6 p.m.)
- New York City's Strand (Wednesday at 7 p.m.)
- At the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Thursday at 7 p.m.)
- Ames, Iowa at Dog Eared Books (Sunday at 6 p.m.)
Remember kids... (Score:3)
Don't do nitrous before breakfast. It messes with your head.
Many words (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
...about some new book. New book. Got it.
Yeah, the summary was doing just fine until it veered into reminding me Stephenson's involved with some blockchain garbage, then came back to book-related information.
Would've been better to just skip the stuff in the middle, IMHO.
Stephenson Used to be a Great Writer (Score:3, Interesting)
Stephenson used to be one of my absolute favorite authors ... and then he wrote a book that required learning an entire lexicon of words he made up just to read it ... and I haven't read anything of his since.
What a pompous asshole you must be to believe the English language isn't good enough for your books.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I agree Anathem was actually good. But other things were not.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I guess you wouldn't like A Clockwork Orange.
Re: Stephenson Used to be a Great Writer (Score:2)
Come on, droog, let's jog down to the Korova Milk Bar for some Moloko and a bit of good old fashioned UltraViolence!
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
nd then he wrote a book that required learning an entire lexicon of words he made up just to read it .
Isn't that what Tolkein did?
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Adjusting to the "entire lexicon of words" wasn't a blocker, it made reading Anathem a fun and immersive experience.
Re: (Score:2)
He still is a great writer. I was originally taken aback by the "new" vocabulary, but I learned early on that with Stephenson, you just have to jump in and swim. Within a couple of chapters I was very comfortable with the new vocabulary, which really isn't that different from "normal" English. Stephenson's books can be very rewarding, but require some effort and imagination, which you quite obviously were unwiling to put forth.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately, this warning is two decades too late.
Re: (Score:2)
Stephenson used to be one of my absolute favorite authors ... and then he wrote a book that required learning an entire lexicon of words he made up just to read it ... and I haven't read anything of his since.
What a pompous asshole you must be to believe the English language isn't good enough for your books.
If you come from a "Romance language" (Spanish, french, portugese, romanian, etc) is not difficult to understand the "new lexicon"
Re:Slashdot worthy? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why?
News for nerds. Sthepenson has many titles in the Post-Cyber-Punk genere. While William Gibson's "Cyberspace" was the tewrm that won at the end, Stephenson's "Metaverse" description is the one that more thruly reflected the present (and future) of our current internet.He also anticipated some aspects of AI
Also, he kinda-sorta anticipated cryptocurrencies, so much so that some people think he is Satoshi....
Please see the wikipedia summaries of:
Snow Crash, the diamond age, the great simeolon capper, spew, jippi and the paranoid chip, among others....
Or, better yet, read them...
Re:Slashdot worthy? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm reading one of his now, and seeing the word "Metaverse" come up in the text is kind of jarring. Takes me out of 80s cyberpunk and places me into a tech bro keynote.
I keep thinking I'm about to read, "And then he put on his Meta Quest(tm) headset, obtained for the low price of $599 with his annual Facebook Prime subscription..."
Also I think he was spotted shilling for a crypto scam recently. Must be weird to write about a dystopia then end up promoting it in reality 30 years later.
Re: Slashdot worthy? (Score:2)
It's some cryptothing tied to his new fanverse. I inly just heard of it and I'm really hoping it's one of the saner and good natured crypto implementations.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm reading one of his now, and seeing the word "Metaverse" come up in the text is kind of jarring. Takes me out of 80s cyberpunk and places me into a tech bro keynote.
I keep thinking I'm about to read, "And then he put on his Meta Quest(tm) headset, obtained for the low price of $599 with his annual Facebook Prime subscription..."
Also I think he was spotted shilling for a crypto scam recently. Must be weird to write about a dystopia then end up promoting it in reality 30 years later.
If you wear a meta-quest in public, or a new meta-rayban glasses, or the Google Glasses, you are considered a Gargoyle, stephenson also anticipated such.
Re: Slashdot worthy? (Score:2)
Why not?
Best Author if consistency isn't a thing for you (Score:3)
Does this new one have Enos Root in it? I don't mean another character named that I mean the exact same guy that lived 75-80 years ago and inexplicably not changed since.
Re: Best Author if consistency isn't a thing for y (Score:2)
I have a vague feeling that Mr Root will turn out to be the G-Man from Half-life.
I was a fan of Mr. sthepenson ... but I got Bored (Score:2)
As the books grew larger and larger, I got more bored. When the "things" started to be trilogies of very large books, I lost all interest....
Last Sthepenson novel I read was REAMDE...
Do not get me wrong, he still is a very talented writer, but, to each their own
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
So basically a book about the soviet union spying (Score:1)
Will the books include those who got rich? (Score:1)
Boring or not? (Score:2)
His books have been hit or miss in that regard. I really do not care to try to read another Cryptonomicon or Baroque Cycle. Anybody know?
Re: (Score:2)
I thought those were pretty good and that the first one even wandered into the turf claimed as new in the part of the Slashdot summary I managed to read before interest faded. The next reply to your comment mentions Fall about some sort of singularity, which I mostly disliked when I read it, though I acknowledge it included some interesting ideas. Much better than The Age of Em on similar themes but which I barely staggered through.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, I guess it depends on where you are coming from. As to ideas, not much surprises me these days, but I like good world-building and good character development. I do find my tastes often at odds with what the "mainstream" likes. For example, I did find "The Three Body Problem" basically unreadably tedious and boring and barely got halfway through the first book before dropping it. And I bought it as hardcover because of the reviews. Have learned that lesson now. I never even heard of "The Age of Em" or
Re: (Score:2)
I never even heard of "The Age of Em" or "Fall", the latter of which I am not even able to identify.
Fall [wikipedia.org] is a Stephenson book from 2019 that involves the same characters from Reamde.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks. I just saw that "Fall and Reamde are set in the same fictional universe as Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle.", which might be why I have deleted it from my mind. The synopsis on wikipedia is vaguely familiar though.
I took Stephenson off my automatic order list (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You're reminding me of what happened to Heinlein in his later years...
Re: I took Stephenson off my automatic order list (Score:2)
blockchain ? (Score:1)
Meanwhile in August, Stephenson's blockchain-tech startup Lamina1
Well - it's supposed to be an open system to do something something for creators.
I guess it might be a good thing ?
The fact is with AI pulling down anything and everything and the money behind it preventing any sort of legal repercussions , it does seem like it's something that's needed.
Fantastical elements (Score:2)
"Polostan" is also devoid of fantastical elements and farcical "hysterical realism," which comes as a bit of a shock given that this is the writer who invented Mafia pizza-delivery guys and cybernetic children's primers.
Did this guy not read Cryptonomicon?