From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly be...
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reviews
Mar 07, 2008
Juan
rated it: 
Started out great, with a fantastic premise and engaging characters. Went out on a bit of a whimper.
That said, I am still gorging my belly on the Neal Stephenson Kool-Aid and know the man can do no wrong. Except, apparently, when he collaborates with relatives.
San Dimas High School Football rules!
That said, I am still gorging my belly on the Neal Stephenson Kool-Aid and know the man can do no wrong. Except, apparently, when he collaborates with relatives.
San Dimas High School Football rules!
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Jul 30, 2011
Geekwithsoul
rated it: 
An intriguing read - both for the science and the politics. The science came off as believable, but where this books shines is the dead right tone it gives the politics in the book. I've been working in politics and campaigns for three decades and the window this gives into that world, while not factually correct at all times, is definitely correct in capturing the essence.
And like with all Stephenson books, this delivers memorable characters and settings. There seems to be a bit mo More...
And like with all Stephenson books, this delivers memorable characters and settings. There seems to be a bit mo More...
Jun 23, 2009
Kevin
rated it:
Collaborative novels rarely in my experience enhance the gifts of a talented author. At the risk of being tedious, I refer to Sven Birkerts essay " 'The Fate of the Book' ", which ponders the future of discourse as we move from a literary culture to a mass-media culture. Mass-media (film, radio, etc) are never the products of a singular voice, but the products of collaboration, cooperation, and compromise. As we see more and more collaborative works of fiction, we can be sure that the
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Aug 05, 2009
Mark
rated it:
If'n you like Neal Stephenson you'll probably like this book. It seems a little lighter on the technology than his usual books (there aren't so many passages describing the inner workings of some obscure technical concept): the book is basically a political thriller.
The basic premise is that William Cozzano, the wildly popular and down to earth governor of Illinois, suffers a stroke and loses some motor and verbal ability. Meanwhile, the President of the USA decides to quit payin More...
The basic premise is that William Cozzano, the wildly popular and down to earth governor of Illinois, suffers a stroke and loses some motor and verbal ability. Meanwhile, the President of the USA decides to quit payin More...
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Oct 06, 2010
Robert
rated it:
The other collaboration between these two authors, Cobweb, was a thriller with a message: the US government doesn't work anymore. "Ordinary" folks are the only people who get things done, usually despite the government.
Interface is also a thriller with a message: Elections don't work anymore, either. This is because of television. It takes a similar technical and stylistic approach; "ordinary" folks turn out to be really important, humour that people will recognise More...
Interface is also a thriller with a message: Elections don't work anymore, either. This is because of television. It takes a similar technical and stylistic approach; "ordinary" folks turn out to be really important, humour that people will recognise More...
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Jan 06, 2012
Allen
rated it:
Neal Stephenson does not disappoint. Even thought is is one of his first books the plot and character development are very well done. This is a very long book and I think the editing could have been a bit tighter. It could have been trimmed by a few hundred pages and been an even better book.
The story is about a fictional 1996 presidential election. Mysterious forces referred to as the Network have decided that leaving the selection of the president to the whims of the American publ More...
The story is about a fictional 1996 presidential election. Mysterious forces referred to as the Network have decided that leaving the selection of the president to the whims of the American publ More...
Mar 26, 2009
Matt
rated it:
I have mixed feelings about this one. I've never before read any Stephenson, and this book was given to me as a gift. I think the behind-the-scenes look at politics was interesting, and the sci-fi / technology bend carried it along. However, I thought that the book was very slow to start, and took a long time to get to where it was going. Things finally picked up by the very end, but then the story finished rather quickly and abruptly. As far as structure and pacing goes, I think things cou
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Feb 19, 2011
Taueret
rated it: 
I always think authors who set their sci fi in current times and base it in real technology are, um, courageous? What's wildly bleeding-edge in 1994 sounds lame and antiquated in 2011. I guess that's the real problem with describing actual instead of "near future" technology. Luckily for my commuting sanity, the story here is ok (think mid-grade Crichton?) and knowing the awesomeness that is to come from one half of this writing duo, I can forgive nearly anything for the price of a
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Nov 04, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
You've always suspected that Presidents and politicians were just puppets of the people who really run things, haven't you? You've always suspected that politicians took orders from those in secret--probably through cranial implants.
You were right.
A doctor daughter tries to figure out what has gone wrong with her governor father after he recovers from a stroke and runs for President. A paranoid hick takes part in a focus group with strange requirements. A poor black woman in More...
You were right.
A doctor daughter tries to figure out what has gone wrong with her governor father after he recovers from a stroke and runs for President. A paranoid hick takes part in a focus group with strange requirements. A poor black woman in More...
Sep 18, 2011
matejcik
rated it:
what to say, what to say? sure, the book was still captivating, still a level above what i've been reading before, but ... i don't know. where the previous two books i've read had a two-page explanation of some arcane piece of technology, this book had a two-page introduction of a character we would never see again. where the other books had some deeply reasoned internal monologue, this had ... i don't know, nothing much?
which is not to say that the book is badly thought out. it's just that More...
which is not to say that the book is badly thought out. it's just that More...
Feb 12, 2009
Espen
rated it:
This is an early Stephenson, written in the mid-90s. A fable about a conspiracy to implant a chip in the brain of a presidential candidate and remotely guide his utterances by automated polling - a candidate guaranteed to say what people will like.
There is much to like here - a deeply ironic humor and some interesting characters and characterizations that remain as fresh 12 years after (it helps that there was a Bush presidency for each decade). With some small exceptions, the techno More...
There is much to like here - a deeply ironic humor and some interesting characters and characterizations that remain as fresh 12 years after (it helps that there was a Bush presidency for each decade). With some small exceptions, the techno More...
Sep 24, 2011
Mad Russian
rated it:
Entertaining book that captures the socio-political zeitgeist of the USA for the last ten years.
For me, this book falls into the "mainstream fiction" category; a category of books that I don't often read. And with this expectation I embarked upon this novel and have been enjoying the mind candy aspect. But throughout this book I often found myself chuckling at the so very true social commentary. Great entertainment and great gallows humor as we all get to experience the dec More...
For me, this book falls into the "mainstream fiction" category; a category of books that I don't often read. And with this expectation I embarked upon this novel and have been enjoying the mind candy aspect. But throughout this book I often found myself chuckling at the so very true social commentary. Great entertainment and great gallows humor as we all get to experience the dec More...
Jan 08, 2011
Claire
rated it:
Lots of very good ideas here, and in fact maybe too many because the second half seems to lose the tight focus of the first half. It's a reasonably old book but hasn't aged too much; aside from a few mentions of VHS, the politics could easily be today. William Cozzano is a salt of the earth, uncorrupted by politics, city governor who suffers a stroke and ends up the pawn of a shadowy network who want to make him President so that the US will continue to pay off the national debt. This sounds
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Dec 26, 2011
Brittany
rated it:
This is a wonderful political adventure novel, with a thin vein of science fiction running through it. If all political thrillers were this smart, snappy, funny, and thought-provoking, I would read a lot more of them. Or perhaps Clancy is a real knee-slapper and I just don't remember. But Interface follows an electoral campaign and along the way manages to ask some very profound, fundamental questions about the ethics of self-improvement and the nature of identity and life itself, all while bein
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Nov 13, 2011
Andreas
rated it:
This novel is about a presidential candidate with a chip in his head connecting him to a computerized polling system. There’s much more to the story than that of course, and it was a bit of fun, with some really great characters. If you love everything that Stephenson has written, you might enjoy this too.
The copyright for this one is from 1994 in the name of Stephen Bury (Frederick George is Mr. Bury’s pseudonym). My theory is that Stephenson rewrote some of the book. You can pretty More...
The copyright for this one is from 1994 in the name of Stephen Bury (Frederick George is Mr. Bury’s pseudonym). My theory is that Stephenson rewrote some of the book. You can pretty More...
Feb 04, 2012
Jon
rated it:
With no offense to his uncle, this book is pure Stephenson, shot through with elements of Zodiac, Cryptonomicon, and the Baroque Cycle. This political/conspiracy thriller is augmented by some plausible-but-not-yet-realized tech. Although some events are obvious to the reader long before they happen, the story moves at a satisfying pace, keeping the premonition from being frustrating. Less ambitious than Stephenson's recent works, this is also more tightly constructed, while showing a more mature
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May 28, 2009
Cendri
rated it:
Ah, bad neuroscience-fiction, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. This book is a not-entirely-plausible but reasonably entertaining adventure in the perils of modern brain-computer chip interfacing. The plot isn't terribly original (think, Manchurian Candidate for the new millennium), and the idea that with enough money from a shadowy "Network", research that at the start of the book is just getting off the ground is, 18 months later capable of controlling the mind of the Pre
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Nov 13, 2011
Geo
rated it:
The summary on the back page says "A modern day Manchurian Candidate". I do think there are elements that are similar. I'm also *usually* not a fan of books that are written by more than one author. That approach, while interesting, sometimes leaves me feeling like I'm just been through some kind of discordant processed experience. It either falls more "flat" than normal with both authors attempting to normalize their style to what they think the other is/does, or the two are
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Feb 26, 2011
Roger Loran
rated it:
This is a novel about how bourgeois political campaigns manipulate the electorate. The technology does not currently exist for the manipulation to be carried out exactly the way it is in this book, but it is actually pretty close. Nevertheless, this does illustrate the cynical way these politicians and their campaign consultants view the voters. It can be seen in the real world too. Just how often is such a campaign based on any issues that the people care about? They are based instead on image
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Nov 07, 2008
Rachel
rated it:
Interface was a good read, and very funny in places, but never really managed to make it past irony into telling a real story. It starts with the President declaring (just before elections) he's going to stop paying interest on the national debt, resulting in a shadowy network of gazillionaires who stand to lose money making the decision to take over the presidency to stabilize it. They do so by developing technology to implant a chip in a person's head, and then control their actions by monit
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Feb 25, 2009
andreajulia
rated it:
I have been a fan of his ever since I read “Snow Crash” years ago. He has a great talent for taking existing technology and science and taking it just a little further; almost Sci Fi but it doesn’t take a lot of convincing to make you believe this could actually happen. In that way he’s a lot like Michael Crichton. I remember reading Jurassic Park and thinking this could happen...
But I digress. The book’s main focus is following an independent presidential candidate (William Cozzano More...
But I digress. The book’s main focus is following an independent presidential candidate (William Cozzano More...
Jul 21, 2008
tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
rated it:
I read Stephenson's "Quicksilver" w/in the last yr & was very impressed. His fictionialized acct incorporating real historical characters (many of them likely to be known only to scholars) was thoroughly worked out. It was over 900pp long & took me at least a mnth to read. Now I've just read his collaborative political/medical thriller cowritten w/ J. Frederick George & I'm less impressed. While "Quicksilver" might've been somewhat comparable to something by John Barth &/
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Nov 16, 2008
A story about a presidential candidate who has an electronic chip implanted in his head which (unknown to him) allows his handlers to influence what he says. On the surface this is to allow immediate response to the mood of the electorate, but there is, of course, somewhat more sinister motives as well.
This book is somewhat more slyly humorous than I expected, poking quite a bit of fun at the people who run presidential campaigns and the press and pundits who cover it. Having read th More...
This book is somewhat more slyly humorous than I expected, poking quite a bit of fun at the people who run presidential campaigns and the press and pundits who cover it. Having read th More...
Jan 26, 2008
Belarius
rated it:
Neal Stephenson & J. Frederick George teamed up to write Interface in 1994, and the result is unquestionably a product of that era of American politics. Seen from the modern perspective (as is often the case with "outdated" science fiction), Interface tells us a great deal more about the era in which it was written than it does about the future.
Very early in the book, during the rising action, campaign strategist Cy Ogle (a James Carville/Karl Rove/Fu Manchu hybrid) says th More...
Very early in the book, during the rising action, campaign strategist Cy Ogle (a James Carville/Karl Rove/Fu Manchu hybrid) says th More...
Mar 12, 2010
Chris
rated it:
Good stuff. Not the typical Stephenson fare of Snow Crash/Diamond Age/Cryptonomicon/etc, this was written mid-90s about a nigh-modern-day possibility.
What I did enjoy was how the characterization evolved, Stephenson and J. Patrick George (his father, I believe) get deep into the dramatis personae, how they act, why they act, and interesting details that give a very intricate landscape of their players. And the broad range of personae that they bring into the story, even towards the More...
What I did enjoy was how the characterization evolved, Stephenson and J. Patrick George (his father, I believe) get deep into the dramatis personae, how they act, why they act, and interesting details that give a very intricate landscape of their players. And the broad range of personae that they bring into the story, even towards the More...
Jan 16, 2009
William
rated it: 
The thing with Neal, here, is that I've never read a book of his that did not shift my thinking about something or catalyze a line of inquiry in a way that changes my life at least in a minor way. This book is no exception.
It's all about media, government, and technology. Told in a paranoiac social commentary style with a great sense of humor. Hooks faster than Neal's solo works, so this would be a fun introduction.
It's all about media, government, and technology. Told in a paranoiac social commentary style with a great sense of humor. Hooks faster than Neal's solo works, so this would be a fun introduction.
Feb 25, 2009
Dave
rated it:
Very odd - an early Stephenson book. It feels like the skeleton is a Ludlum/Forsyth/Clancey political thriller, with Stephenson fleshing things out. It was an enjoyable read, though it meandered a little towards the end.
There isn't the mind blowing freedom of, say, Diamond Age or Snow Crash. The main aspect that's missing is a central hacker, whose thoughts make up the most interesting parts of a Stephenson book. It feels like he's flexing his wings here, testing out some style More...
There isn't the mind blowing freedom of, say, Diamond Age or Snow Crash. The main aspect that's missing is a central hacker, whose thoughts make up the most interesting parts of a Stephenson book. It feels like he's flexing his wings here, testing out some style More...
Sep 12, 2007
Ren the Unclean
rated it:
Interface is a sharp departure from the other fiction I have read by Stephenson. It is set in the present, but has technology that is pushing the envelope of what is possible today. This book does a really good job of simultaneously examining what might be possible with neurological implants and the way our political system actually works.
The strongest feature of this book, is that Stephenson does a really good job of pointing out how easily manipulated the general populace is by More...
The strongest feature of this book, is that Stephenson does a really good job of pointing out how easily manipulated the general populace is by More...
Jul 17, 2009
Norman
rated it:
This book is a political thriller with a science-fictional premise. The premise is laugh-out-loud silly and must be taken simply as an excuse to crate a very nice, tight, engaging thriller plot. Fans of Neal Stephenson will recognize a litte trademark Stephensonian snarkiness but at heart this is not a Stephenson book.
Jan 15, 2012
A. J.
rated it:
I loved this book and am surprised that it hasn't been made into a movie yet. It's a well-written, gripping combination of media manipulation, abuse of power and the fight of a small band of decent people trying to overcome the big guys. With a side order of intelligent humour. I had a hard time putting it down in the last two days.
