Anathem

Sep 30, 2008 Matt rated it 1 of 5 stars

I think that Neal Stephenson is very intelligent and a terrific writer. That said, I found all the made-up googlies in this snarfle, really boinged my thnoode. Surely there is a slankier way of telling us that we are reading about another zoof than to make up every other googly. It made it very difficult to forkle the snarfle and I put it down after only 80 ziffies. This will not stop me from attempting the next Neal Stephenson snarfle, however.

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May 04, 2013 Clouds - (¿head-in-the?) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-stand-alone, locus-sci-fi, science-fiction, reviewed, 5-star

Christmas 2010: I realised that I had got stuck in a rut. I was re-reading old favourites again and again, waiting for a few trusted authors to release new works. Something had to be done.

On the spur of the moment I set myself a challenge, to read every book to have won the Locus Sci-Fi award. That’s 35 books, 6 of which I’d previously read, leaving 29 titles by 14 authors who were new to me.

While working through this reading list I got married, went on my honeymoon, switched career and became...more

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Feb 25, 2009 Simeon Berry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, fiction, fiction-read, own

There are a number of technical problems to writing sci-fi and fantasy. Chief among them is the tremendous amount of work required to set up a cultural matrix: a language, a history, an iconography, etc. that makes the world fully realized and engaging. In this new 900-page doorstop, Stephenson tries to solve this problem with approximately 200 pages of exposition, setting up the mindset of a post-apocalyptic monastery where you have religious scholarship without the religion (mostly). So you ha...more There are a number of technical problems to writing sci-fi and fantasy. Chief among them is the tremendous amount of work required to set up a cultural matrix: a language, a history, an iconography, etc. that makes the world fully realized and engaging. In this new 900-page doorstop, Stephenson tries to solve this problem with approximately 200 pages of exposition, setting up the mindset of a post-apocalyptic monastery where you have religious scholarship without the religion (mostly). So you have to wade through a lot (and I mean a lot) of invented slang and jargon--mostly revolving around philosophical and metaphysical conceits--as well as 4,000 odd years of this history (which still seemed somewhat murky and half-finished at the end of the book). After it was over, I still never really quite got what the Elkhadarian school of philosophical thought really was.

Let it be said that I love Stephenson. Zodiac and The Big U were entertaining little novella playets, and (while obnoxious in places) Snow Crash was a great post-consumerist action thriller. The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon are fantastic techie epics (who else would think to pit Confucianism against Victorianism in the battlefield of nanotechnology?), and (while clearly in need of some pruning and wildly anachronistic) the Baroque Trilogy is awesome.

But Stephenson has always had problems with plot. One of his tricks is to walk us through incredibly complicated quantum possibilities, indicate the most spectacularly threatening one, and then have it occur, almost off-stage, as if the verbal rehearsal actually was the thing itself. Action by conversational fiat. (Now that I think about it, Greg Bear, Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, and even Robert Heinlein did this. Maybe it’s a sci-fi thing. Still, it feels like cheating.) Anathem has this in spades, only with a lot more talking. Granted, I really enjoyed the characters, and once the plot really got rolling (around page 400 or so), I was totally hooked. Plus, I feel like I understand quantum mechanics a lot more--though I’m sure my confidence is unwarranted--and I am suffused with that trademark Stephenson glow that comes from signing onto a very cogent, earnest, and unsentimental analysis of the way society should work. (Stephenson does great, sometimes even brilliant, macro analysis.)

However, the action is mostly in stasis for a good two-thirds of the book, and it takes a very hardcore geek to make it through the Many World theorems that stand in the place of much of the plotting. So I think the audience for this book will be very small (possibly composed solely of physics majors?), which is a shame, as he’s still a great writer. He may need an equally great editor, though.(less)

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Dec 30, 2008 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, science-fiction, philosophy

After digesting Stephenson's latest 937 page tome, my response basically boils down to "Meh."

Ok, maybe not, "Meh." exactly. Maybe more like, "Hmmm." I wish I could say something more elegant about it, but the problem is that there isn't a lot to say about the book as a whole because the book as a whole isn't really that good or that interesting. The book as a whole is difficult to describe, because so much of the book seems like a digression from even itself that instead of a book, it's more lik...more

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Palmyrah 'Did it occur to you that it's possible to both understand the work, and not appreciate it?'

Yes indeed; the writings of Somerset Maugham spring to min...more
30. August, 07:41 Uhr

Matt Palmyrah: Sigh. You are still clinging to the notion that I just 'don't get it'.

Believe it or not, some people other than you have taken philosophy a...more Palmyrah: Sigh. You are still clinging to the notion that I just 'don't get it'.

Believe it or not, some people other than you have taken philosophy and physics. I've read my Plato and my Descartes, and I've got about 16 college hours of physics up to and including relativity and quantum mechanics, to say nothing of engineering coursework.

I understand the work on a didactic level. I do not however respond to the work either in terms of an intellectual appreciation of the story or an emotional response to the story, because, however central these arguments and lecture may be to advacing the thesis of this work, they aren't particularly interesting to advancing the story itself. The story is made slave to the author's pedantic intention, and this undermines the power of the story as a work of art.

I do not mean to imply that good stories don't have meaning(s). And certainly, my love of speculative fiction in general is motivated by the fact that such works tend to explore the 'big idea' or 'big picture'. But rather, I held this story as less than perfect because better written stories - include those by this author - find ways to communicate their meanings and to provoke thought without the need for these sort of heavy handed dialogues appearing as the dominate mode of the work.

As for the ideas being lectured and expounded on themselves, I didn't really feel that a flow of information between parallel universes being used as a physical basis for the Platonic view of the world was really all that interesting. Nor did I find it particularly interesting to put control over this flow of information - the ability to program the world, as it were - into the hands of people practicing magic under the literary guise of gnostic psuedo-science. It's great to speculate about the physical basis of the magic in your story, but that doesn't make it any the less magic. This of course isn't the first time that the author has dealt with the theme of word sounds having literal meaning rather than merely being tokens of meaning, and thereby being able to program the environment, as the central mystery in 'Snow Crash' involved pretty much the same concept. But in Snow Crash, we really only had to deal with one long didactic info dump, and it never went to 80 pages. In Snow Crash, the story and the characters were interesting and sympathetic in themselves, without the need to rely on whether the arguments and lectures were interesting.

Perhaps you should read a bit more of my reviews to get a sense of what I like in a story and why.(less)
updated 30. August, 10:36 Uhr

Jun 26, 2012 Apatt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have been reading this book for 17 days, when you have lived with a single book this long there is inevitably separation pain, now that I have finished it I feel like I just woke up from a long weird dream. I had a lot of trepidation about reading this book, the reviews and comments from fellow sf readers (hello PrintSF dudes!) are generally positive but I gathered from them that this is a long hard one (ooh-er!) which is bit intimidating given my very average intelligence. Still, I am intrigu...more I have been reading this book for 17 days, when you have lived with a single book this long there is inevitably separation pain, now that I have finished it I feel like I just woke up from a long weird dream. I had a lot of trepidation about reading this book, the reviews and comments from fellow sf readers (hello PrintSF dudes!) are generally positive but I gathered from them that this is a long hard one (ooh-er!) which is bit intimidating given my very average intelligence. Still, I am intrigued by what I have heard about it and so I consumed a copious amount of fish and cracked the book open...

The book is not easy to synopsize, though I am tempted to just write "Monks vs Aliens!" which will probably cause the numerous fans of the book to do the online equivalent of lobbing rotten tomatoes at me, in any case it would be a gross oversimplification and covers only a small part of the book. The story is set in a world where academics live monk-like in monasteries apart from the beer guzzling, pizza eating, TV watching, rest of the world. They devote their lives contemplating profound issues, philosophy, intellectual pursuits, and obscure disciplines. One “concent” (monastery) even specialize in kung-fu (sort of). When a spaceship is detected by one of the avouts (monk-like academics) everything change.

With Anathem Neal Stephenson has created “Abere” a world so rich in details it makes Middle-Earth look like two bedroom apartment. There is a lot of history which is gradually revealed to the reader and an almost overwhelming number of neologisms. I think the key to “getting” this book lies more with having enough patience to stick with it until you are eventually submerged in the world of the book. I definitely needed some help with the many strange new terms the author coined, but such help is easily found online (especially at the Anathem Wiki website). In any case after settling into the book there was no real need to look anything up, the book is not hard to follow once you are acclimatized to it.

Beside the online resources the book’s accessibility is helped by the normalcy the main characters, especially the narrator / protagonist. The “avouts” are not weird bastards, their behavior and motivation are generally understandable (aside from one or two hyper weird enigmatic figures).

A lot of people (including myself) have a “50 pages rule” whereby we will allow the book up to 50 pages to engage us or fling it across the room if at page 51 we are still not interested. With this book I’d recommend stretching it to 100 pages, in any case the first 50 pages are not horrible just a bit bewildering. There are still some pages or passages which are still not clear to me even now but the story itself is clear enough.

Apart from the superhuman feat of world building Stephenson has also created some very likable characters, sprinkled the book with humorous moments and even a smidgeon of romance. The book has everything really; the downside is that it may have more than you bargained for.

What impressed me the most is that the author respects his readers and give us a lot of credit to be able to follow his complex story and settings. He clearly made a tremendous effort in writing this book and expects some exertion and commitment from us in return. Seems fair, and it is well worth the effort.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

______________________________________________
Notes:

- Video: Neal Stephenson's introduction to Anathem, worth a look if you are interested in this book.

- China Miéville's Embassytown is the book that inspired me to read Anathem, not a lot in common in term of structure, plot or prose but Embassytown is chock-a-block full of neologisms which I normally find discouraging but I made the effort because I love his other books, and I am glad I did. The infamous neologisms of Anathem intimidated me also but after reading Embassytown I felt I was ready to tackle Anathem.
(less)

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Oct 27, 2008 Lori (Hellian) rated it 5 of 5 stars

I may end up giving this 5 stars, depending on how it stays with me. I loved it, but it should be noted Stephenson is one of my favorite authors. THis book is a lot less verbose than his last trilogy and even Cryptomonicon. But it's also a slower, harder read - there's hard science in here, and not just science but quantum physics, the hardest of all!

The story takes place on a planet in a different cosmos. The society here has a long, involved history with many different words to learn that are...more

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Logan How are you enjoying this? I have a deep love of all things Stephenson and pre-ordered it months before it came out. Now it's sitting here on my shelf...more
29. September, 13:10 Uhr

Lori (Hellian) Logan! I've been thinking of you, my fellow diehard Stephenson buddy. And for another reason too! I'd been having a very hard time getting into this b...more
29. September, 14:57 Uhr

Servius Heiner Hey, Lori, I am not finished yet, but I need some clarification. I am only on page 4** something but I have been reading this as being a post apocalyp...more
09. Dezember, 23:01 Uhr

Feb 25, 2009 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. EDIT: I was asked to spoiler-tag this review, and have done so, but I'm not really sure why the person who asked felt I should do so. I definitely don't give away the ending or even the middle in this review.

I discovered Neal Stephenson with "Cryptonomicon", which was published almost a decade ago now. It blew me away with its epic length, its fascinating, multi-layered plot, its occasional moments of unexpected, gut-busting hilarity, and its clear, incisive writing, which was often put to use i...more EDIT: I was asked to spoiler-tag this review, and have done so, but I'm not really sure why the person who asked felt I should do so. I definitely don't give away the ending or even the middle in this review.

I discovered Neal Stephenson with "Cryptonomicon", which was published almost a decade ago now. It blew me away with its epic length, its fascinating, multi-layered plot, its occasional moments of unexpected, gut-busting hilarity, and its clear, incisive writing, which was often put to use in explaining complicated scientific concepts in easy-to-follow terms that any layman (including me) could easily understand. The combination of all of these factors made "Cryptonomicon" so enjoyable to me that I soon began to tell people that Neal Stephenson was my favorite author, an assertion only given further weight when I devoured his back catalog and found it all to be outstanding (particularly "Snow Crash"). A few years after "Cryptonomicon", Stephenson released the sprawling Baroque Cycle, a trilogy that served as a prequel to "Cryptonomicon" and stretched to nearly 3000 pages in combined length. If anything, I may have enjoyed this trilogy even more than "Cryptonomicon"; it was obvious that his writing style was maturing, that he was reining in his tendency to go off on tangents while still utilizing such tactics on occasion (much more judiciously now), and that his word choices were becoming even better, his writing style even more clear than it had been before. His widely discussed switch from composing on a word processor to writing longhand with a fountain pen no doubt had something to do with his occasional restraint, but also avoided damaging his propensity for the epic explorations that drew me in in the first place. Now, with "Anathem", Stephenson expands even further on the maturation process that was obvious in "The Baroque Cycle", as well as mixing the cyberpunk futurism of earlier works like "Snow Crash" and "The Diamond Age" with his more recent studies of science's past in "The Baroque Cycle".

"Anathem" takes place on a planet called Arbre, which is much like Earth as far as environment, but has a somewhat different history. It takes place in what seems at first like a monastery in a lot of fundamental ways, but soon reveals itself through details to be quite different. Rather than focusing on worship of any god, the inhabitants of this monastery--which is co-ed and does not require celibacy of its inhabitants--devote themselves to studying principles of science and mathematics. They engage quite often in what we here on Earth would call Socratic dialogues, and discuss and work with a lot of important principles that come from our own scientific past--although on Arbre, things like Platonic forms and the Pythagorean theorem are named after different philosophers.

Almost immediately after the book starts, Apert begins, which is a 10-day ceremony at the beginning of each year in which certain inhabitants of the cloisters all over the world (and there are many, though "Anathem" revolves around one in particular) are allowed to interact with the outside world. The main character in "Anathem" is Erasmas, who is a Decenarian, also known as a Tenner, meaning that the gates of his area of the cloister open only once every 10 years. This book takes place in the year 3790, and therefore, during Apert, Erasmas sees the outside world for the first time in 10 years. Other inhabitants of the cloister get out every year (the Unarians), still others only every hundred years (the Centenarians), and there is even a part of the cloister that sits atop a nearby rocky crag, where the inhabitants are Millenarians; in other words, their gates only open every thousand years. The first third or so of the book (aka 300 or so of its 900 pages) merely deals with the events that occur during and surrounding Apert. This portion of the book is very entertaining, and we learn a lot both about the mathic world (for this is what the cloisters are called in the world of "Anathem"--maths) and the world outside, which is the sort of technology-saturated world that one can imagine existing on Earth in another century or so of unchecked development. However, it's hard to tell where the overarching plot of the book is taking us. In fact, such a thing doesn't become clear until halfway through or thereabouts, and at that point, Stephenson leaves off the considerable world-building that he's done in the first half of the novel and begins a more straightforward adventure/problem-solving plot that takes us through the rest of the novel. I don't really want to reveal anything that this later plot entails, as I would feel bad spoiling the first half of the book even though there is much that comes after it. Suffice it to say that all of this is very enjoyable and quite picaresque at points (much like parts of the Baroque Cycle). Some may feel that the earlier, less plot-oriented sections of the book are too long and involved, but on the contrary, by the end of the book it becomes obvious that all of the setup that goes on towards the beginning is essential in order to make the reader completely understand what happens in the end.

By the end of "Anathem", I felt every bit as blown away as I had when finishing "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", and the Baroque Cycle. Stephenson once again builds up an entire world that I end up spending weeks immersed in, and when it all ends, it's hard to let go. It does help that he seems to have fixed his previous problems with abrupt endings that plagued some of his earlier books--he supplies us with a dozen-page epilogue that ties up all the loose ends the main plot left hanging--but still, it's always tough separating from one of these epic novels. "Anathem" is without a doubt one of the best books I have or will read this year, and I'm sure I will go back and reread it multiple times in the years to come. (less)

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Dec 19, 2008 Brittany rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sciencefiction

Anathem is an astonishing, enormous, intimidating, and intensely enjoyable book. However, it is also the most "science fiction-y" of any book he's written so far, and that may turn some people off. Also, I'm given to understand that some people would prefer not to have to think about polar coordinates, geometric proofs, bubble universes, string theory, or relativity in their pleasure reading. That is, of course, their prerogative. Also, it's long. And at times there are scenes that go on for pag...more Anathem is an astonishing, enormous, intimidating, and intensely enjoyable book. However, it is also the most "science fiction-y" of any book he's written so far, and that may turn some people off. Also, I'm given to understand that some people would prefer not to have to think about polar coordinates, geometric proofs, bubble universes, string theory, or relativity in their pleasure reading. That is, of course, their prerogative. Also, it's long. And at times there are scenes that go on for pages and pages where people mostly just brainstorm and talk. Some some people may disagree (perhaps even violently) with this review. However, if you DO like these things, and if you also enjoy a romping adventure tale and some good philosophical musings on the nature of consciousness, the universe, and the organization of society, then, my friend, this is a book for you.

A few weeks before the book came out, Stephenson talked about his involvement with the Clock of the Long Now. Anyone who's been interested in the project for the last couple of years knows that this is an effort to make a clock that will last centuries. And its ultimate goal is to get people to think in terms of long timelines, instead of letting our horizons become very short. Stephenson took the idea of that clock, made it many clocks, and then built a civilization around them, in the grand old tradition of science fiction writers taking new technology and then asking "What if?" And, being who and what he is, he does it with a staggering depth of detail, imagination, research, and humor. His characters are as well-developed as we have come to expect (all except one female, Cord, that I thought was startlingly cardboard for a Stephenson heroine.) This book is a testament to Stephenson's flexibility as an author. Erasmus, the main character is quiet, naive, and charmingly rational. Quite the opposite of a Nan or an S.T.

In the grand tradition of world-building epics, this is a book that makes much more sense if one reads the chronology and glossary provided before one tackles the first chapter. And then, admittedly, almost nothing happens for about 200 pages. However, once things get going, they go with a bang. The first third of the book bore an unexpected (and I'm sure unintended) similarity with the Harry Potter books. It takes place in a "mathic" community, which is a world roped off from the rest of us. The protagonists are young (in their late teens and early twenties) and completely free to do all the thinking and studying they desire. This gives them ample opportunity for the investigation of some odd happenings in their lives. And, because this is a Stephenson novel, this leads (naturally) to alien spaceships, parallel universes, time travel, codes, enigmas, adventures, technology that refuses to work properly, and people in disguise. It's wonderful. It's so wonderful that the 890-hardback pages weren't enough. Afterward, my brain felt stretched and aerated, my eyes were tired from all the reading, my arms hurt from trying to hold this heavy book up, and I wished it wasn't over.

I said some of you might not agree with me. It may not be his best work. But I sure loved it. And now I'm having trouble not applying Occam's Razor to everything that comes up in my life. And also a little sorry I don't live with the mathics, where you can expect everyone to make sober judgments based on data ("givens") rather than impressions. And here we are in the middle of an election year. Wouldn't it be nice if nobody made a decision unless they evaluated the evidence personally?

That would, of course, mean that no one could pass judgment on a book until they'd read the whole thing.(less)

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Jul 26, 2008 Coral Sheldon-Hess rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Coral by: Harper Collins, at ALA

Shelves: recommended

I really believe this is the best book Neal Stephenson has written. For one thing--I don't want to spoil it too much, so I will be vague--it has an actual, honest to goodness ending. The book's size might be a little daunting, especially to those readers who have come to expect unnecessary verbosity from him, but I think it's entirely appropriate: he covers a hell of a lot of ground. (Full disclosure: the page of cereal discourse in Cryptonomicon didn't bother me, or even seem out of place as I...more I really believe this is the best book Neal Stephenson has written. For one thing--I don't want to spoil it too much, so I will be vague--it has an actual, honest to goodness ending. The book's size might be a little daunting, especially to those readers who have come to expect unnecessary verbosity from him, but I think it's entirely appropriate: he covers a hell of a lot of ground. (Full disclosure: the page of cereal discourse in Cryptonomicon didn't bother me, or even seem out of place as I was reading it. I tend to find his writing appropriately verbose, rather than unnecessarily so. Others may be less patient.)

I won't claim that I fully understood every idea or reference presented in this lengthy and deeply thought out tome; my background in philosophy and mathematics isn't nearly that good, and I did kind of steam through it. But I certainly got enough of it to appreciate what he was doing--as will most readers--and to want to explore further. Obviously, I'm going to have to read it again, probably with the help of the citations that will be posted online when the book is formally published. Not being in a hurry to find out where the plot is going will help.

As for the plot, it is as good as any he's written and better than any I've read in recent memory. I admit, I found a relatively non-central love story to be a little unbelievable, but not enough so that it diminished the rest of what was going on. As for other commentary, I'm having trouble coming up with a way to describe the scale and enjoyability of the plot without spoiling it, so I won't; I'll just say again, he covered an awful lot of ground.

And I suppose that is the real crux of the five-star rating I gave this book (and the subsequent urging I will give to all of my friends to order it or get it from the library, or something, but to read it, as soon as possible): it was worth the read for the plot, and it was also worth the read for the ideas presented within. I don't know how a book could be made that I would enjoy more.

Now that I think of it that way, I'm kind of sad that I've finished it, honestly.(less)

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Aug 21, 2008 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of philosophy, sci-fi, alternate worlds, and/or geometry

I keep putting off my review, uncertain how to engage without scattering little spoilers everywhere--but also just a bit flabbergasted over how to describe the experience.

For about 200 pages, the endless pilgrimages to the glossary really wore me down. The future setting intrigued me, but information is slowly parcelled out--the Chinese Water Torture method for context-building. And while I kind of like the alternate-world-building of much sci-fi (or, hell, fiction generally), the elaborate game...more I keep putting off my review, uncertain how to engage without scattering little spoilers everywhere--but also just a bit flabbergasted over how to describe the experience.

For about 200 pages, the endless pilgrimages to the glossary really wore me down. The future setting intrigued me, but information is slowly parcelled out--the Chinese Water Torture method for context-building. And while I kind of like the alternate-world-building of much sci-fi (or, hell, fiction generally), the elaborate game of defining new words for familiar items (blackberry-ish pda's become jeejahs) makes me want to throw thirteen-sided die at the author.

But even in this first 200 pages, despite the occasionally crushing weight of Stephensonian detailing (three or four pages elaborately describing the architecture of a conclave in the cloister where the novel begins), there were these extended philosophical discussions about meaning that just... well, they were ripping -- smart but not smarty-pants, erudite yet fluid and often quite exciting. (The conceit of the novel is what first sold me -- look for the plot summary above/at Goodreads, 'cause I can't do it justice. And the conceit comes alive often enough to keep me thrumming along, until....)

....after about 200 pages, and I'm working to avoid any spoilage here, it suddenly became clear that Stephenson wasn't just playing the silly other-name-for-everything game, but that the elaborate vocabulary and context-building were as crucial to the plot as to the richly-imagined world he was crafting.... plus I got the hang of the history and the vocab, and.... Well, reader, for the next 500 pages I was so thoroughly entertained by the crafty plotting, the philosophical digressions and dialogues, the occasional sly meta-textual gags. There's a very thoughtful and (to this atheist) even-handed yet critical running debate about religion and rationalism, even if I don't quite buy some of the equivalencies Stephenson later sort of defines. As a fan of Cryptonomicon, with its extended jazz-like riffs on the nature of information, it was fun to see Stephenson push information to the side (with a group called the Itas) and turn his attention to knowledge. (And, yes, the distinction is clearly worked through.)

It's smart, funny, thoughtful as hell. And, if you're willing to do some calisthenics to warm up, it's a real rush to read.

I might have even leaned to 5 stars, like all the other fans, but for that opening (which might have been a bit long) and an end which while satisfying enough seemed like action-plotting, most of the novel's conundrums already untangled. Still, a kick, and much recommended, to those who go in for this sort of thing.(less)

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Oct 11, 2008 This Is Not The Michael You're Looking For rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, locus-award, own

Anathem is another incredible book by Neal Stephenson, although probably not for everyone. Highly philosophical, brimming with hard science, it is the story of a world where scientists have been more-or-less sequestered for centuries in "maths" (the scientific equivalent of a monastery), living ascetic lives and devising high philosophy of the universe. It is the story of a specific Avout (=monk), Erasmus, and what happens when the world that they know is turned upside down by an unexpected thre...more

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Sep 14, 2008 Corey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some novelists pander to their audience. Others challenge them. Neal Stephenson might be determined to make his audience feel stupid, in the nicest possible way.

The American novelist has long been considered one of the great madmen of science fiction, a towering intellect who synthesizes technical mumbo-jumbo and a Monty-Pythonesque capacity for silliness into daunting tomes as entertaining as they are impenetrable. Stephenson mashes up genres with the flair of Thomas Pynchon and the intellect o...more Some novelists pander to their audience. Others challenge them. Neal Stephenson might be determined to make his audience feel stupid, in the nicest possible way.

The American novelist has long been considered one of the great madmen of science fiction, a towering intellect who synthesizes technical mumbo-jumbo and a Monty-Pythonesque capacity for silliness into daunting tomes as entertaining as they are impenetrable. Stephenson mashes up genres with the flair of Thomas Pynchon and the intellect of William Gibson, and the release of each new Stephenson epic is an event in sci-fi circles.

Now, after flirting with historical fiction in his Baroque Trilogy, Stephenson has returned to his roots with a vengeance. Not only is Anathem a sprawling exercise in world-building and philosophical ramblings, it is his fifth novel in a row to weigh in at nearly 1000 pages.

Set on the fictional yet oddly recognizable planet of Arbre, Anathem concerns itself with the goings-on of a ‘math’, a sort of monastery where, instead of concerning themselves with all things theological, the monks (or the ‘avout’) are more akin to scientists, clad in robes and seeking deep scientific and philosophical truths. The narrator, Fraa Erasmus, is a Decenarian, an avout who establishes contact with the world outside the math’s walls only once every ten years.

Once outside, events are set in motion through the observance of strange lights in the sky. Erasmus is sent beyond the walls (or “extramuros”) to find Fraa Orolo, a fellow avout who may hold a key to the purpose of the lights, but who had been subject to an anathem, an excommunication whereby the avout has been “ejected from the math and his or her work sequestered.”

Like Frank Herbert’s seminal work Dune, a large part of mastering Anathem’s dense narrative is coming to grips with its new set of words and definitions, aided through a handy glossary. Past that, the great challenge (and arguably the fun) of Anathem is wading through literally hundreds of pages of quantum mechanics, parallel universes, and enough philosophy to pummel the reader’s brain into tapioca.

One’s reaction to Anathem is likely going to correspond to one’s tolerance for sentences such as “Following the Reconstitution, he was made patron Saunt of the Syntactic Faculty of the Concent of Saunt Muncoster.” Many will find it gibberish; many others will appreciate Stephenson’s refusal to make things easy.

As intriguing and entertaining as Anathem can be, however, it may serve better as a primer for Philosophy 101 than it does a novel. Unlike his previous works such as the magnificently complex Cryptonomicon, Anathem never fully establishes a successful balance between the science and the narrative.

Too often, the plot becomes bogged down in Stephenson’s exploration of philosophical ideas at the expense of clarity. While the attempt to co-mingle theorems with popular entertainment is admirable, Anathem never manages to connect with the reader on an emotional level.

While hardly a disappointment, Anathem ultimately reveals itself as Stephenson’s weakest effort in some time. There is far too much exemplary work on display to consider Anathem a failure, but coming from Stephenson, the fact that it’s not a resounding success is a surprise indeed.(less)

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Feb 25, 2009 Chad rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finished Anathem last night, staying up far later than I'd planned. It is That Good. The fact that I stuck around for 900+ pages says a lot.

I haven't read a lot of Stephenson's other books - Snow Crash was something I mostly enjoyed, but it lost me in the mythology and such. I tried reading Cryptonomicon back when it was first released, but for reasons I can't remember I never made it past the first 50 pages. I'm told that the man has problems writing endings, that most of his books really don...more I finished Anathem last night, staying up far later than I'd planned. It is That Good. The fact that I stuck around for 900+ pages says a lot.

I haven't read a lot of Stephenson's other books - Snow Crash was something I mostly enjoyed, but it lost me in the mythology and such. I tried reading Cryptonomicon back when it was first released, but for reasons I can't remember I never made it past the first 50 pages. I'm told that the man has problems writing endings, that most of his books really don't have them. Well, Anathem does. And a good one at that.

The book focuses on a group of monks on another planet. But monks isn't quite the right word - they're not religious at all. They call themselves 'avout' instead. The avout have dedicated their time to the pursuit of knowledge, largely in matters of the study of consciousness and other philosophic topics. Avout are segregated into four groups - unarians, decenarians, cenarians, and millenarians. They wall themselves off from the outside world, allowing almost no contact, for different periods of time. One year, ten years, 100 years, and 1000 years respectively. This has been going on for about 4000 years. Civilization ebbs and flows around them as the centuries pass, sometimes sci-fi futuristic and others post-apocalyptic. It's a fascinating concept. And there's some definite shades of Harry Potter in both the setting and the story elements inside the concent (the Arbrean word for monastery). The concent serves as a sort of University in this society, but they no longer deal with technology any more than they absolutely have to (for reasons made clear in the book).

Because this is the planet Arbre, not Earth, they don't have our history or cultural references. As a result it takes a hundred pages or so to really figure out what's going on. Stephenson makes extensive use of a vocabulary he created for the book, so much so that it requires a glossary in the back. I had to make extensive use of it for a while, but eventually found myself becoming more and more immersed in the world of Arbre. By the end I didn't need the glossary at all, and was starting to think in those terms when they applied to concepts we don't have analogues for on Earth. Truly immersive. That's the biggest achievement of Anathem, I think - the masterful worldbuilding.

By creating a cast of characters who have devoted their lives to studying knowledge and philosophizing, this book sidesteps my biggest problem with Snow Crash. The extended treatises in that book completely pulled me out of the story and turned it into a slog. But here they are turned into dialog between characters, and the discussions themselves serve to shed light on the characters' inner workings. Sometimes the conversations even play directly into moving the plot forward. It also doesn't hurt that the content of these passages are extremely thought provoking. When the book gets officially released, there will be a website with extensive annotations, detailing which of our Earth-based philosopher's ideas informed Stephenson's creation of their Arbrean counterparts.

There is so much more I want to say about this book, but can't for the sake of not spoiling stuff. Read it. Get through the first 100 pages, you'll be immersed and hooked. I'm planning on re-reading a number of sections of it, and that's not something I ever do with books.(less)

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Jun 24, 2010 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: award-nominee-arthur-c-clarke, award-nominee-british-sf, award-nominee-campbell, award-nominee-hugo, multiple-award-nominee, sfsite-reader-s-poll-winner, sfsite-reader-s-poll-top-10, multiple-award-winners, signed-first-or-limited-edition, audiobook, award-nominee-locus, award-winner-locus, 2006-2010, science-fiction, epic

4.5 stars. Another original, robust effort by Stephenson who is one of the best SF writers working today. Highly recommended.

Winner: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (2009)
Nominee: Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (2009)
Nominee: John W. Campbell Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (2009)
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (2009)
Nominee: Britsh Science Fiction Award for Best Novel (2009)

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Feb 25, 2009 Ben rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, fiction, read-2008, science-fiction

This is only my third Stephenson novel. The other two being Snow Crash (great) and The Diamond Age (good).I was drawn to this one because of how "science fictiony" it sounded, relative to his more recent work. Though it is hard to top Snow Crash , simply due to how much fun it was to read, I think this is a much more impressive work.

Part social commentary, part philosophical dialogue, part physics lesson, he somehow makes it all interesting. The world he created in Arbre and the concents is simp...more

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Aug 30, 2008 Thorin McGee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Many stories end with the action heroes saving the day thanks to some world’s-last-only-hope-McGuffin-weapon that the world’s best scientists had been working round the clock throughout the story, albeit completely unbeknownst to the reader. This book shows you those scientists. And you quickly realize that what they’re working on, the ideas they’re debating and developing, are a lot more exciting and important than whatever Mr. and Mrs. Action Hero are up to. And frankly, they’re more fun to re...more Many stories end with the action heroes saving the day thanks to some world’s-last-only-hope-McGuffin-weapon that the world’s best scientists had been working round the clock throughout the story, albeit completely unbeknownst to the reader. This book shows you those scientists. And you quickly realize that what they’re working on, the ideas they’re debating and developing, are a lot more exciting and important than whatever Mr. and Mrs. Action Hero are up to. And frankly, they’re more fun to read about, the wizards of Stephenson’s recognizably futuristic world.

The book is very, very smart. This is the first thing I’ve read by Neal Stephenson, and now I know what I’ve been missing. He’s a modern-day science fiction writer in the metascience tradition of Aasimov and Bradbury. He’s not afraid of introducing readers to some huge ideas—you’ll come away with a better understanding of quantum mechanics, guaranteed—and incorporating them into an epic plot with characters who understand and use them.

Most of the conflict in Anathem takes place in conversations. But one of the more subtle tricks in writing is that conflict is conflict, whether it’s fought with words or nuclear bombs. If you write it well and provide some stakes, readers can be just a wrapped up in a televised debate that will decide a course of action—and therefore the fate of the world—as they are in a fight scene. More so, perhaps, because in your life, when has a punch mattered more than an interview or argument? (psst: The answer is never. The real question is, have you come to realize it?) Stephenson understands this and uses it well, which keeps Anathem very exciting. It’s riddles, revelations and ideas. And yes, there’s plenty of action in the end, but after so much intellectual combat it’s a little disappointing.

The other thing Anathem is is long, but not unrewardingly so because it’s the kind of book that another author might have done as three separate books. The first part takes place in a cloistered, academic “conscent” (think of a monastery/university campus that only lets its professors out every 10, 100 or even 1,000 years). The second part is a slow trip across half the “saecular” globe. Then you’re back in a math, and then in space. It’s one of those books that covers so much ground that many of your old questions become irrelevant as new twists are revealed, only to come up again later when you’d forgotten about them, which is rewarding as a reader. It’s seldom slow, although the 900-ish page book probably would have been better and just as complete if it shed about 200 pages.

So 4 stars. It’s a bit indulgent and there are some parts I found ended a little too conveniently happy, but I really liked Anathem. It made me think, made me remember why it’s good to be smart, to have real debates about things that matter more than sports, and to read things that give you new ideas that are worth some work to understand. Plus, how many books come with a CD of original music from an alien world and 25 pages of geometry lessons? (OK, you have to be a nerd to appreciate that last part… But any reader can appreciate the author wise enough to pull it out of his story and sequester the math course in an appendix.)
(less)

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Aug 03, 2008 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book is just ridiculously good. Thought-provoking, engaging, complex, well-developed... Trying to explain it seems almost counter-productive, though, since it's 900 pages of speculative fiction. We've got a world where scholar-monks shut themselves into their "maths" -- part university, part monastary, which may only open their doors once a year, once a decade, once a century, or once a millenium. And that's just the framework for the story. It's pretty much a must-read, unless you're truly...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Doug rated it 5 of 5 stars

I just finished my second read-through of this massive tome. If you don't like novels that could also be used to bludgeon a small elephant to death... READ THIS ONE ANYWAY.

Okay, it's actually not for everyone. This review will try to help you decide if you should delve into Anathem.

It helps if you like science fiction at least a little bit. It's not a space opera, nor is it anything that could be concretely labeled sci-fi, but there is that element, and it does take place on a different planet....more I just finished my second read-through of this massive tome. If you don't like novels that could also be used to bludgeon a small elephant to death... READ THIS ONE ANYWAY.

Okay, it's actually not for everyone. This review will try to help you decide if you should delve into Anathem.

It helps if you like science fiction at least a little bit. It's not a space opera, nor is it anything that could be concretely labeled sci-fi, but there is that element, and it does take place on a different planet. Different, but not so dissimilar...

If you like to learn, even when reading for pleasure, I'd recommend ANY of Stephenson's books. This one will--often very subtly--acquaint you with the basics of etymology, ancient and modern philosphy and metaphysics, string theory, and the "many-worlds" interpretation of same. Among other things.

For all the education involved, the story is very good. It's much more engaging than one might expect based on the previous paragraph. Stephenson creates an entire world, complete with civilizations both past and present, and gives you just enough background story--worked seamlessly into the narrative--to make it real. You will literally be wrapped up in this fictional world to such an extent that when the story is over, the way you think about the real world will be influenced.

I have to warn you that, as with Stephenson's earlier lengthy novels, you might have to read for a dozen pages or so to really "get into" the story. But the first few characters you're introduced to are so eminently likable that you will find yourself caring about them very quickly. Once you've committed to the premise you won't be able to put Anathem down.

The story includes political intrigue, romance, action, clever dialogue, and analysis of deeply-ingrained prejudices. I don't know about you, but I personally couldn't ask for more from a novel. Anathem delivers on all those counts and then goes the extra mile.

Now I'm just gushing. If you haven't decided by now to check this book out, nothing I can say will convince you. If you have decided that it's worth a look, I applaud you for your bravery and good taste, and I hope you enjoy it as thoroughly as I did.(less)

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Dec 31, 2008 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Rick, Debbie

Shelves: math, fantasy-sf

That took a while. I was afraid to read it at night for fear I would suffer a head injury when it fell on me. I haven't enjoyed orbital mechanics so much since reading Have Spacesuit Will Travel. In fact, this book reminded me very much of Heinlein. I'm not sure why. Noble teenage narrator, math whizzes in charge of everything, the plot--as mere filler for the scientific content, etc. I will read this again during the summer.

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Apr 06, 2009 Kerry rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Curt, smart people everywhere

Recommended to Kerry by: the author, by being previously awesome

Shelves: fromthelibrary, technology, scifi, alternate_earth, metaphysics, science

I was giddy reading this book. It was amazing. I love Neal Stephenson SO HARD.

I will say what I say about every Stephenson book that I've read, which is that he has a talent for creating incredibly likable characters. I love everybody -- I even love reading about the "bad guys" (although we didn't really get to know too many in this book.) Everyone is smart and funny (whether intentional or not) and I really liked how everyone in the concent looked out for each other. I dunno, I just loved every...more

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Jan 07, 2009 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars

An odd but intriguing melding of socratic dialogue with modern novel, complete with lessons on math, metaphysics, rhetoric and history, sprinkled in with Mr. Stephenson's usual sly commentary on human foibles. I really liked this better than any book of his since The Diamond Age, and I think it's a much more mature effort than that. He pulls from pretty much the entire western canon of philosphy, with heavy emphasis on Plato and his successors, although Kant and Husserl factor in as well. Geomet...more

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Oct 28, 2008 Ted Tschopp rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 13, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction

I must admit that at the end of this book my reaction was "finally". I'd been pretty much ready for it to end for some time...probably before encounter.

The book is (in my opinion) more of an "experience" than a story. It's an intricate exercise in world building that takes things from "the world" and altering them just a bit sets up a layered society.

The best part of the book in many ways is/are probably the the dialogs based on the logician debates. I haven't spent a lot of time reading philos...more

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Sep 05, 2008 Marcella rated it 5 of 5 stars

I got lucky and won an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher Harper Collins, It's for people who like big, fat, thoughtful scifi.

There is something really wonderful about picking up a new book
that's over 900 pages long and every one of them is worth reading slowly
- no skimming ahead - really reading and enjoying every word. Neal
Stephenson's new book is a masterpiece-and boy can I see a movie in this!

It has great writing, a fantastic creation of a world like ours yet not,
set in a...more

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Aug 17, 2008 Lee added it

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 08, 2008 Jenne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Oh wow. This was cool.
Basically what you have here is a sort of alternate universe where they have these monasteries that are scientific instead of religious. And with lady and gentleman scientists both. And they sort of cloister themselves off for different periods of time, like 1 or 10 or 100 or 1000 years, so the outside society is constantly changing while the monasteries more or less stay the same.

It also is about different philosophical/mathematical/scientific ideas that people in our worl...more

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Jan 20, 2009 Rod rated it 4 of 5 stars

First, it's no "Cryptonomicon." I say this knowing full well the author had no intention of writing another "Cryptonomicon". I say this to the readers of "Cryptonomicon" who seek another duplicate performance. You will be disappointed. However, if "Cryptonomicon" whets your curiosity for more Stephenson, you may find what you seek in "Anathem."

This is solid, intelligent sci fi. Good for SF fans. But it may not have the broader appeal to non-SF fans that "Cryptonomicon" has. "Anathem" is heavy o...more

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Oct 20, 2010 Sandra aka Sleo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, scifi

Whew, I finished it. What a weird experience. Like a geek telling a romance tale, filled with quasi-medieval trappings, wild speculative thought, space drama, technology aka praxis, and ending with a wedding.

It was funny at times. I liked some of the characters, weird as they are, and some of the action was good. The science? Not my field and mostly bored me until he got on with it. The vocabulary was cutesy and was annoying after a bit.

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Nov 19, 2012 C. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, science-speculative-fiction, science, philosophy-ethics-religion

Oh my goodness, that was so much FUN!! It has been far too long since I read a science fiction/fantasy tome - I really must remember to do that more often. And this was a pretty good one, albeit not beautifully written (a disappointment since I remember being impressed by some of the language in Cryptonomicon) and with some pretty poorly-constructed characters. And it was hilarious to see him flailing around wildly trying to justify having a not-totally-even distribution of male and female chara...more

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Dec 06, 2008 Alan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of complex ideas; David Foster Wallace fans

Recommended to Alan by: res ipsa loquitur

Anathem is a great, sprawling book that, once you take the dust cover off, even looks very much like a religious tome. It's also a demanding book, slow to get started (though it's not strictly true to claim that it begins with two hundred pages of exposition) and full of thorny concepts, words and dialogue.

Once Stephenson gets rolling, though, he's unstoppable, and it eventually becomes clear to the discerning reader that Anathem is a major work of speculative literature, concerned with sweeping...more

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