Neal Stephenson.

[bullet08]

Well. The name says it all. One of those authors who writes books thick enough kill wild hogs of smaller size with a few blunt force. I happened to like most of his works. That doesn't mean I understand majority of them. More like read through out of pure will power. Some of his works are very engaging, entertaining and sometimes, pseudo-educational. Other times, they escape my limited imagination. But when night is long and I can't shut my eyes, they do help me to keep 'em up until the dawn. So, why am I writing this thread? If you haven't heard yet, he has a new book out. Catch it, if you need more doorstops.

 

[mingc]

I read Cryptonomicon and Quicksilver 20 years ago. I don't remember much of them except that I enjoyed them (but perhaps not enough to pick up his other books).

 

[chilllucky]

Definitely a top 5 author for me. Anathem is one of my all time favorite works.

 

[bullet08]

"Polostan" just arrived. Hopefully, it will be engaging enough to finish it over the weekend.

 

[Monssen13]

Definitely a top 5 author for me. Anathem is one of my all time favorite works.

I should try anathem again. I was probably too young last I gave it a go, my interest petered out. I did like how it felt a bit like Canticle for Leibowitz.

 

[JoeW]

I read Cryptonomicon, partly because of great reviews at the time, partly because it has a Perl program in it (and I was doing a lot of Perl at the time). It took me a few tries to get started. I really enjoyed the counterintelligence side of the story, and have been thinking about reading it again.

But I haven't been able to get into any of his other books I've tried. For some reason, his writing doesn't grab me at all.

 

[Michigan_Bill]

Reamde is my favorite. I especially enjoyed the part when the terrorists thought they would invade Idaho

 

[username]

Really Enjoyed Snow Crash.

 

[bullet08]

I should try anathem again. I was probably too young last I gave it a go, my interest petered out. I did like how it felt a bit like Canticle for Leibowitz.

Canticle for Leibowitz was a good read.

 

[bullet08]

C

I read Cryptonomicon and Quicksilver 20 years ago. I don't remember much of them except that I enjoyed them (but perhaps not enough to pick up his other books).

Cryptonomicon has to be my favorite. Closely followed by Reamde. Snow Crash was also splendid. Seveneves was nail biting.

 

[PipePint&Cross]

I loved Anathema, and really liked Cryptonomicon. I thought Quicksilver fell flat, and I abandoned that series. I really want to read Seveneves, but there are just so many things to read.

 

[chilllucky]

I read Cryptonomicon, partly because of great reviews at the time, partly because it has a Perl program in it (and I was doing a lot of Perl at the time). It took me a few tries to get started. I really enjoyed the counterintelligence side of the story, and have been thinking about reading it again.

But I haven't been able to get into any of his other books I've tried. For some reason, his writing doesn't grab me at all.

Some of his works are more successful than others at getting the balance right between story telling and explaining. Anathem is the best culture/world-building "hard" science fiction _I've_ read, but I have hardly done an exhaustive tour of the genre.

Cryptonomicon is a great and complex story well told. The "System of the World" trilogy is the same story with three times the scope and twice the explanation. I finished it when it was published, but I doubt I'd re-read it.

I did enjoy reamde. Get back to his more mystery genre writing of Zodiac, I think his second published work.

I enjoyed the ideas explored/explained in Seveneves, but cannot forgive the page that just says "five thousand years later..."

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I do enjoy it when an author connects the dots to make a new creative history and tell a compelling story. Dan Brown did this also, and I enjoy it. The problem, is that we have so many stupid people in the world, that when most read these books, they see these fictional connections of dots and think they are real. There just needs to be a warning label on the cover, similar to the ones telling people not to drink the liquid in your car battery.

Cryptonomicon, Quicksilver and the Mongoliad series were my favs.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

This guy has all the wrong friends...

Bezos hired him to design a spaceship.

A sci-fi writer designing a spaceship, weird.

To each his own.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

This guy has all the wrong friends...

Bezos hired him to design a spaceship.

A sci-fi writer designing a spaceship, weird.

To each his own.

That sounds more like Bezos's stupidity, more than Neal Stephenson's, ha ha.

 

[JoeW]

That sounds more like Bezos's stupidity, more than Neal Stephenson's, ha ha.

SF writers, like science popularizers, like many other professions, give the impression that they're much smarter than they really are. Often the reader is to blame too, for not knowing any better. Entertainer != expert. The more I reread the SF writers I enjoyed as a teen, the more obvious it becomes to me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

SF writers, like science popularizers, like many other professions, give the impression that they're much smarter than they really are. Often the reader is to blame too, for not knowing any better. Entertainer != expert. The more I reread the SF writers I enjoyed as a teen, the more obvious it becomes to me.

I love the works of L. Ron Hubbard, he was a very good writer. And, his greatest fans turned him into a religion. Sure, sure... he went along for it. But, who deserves the greater blame. Hubbard or the idiots who made him into some sort of God? But, despite the idiocy of the cult that sprang up around him, Hubbard writes a damn fine piece of literature.

 

[JoeW]

I love the works of L. Ron Hubbard, he was a very good writer. And, his greatest fans turned him into a religion. Sure, sure... he went along for it. But, who deserves the greater blame. Hubbard or the idiots who made him into some sort of God? But, despite the idiocy of the cult that sprang up around him, Hubbard writes a damn fine piece of literature.

Which Hubbard books do you prefer? I bought Battlefield Earth back when it was $3.95, and couldn't read more than a few pages: way too pulpy for me. But then, I thought I liked Frederik Pohl, and look how that turned out? Last year I reread his books, realized how much I disliked them, then gave them away. That's what I got for choosing favorite authors based on others' opinions.

You've heard the story, of course, that Hubbard either made a bet that he could get richer by starting a new religion, or realized he could get rich by starting one, and then proceeded to do so. I don't know whether it's apocryphal or not, but it's crazy enough to be believable. In either case, yikes.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Which Hubbard books do you prefer? I bought Battlefield Earth back when it was $3.95, and couldn't read more than a few pages: way too pulpy for me. But then, I thought I liked Frederik Pohl, and look how that turned out? Last year I reread his books, realized how much I disliked them, then gave them away. That's what I got for choosing favorite authors based on others' opinions.

You've heard the story, of course, that Hubbard either made a bet that he could get richer by starting a new religion, or realized he could get rich by starting one, and then proceeded to do so. I don't know whether it's apocryphal or not, but it's crazy enough to be believable. In either case, yikes.

I really prefer the dime store books he made when rising to fame. The Tramp, Ole Doc Methusela, and even his Westerns. I have two boxes full of his books that I will pull out from time to time to read for just enjoyment and nostalgia. I inherited my dad's collections of books from when he was a kid, so I have tons and have read them all.

 

[JoeW]

I really prefer the dime store books he made when rising to fame. The Tramp, Ole Doc Methusela, and even his Westerns. I have two boxes full of his books that I will pull out from time to time to read for just enjoyment and nostalgia. I inherited my dad's collections of books from when he was a kid, so I have tons and have read them all.

There's something to be said for the old pulps: they weren't great literature, but they often could tell a good story. Merritt, Burroughs, Campbell, and others are often more fun to read than the more literary writers. I always disdained Tarzan, and a few years ago came to realize that I was missing out: they're fun to read...even more fun than Neal Stephenson (to bring this back on topic).