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Sci-Fi Books

Neal Stephenson Publishes First Book in New Atomic Age Spy Series 'Bomb Light' (msn.com) 56

Posted by EditorDavid from the back-to-the-future dept.
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:
  • 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.)

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Neal Stephenson Publishes First Book in New Atomic Age Spy Series 'Bomb Light' More

Neal Stephenson Publishes First Book in New Atomic Age Spy Series 'Bomb Light'

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  • Remember kids... (Score:3)

    by haxor.dk ( 463614 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @09:56AM (#64879177) Homepage

    Don't do nitrous before breakfast. It messes with your head.

  • ...about some new book. New book. Got it.

    • ...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 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 mean Anathem, I found it fun. Makes fun of all the right targets.

    • I guess you wouldn't like A Clockwork Orange.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by quonset ( 4839537 )

      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?

      • > There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry. The Korova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto, and you may, O my brothers, have forgotten what these mestos were like, things changing so skorry these days and everybody very quick to forget, newspapers not being read much neither. Well, what they sold there was milk plus som

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by VampireByte ( 447578 )

      Adjusting to the "entire lexicon of words" wasn't a blocker, it made reading Anathem a fun and immersive experience.

    • 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.

      • I am sometimes tempted to use some of his new terms, but stop myself when I realize the people I’m talking to probably haven’t read Anathem.
    • Then you better stay away from Bank's Feersum Endjinn. It is actually not part of the Culture Universe on one of the characters -Bascule - talks in Short Message speak; Feersum Endjinn = Fearsome Engine It is a pain to read but may be a OK as an audio book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    • 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"

    • I'm sorry, but pretty much every book of Stephenson's that I've read has required learning a new lexicon

      It is almost as if you think the English language is some unchanging thing and forget how words become added to it

      Perhaps you could look up Metaverse in OED

    • You should go back. Reamde is worth reading, Seveneves is worth buying.

  • Best Author if consistency isn't a thing for you (Score:3)

    by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @10:30AM (#64879221)

    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.

    • I have a vague feeling that Mr Root will turn out to be the G-Man from Half-life.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cyberax ( 705495 )

      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.

      He's an agent designed to steer civilizations into oblivion. See: "Fall; or, Dodge in Hell " where he successfully forced humans to forever be frozen in a fantasy world.

  • 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

    • I could not finish Fall. It was far too long. Seven Eves was also not interesting to me. I did like Anathem and Reamde. Some people need an editor to tell them , or at least query them about their books. Tom Clancey suffered the same problem. Sometimes a good crisp novel is what you want. What happened to William GIbson? Peripheral was decent. Agency was not recommended.
      • Gibson? I tried Pattern Recognition and though it had some interesting commentary on advertising and branding, I did not like it. I mean it was better than a duck to the face at 200 m.p.h. and it leaves you with a strange desire to buy a Rickson Flight Jacket.

      • Peripheral was decent.

        Was it though? That was the one where the "villain" was an unnamed character that was mentioned once in the book before the reveal at the end. The sequel was just, well, dull. Personally I enjoyed the Amazon TV adaptation more, which is hardly a ringing endorsement.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Morpeth ( 577066 )

      I read REAMDE and tried to get through Fall, or Dodge in Hell (started it twice I think), but it was just too much. Sometimes I just need a book of reasonable length -- I think the 2 books together are nearly 2000 pages...

      I think he's a really interesting writer but I preferred his early stuff like SnowCrash and Diamond Age

  • Basically, how communists in Project Manhattan giving away our secrets to the Soviet Union
  • Will the series include the companies and scientists on both sides who used and perpetuated the arms race to get rich and live cushy lives?

  • 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:3)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      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)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        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

        • 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)

            by gweihir ( 88907 )

            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.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by shanen ( 462549 )

              I managed to get through The Three-Body Problem though it took some work. I don't think I read any of the other volumes of that series and have little interest in it, though I'm pretty sure I enjoyed one of his other short stories (as also translated by Ken Liu). I think Stephenson is much better at creating interesting characters. Or maybe was? The weak/overly-archtypical characters of Fall were the main reason I disliked that book.

  • ...after *Fall* in 2019. He's too self indulgent and seriously needs an editor. However if the new book is shorter and gets good reviews then maybe. It's on him though. I've got an autographed hardback of *Anathema* to remind me of ol' Neal.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      You're reminding me of what happened to Heinlein in his later years...

    • I stopped at "Anathem," also learned to shy away from KSR for the same reason, no matter how interesting the synopsis. They both need some merciless editors.

      • Hmm. It's been many years, but I absolutely *loved* Anathem.

        What about it didn't you like?

        • It has also been many years, I don't recall. Only that it was one of few books that I've ever put down unfinished.

          • Same, its on my shelf unfinished.
            It was a drudge to read.

            I got through Cryptonomicon fine and the whole Baroque Cycle, after getting through the first one, ripped through the other 2.

            But Anathem... I just couldnt. Maybe my mind just wasnt on it at the time and I should give it a second go.

            Unfortunately havent bought anything from him since then. Unfortunate.

  • 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.

  • "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?

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