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withak posted:I think you will find that there is nothing Stephenson does that is not dorky. My favorite is his attempt to actually make the sword fighting program from Snow Crash. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang https://qz.com/268852/neal-stephensons-failed-500000-video-game-and-the-perils-of-using-kickstarter/
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Mar 3, 2017 16:09
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MrWilderheap posted:. Haven't finished it yet but I'd love it if he wrote another book in this universe, the technology is cool and I think the idea of people organizing into phyles as nations become irrelevant is really interesting I'd really like if he'd return to some of his early settings, but there is approximately Zero chance he would be able to have the same attitude and feeling of Snow Crash or Diamond Age. (A 2017/2018 sequel to Zodiac would be pretty fascinating)
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Mar 3, 2017 19:59
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Number Ten Cocks posted:Neither has Stephenson. 
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Mar 3, 2017 23:10
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rotinaj posted:(A 2017/2018 sequel to Zodiac would be pretty fascinating)
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Mar 4, 2017 01:12
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tetrapyloctomy posted:It might also just be 1700 pages of the main character cursing at the current administration. Cruising the streets at night in a blacked out, silent Tesla.
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Mar 4, 2017 03:03
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With a cylinder of Nitrous Oxide on the passenger seat keeping him company
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Mar 4, 2017 09:58
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Halfway through Snow Crash for the first time and I can say its pretty good so far! Which of his should I follow it up with /avoid like the plague?
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May 1, 2017 04:16
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Bilirubin posted:Halfway through Snow Crash for the first time and I can say its pretty good so far!
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May 1, 2017 04:59
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Bilirubin posted:Halfway through Snow Crash for the first time and I can say its pretty good so far! I think Reamde is the only one of his that I'd say you can avoid and not miss much on. Seveneves isn't as good as his other stuff, but parts of it are excellent so it's worth a read. Anathem I still say is his masterpiece but the Baroque Cycle is a close second if you have the time for it.
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May 1, 2017 08:18
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They are all good, read them all in order of publication.
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May 1, 2017 15:50
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Bilirubin posted:Halfway through Snow Crash for the first time and I can say its pretty good so far! Are you more into the action adventure part, or the philosophical part? If you like the philosophy, then Cryptonomicon or the Baroque Cycle. If you prefer the adventure, then The Cobweb or Interface. But before any of those, Diamond Age is your best bet, it was real good.
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May 1, 2017 19:02
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rotinaj posted:Are you more into the action adventure part, or the philosophical part? If you like the philosophy, then Cryptonomicon or the Baroque Cycle. If you prefer the adventure, then The Cobweb or Interface. But before any of those, Diamond Age is your best bet, it was real good. Diamond Age probably has a more frustrating ending than Snow Crash though.
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May 2, 2017 15:31
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Atlas Hugged posted:Diamond Age probably has a more frustrating ending than Snow Crash though. We are discussing Neal Stephenson, that should be assumed. The man is like Stephen King, can't handle endings in a satisfying manner.
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May 3, 2017 11:49
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Thanks for all of the recommendations! I will definitely be reading more of his. (I get the criticisms of his character development, but they are so parts of the scene he has built I don't really seem to care that much at this point) In answer to the question, probably more the philosophy? The action sequences can be mixed for me. But its the whole of the constructed worlds that I find attractive to think about in more detail.
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May 4, 2017 06:15
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Bilirubin posted:Thanks for all of the recommendations! I will definitely be reading more of his. Anathem for sure.
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May 4, 2017 07:08
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Bilirubin posted:Thanks for all of the recommendations! I will definitely be reading more of his. You are so going to love Anathem.
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May 4, 2017 14:42
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Took me 3 goes before I got past the first 30 or so pages of Anathem. Don't know why, it's an amazing book that I've re-read twice.
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May 8, 2017 00:56
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AlphaDog posted:Took me 3 goes before I got past the first 30 or so pages of Anathem. Don't know why, it's an amazing book that I've re-read twice. I never actually read Anathem, because I've tried a number of times and had this same problem. Then again, I'm one of the only people in this thread banging on about how good his airport fiction is, despite more or less liking the philosophical stuff he's done. I do happen to have the audiobook from a few hard drives ago. I should probably give it another try.
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May 8, 2017 02:21
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What blocked me from getting into it for a while was the weird language they were using. The gently caress is a "speelycaptor" anyway? Then I persevered, and it was one of the best books I've ever read.
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May 8, 2017 05:17
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Anathem is a pretty middling book for me. I like that a lot of it is a homage to A Canticle of Leibowitz, but the long explanations of some of the concepts made my eyes glaze over. Maybe I'd do better now that I'm not 19 anymore.
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May 8, 2017 07:25
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Casimir Radon posted:Anathem is a pretty middling book for me. I like that a lot of it is a homage to A Canticle of Leibowitz, but the long explanations of some of the concepts made my eyes glaze over. Maybe I'd do better now that I'm not 19 anymore. And this wasn't a problem in other Stephenson novels? Memento posted:What blocked me from getting into it for a while was the weird language they were using. The gently caress is a "speelycaptor" anyway? A handheld recording device I believe.
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May 8, 2017 12:31
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Atlas Hugged posted:And this wasn't a problem in other Stephenson novels?
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May 8, 2017 12:52
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Atlas Hugged posted:A handheld recording device I believe. Sure, I know that now, but lots of really, really lovely sci-fi replaces words for regular things with weirdo terms often with too many apostrophes* in them. It was just a barrier to get over for me. *>0
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May 8, 2017 12:57
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Memento posted:Sure, I know that now, but lots of really, really lovely sci-fi replaces words for regular things with weirdo terms often with too many apostrophes* in them. It was just a barrier to get over for me. Obligatory XKCD specifically calling out Anathem https://xkcd.com/483
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May 8, 2017 13:11
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Hackan Slash posted:Obligatory XKCD specifically calling out Anathem I like that it's a probability because despite the improbability Anathem is good as gently caress.
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May 8, 2017 19:30
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MrWilderheap posted:I just picked up The Diamond Age, and man it's really good! Last book of his I read was Cryptonomocon, which I thought was ok but it took me forever to finish. With the Diamond Age I can't put it down. Haven't finished it yet but I'd love it if he wrote another book in this universe, the technology is cool and I think the idea of people organizing into phyles as nations become irrelevant is really interesting. Read Too Like The Lightning. A central conceit of the setting is the phyle thing. Technically the central conceit is "what if flying cars?", but new social organization is one of the more obvious effects. 
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May 8, 2017 19:33
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Nevvy Z posted:I like that it's a probability because despite the improbability Anathem is good as gently caress. I've always disliked that comic because Anathem has an actual good reason for doing things that way.
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May 9, 2017 16:34
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taser rates posted:I've always disliked that comic because Anathem has an actual good reason for doing things that way. I agree. And I always thought Stephenson was being a bit tongue-in-cheek with it and making fun of the trope by coming up with random objects to replace instead of the typical "plascrete" or whatever. "Hamburgs" or whatever it was stood out to me that way.
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May 9, 2017 19:17
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Notahippie posted:I agree. And I always thought Stephenson was being a bit tongue-in-cheek with it and making fun of the trope by coming up with random objects to replace instead of the typical "plascrete" or whatever. "Hamburgs" or whatever it was stood out to me that way. Looking back, that whole bit about the speelycaptor and it's compatibility with farspark is probably poking fun at the idea of taking the names of technology too seriously. "they aren't even compatible formats"
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May 9, 2017 21:35
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In his very next book he makes an entire plot point out of made up words with nonsensical apostrophes and why they don't make any sense.
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May 10, 2017 05:23
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Atlas Hugged posted:Anathem for sure. Tragedienne posted:You are so going to love Anathem. OK, bought it this morning and will put it near the top of the stack. Thanks for the recommendation!
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May 11, 2017 06:09
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Honestly, my only problem with Anathem is that there is a quite long part about 3/4 of the way through that is really dull and which I can't recall serving the plot in any way at all other than to fill in Neal's obligatory checklist of badass traits the protagonist has (in this case, "can trek through miles of frozen tundra")
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May 12, 2017 02:39
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precision posted:Honestly, my only problem with Anathem is that there is a quite long part about 3/4 of the way through that is really dull and which I can't recall serving the plot in any way at all other than to fill in Neal's obligatory checklist of badass traits the protagonist has (in this case, "can trek through miles of frozen tundra") I think most people consider that to be the weakest point of the novel. It also wasn't as bad on a reread.
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May 12, 2017 09:03
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I would go further to say that part is much better on a reread.
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May 12, 2017 17:31
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I'm about half way through D.O.D.O. JESUS CHRIST GET ON WITH IT
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Jun 2, 2017 03:37
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Unkempt posted:I'm about half way through D.O.D.O. Did you actually get into a neal stephenson novel expecting him to be concise and not faff around for hundreds of pages?
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Jun 2, 2017 03:47
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Anathem is good and if you can tolerate Anathem then you can get into Cryptonomicon and then go deep into Baroque Cycle. I thought Reamde was bad because Stephenson is no stranger to changing reality/science/maths to fit the story he's trying to tell, but Reamde is trying to be set in 'the real world' while featuring the world's worst MMO and the craziest shenanigans. Basically everything Sokolov does, and the whole sequence with Csongor+co on the ocean on a boat, feels like something that fits in better with the world of Snow Crash. I genuinely thought I had almost no problem with suspension of disbelief, and then I read Reamde.
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Jun 2, 2017 07:28
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Unkempt posted:I'm about half way through D.O.D.O. but is it any good?
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Jun 2, 2017 12:07
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I forgot he even had a new book coming out, and I don't think I ever knew it was co-written. It's a spy thriller again? OK, I'm down.
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Jun 2, 2017 22:54
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branedotorg posted:but is it any good? Finished it now, and I'm going with 'no'. I found it extremely frustrating, very slow to get going, hundreds of pages of crap I had no interest in and at the end when it looked like things were coming together it just stops with little resolved.
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Jun 6, 2017 17:38
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